Advance Australia Fair

A preview of Saturday’s Royal Navy Women v Australian Defence Force Warriors match at Burnaby Rd, Portsmouth.  Kick off14:00

On Saturday I am sure that there will be a minute’s silence to mark the passing of Cpl David O’Connor, from 40 Cdo and Cpl Channing Day, from 3 Medical Regt, who died yesterday (Wednesday 24 Oct) in Afghanistan.  It will be a moment that will bring the two sides together in the solidarity of being members of their respective Armed Forces who both have experienced a number of fatalities in Afghanistan.

Then the Warriors will launch full voice into their anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’.  I wonder if their hosts will also play the second verse?:

When gallant Cook from Albion sail’d,
To trace wide oceans o’er,
True British courage bore him on,
Till he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England’s flag,
The standard of the brave;
With all her faults we love her still,
“Brittannia rules the wave!”

For the Royal Navy hosts and new coach Bali Salisbury it will be a very memorable afternoon and possible a night they are unable to remember if they can pull off what would be a shock result against the touring ADF.  I am sure that ‘love for Britannia’ will be put on hold for 80 minutes as they seek to make it two from two on their UK tour.  Also for their 12 strong Aussie Naval contingent it will be an opportunity for some redress following the Breakers defeat to the RN in the recent Commonwealth Cup.

Capped in the game against the Army, Helen Leach was at the centre of the action from Number 8 last season in the three key games at Toulon, Burnaby Rd and Kneller Hall.

Last season the RN(W) showed that they had the ball carriers to cause any opposition problems.

Emily Atkins- try scorer in Toulon when the RN(W) started to run hard and direct with ball in hand

However they also found out that when their intensity dropped and they left space for the opposition then they could be hurt by teams who exploited the wider channels.  The RAF(W) showed similar traits last Tuesday and for periods of the match contained the Australian team.  However when the RAF(W) either lost concentration, or simply ran out of numbers in defence they were exposed out wide.

As ever in any game of rugby the first up tackles are going to be crucial.  Again on

Fiesha Green was subdued against the French Navy but carried well against the RAF (Winning her first cap) and the Army

Tuesday the Warriors had the luxury of coming forward on to the rucks and through the prompting of their half backs Palmer and Nevell were able to play a simple game which brought strong, direct running forwards on to the ball before moving it into the wider channels.  If the Navy backrow can stop them at or beyond the gain line it will be interesting to see if they can still generate the tempo on which their game thrived.

Again the Navy Women have shown, time and time, again they have the appetite to work hard for each other in defence and close space.  However what remains the big unknown is how the new players will fair when on the bigger stage.  This time of year is always difficult for the RN(W) with a number of players away on deployment.  However with a heartening number of newcomers being recommended through the Community Rugby programme Saturday could be the opportunity for a star of the future to state her case for higher honours.

The gain line battle will be key and the Navy’s first up tackling will need to be aggressive – Lavinia Vakuruivalu lead the way in last seasons Army Navy match where she was winning her RN(W) cap.
Sarah Jenkin’s form at fly half last season saw her earmarked for some special attention during the Inter Services and regrettably forced off the field following a dangerous tackle at Kneller Hall.

Finally it will be important for the Navy’s senior players to have big games.  At the time of writing I do not know the team that Bali has selected but if Sarah Jenkins continues at fly half then she needs to be at her match controlling best.  Similarly if Charlie Lewis, whether in the back row or hooker, plays; then she needs to reproduce the form that won her international selection for Scotland.

Charlie Lewis – RN(W) and Scotland – probes the fringes against the RAF(W) last season. The availability and form of the Navy’s senior players will be key to their performance on Saturday.

The second match of the Australian Defence Force Warriors UK tour is against the Royal Navy Women at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, Saturday 27 October. Kick off 14:00

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