Page 11 - Chiron Autumn 2016

The Team
out with a trip to the Aki Rugby Club and a spot of live music. Sunday started with the competition brie ng, consisting of: structure of the competition, safety in the heat, facilities, assistance and the friendly advice not to try pinching the missiles from the Lightning gate guardian! The weekend was then nished with a trip to the wonder that is Guaba. I'll let you google it.
Back to training on Monday. Feeling fresh and keen, we had really gelled as a team and the run throughs were working well. We were one of the smartest looking teams around with excellent training kit and eye catching tour strip. As the mercury was creeping ever higher the only thing we could do during the afternoon was nip to the beach on base and wait for the cooler evening temperatures to start playing.
Our rst match was ttingly against our Corps team, the Army Medical Services (AMS). Despite losing the match, 1 MWD Regiment packed more punch than the opponents were expecting – something that would become a theme of the tour. Two disallowed tries against 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment stung almost as much as the spikey little ‘ninja death star’ seed pods that seemed to get everywhere in Cyprus, but our heads remained high into the nal bout of the evening against the RAF Reivers. Sadly, there were no wins for us that evening but the standard of our play
As the sun sets on another successful tour
was visibly improving all the time.
At training the next morning there was a sense of purpose, we were pushing on and there was a thirst to get back to the eld. An afternoon of Lady L’s (great milk shakes) and the Beach Club had us rested and ready for the next three teams. The rst clash of the evening was with 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and we had our rst substantial score! In the end they edged out 33-27 but we knew our momentum was growing. Next the Aki Grif ns gave us a good run and despite them winning comfortably they couldn’t stop our reply of a try. Match six, our rst victory! 5th Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers put up a good ght but ‘the dogs’ had them from the start, running past ve tries with
no response. Finally!
Day three of the competition saw us
drawn once again against the Aki Grif ns and also the RAF Eagles. Fighting tooth and nail, we couldn’t break the RAF Eagles, but we moved onto our second meeting with the Aki Grif ns in good spirits. From beginning to end, voracity and energy pushed into every contact and reverberated across the eld. Bodies were pushed as far as we could push them and, after a crunching two halves, we were neck and neck, tied. Golden point was called and the battle recommenced. Ultimately a
battering run from one of the larger Grif ns broke our line and ended our campaign. Nevertheless, bruised, dislocated (get well soon Pte Billy Illingsworth-Dennis), ‘ninja death stared’ and slightly limping ‘the dogs’ left the eld heads high and rightly proud of their efforts.
Of course, the thin silver lining of going out at this stage was that we knew the following day, nals day, we had three great matches to watch, in full costume of course. The AMS had been busy ghting their way to the top and had made it to the cup nal. It was great to stand as a team and cheer them on to a great victory: 2016 Aki 10s Champions for the second year! Well done, chaps! Topping the evening off, Player of the Tournament, went to our own Sgt Craig Simpson and Players’ player of the tour went to LCpl Stu Hunter, for great antics both on and off the eld!
As a Reservist with the Regiment, the chance to go on a tour like this one was an incredible opportunity. It was great fun, but more than that, it allowed an insight into the soldiers within the Regiment. A great week that will help me and, I hope, the other members of the team moving forward.
To all the teams and organisers of the 2016 Aki 10s thank you and can’t wait to see you next year!
Chiron Calling 11