Page 29 - RADC 2016

Warm up game
presentation. It is a fantastic feeling when your name is called and you walk up in front of your team mates, your closest friends and family to collect something that as taken not just a season but a lifetime of seasons to earn. We are reminded that whilst the Army Shirt is earned it is never owned; as the custodian you have responsibly to give your all for however many seconds you are lucky enough to wear it.
The morning of the game is always a blur. At the time is feels
like it lasts forever
but looking back it is
dif cult to remember
precisely what
occurred. Breakfast
in the hotel perhaps
a swim in the health
club next door before dropping off your kit bag which you will not see again until you arrive in the changing room.
The walk from the hotel around to
the stadium gates is electrifying. The atmosphere bubbling as you catch a glimpse of colleague and friends whilst listening to music in an attempt to remain focused on the job in hand. Once in the immaculately prepared changing room the mood is relaxed as one of the lads turns
up the music. Everybody prepares in their own way. Personally I go about my business quietly trying not to get to excited too soon. Brand new kit is laid-out perfectly for each player by the dedicated support staff. Fresh socks, warm-up shorts and shirt, match shorts and shirt, a towel, toiletries, isotonic drinks; the whole ‘nine yards’.
One National paper described it as the “best Inter-Service game in recent history”. It was a remarkable game in
which the Navy came back from a 19-point de cit to kick
a last minute penalty and earn a 29-29 draw.
The rst half went exactly to plan and The Army cruised in
half time with a 19 poingt cushion. Semesa Rokoduguni, Owain Davies and James Farrell all crossing the line in the rst forty. James Dixon was kicking well and morale was high.
I yellow card for the Army early in the second half provide the decisive blow. Conceding a penalty try did not help the cause. At 26 points each four minutes on the clock and two emptied benches under
the West Stand Owain Davies stood over the ball facing North. The Navy contingent in the 80,000 crowd gave the kicker the ‘respect’ they thought he deserved until Davies slammed the ball between the sticks for 3 points.
The following kick off, gathered and secured by Dom Shaw was kicked long into Navy territory. A pro table counter-attack saw the Navy back in the Army red zone and the crowd were at fever point. Unable to maintain their discipline the Army conceded a penalty. Jon Humphrey, Navy number 15, stepped up and did not miss. 29 points apiece.
The immediate feeling was a sense of shock. How did we let that one slip? We quickly picked ourselves up; after all, it may have felt like it but we hadn’t lost the game and everyone man had given his all.
The morning of the game is always a blur.
RADC BULLETIN 2016 27