On Friday night the Army were victorious at Burnaby Road, with victories for the Academy, Women and Senior Men.
The first match of the afternoon was Women. The final score of 62-0 does not reflect the effort and commitment the Royal Navy women put in. It took the Army 15 mins to break the deadlock, and up until that point, the game was very much in an arm wrestle. However, once the Army got on the scoresheet, the Challenge Shield holders showed why they hold that title, Scoring 12 unanswered tries.
Moving on to the Academy game, again another victorious Army side, this time 40-6 over the Royal Navy Academy. It only took the Army 2 mins to get on the score sheet, with a converted try. They added a second before the RN got themselves on the scoreboard. The Army crossed the whitewash twice more before a fight broke out on 26 minutes, which resulted in a red card and a sin-binning for the RN. This would finish the match as a contest. The Army exploited their numerical advantage to score a further four tries and seal the game.
The Senior Men's fixture was a nervy encounter in the first half, neither team created too many chances. The Army had better field position for large parts but failed to capitalise. At the break, the score was tied at 2 all. Ten minutes into the second half, the Army scored the first try of the match and built sustained pressure to add three more. The RN had the last word of the night scoring it a the death, but it was too little, too late.
Moving into round two the Army have one hand on all three trophies, victory against the Royal Air Force, this Friday at Army Rugby Stadium, Aldershot, will see the win all three competitions.