Page 36 - Chiron Calling Autumn/Winter 2022

Women’s Army Navy ’22 match at Twickenham
by Lt Sally Bellhouse RAVC
2022 not only saw the return
of the first Inter-Services (IS) Rugby post COVID pandemic,
but on the 30th April 2022 we saw the inaugural Women’s Army-Navy match to be played at Twickenham. Previously played at Kneller Hall, the Women’s match was set to take the Twickenham stage for the first time in 2020, but unfortunately COVID put this on hold, alongside all other rugby and IS competitions.
In the winter of 2021, we had our first camps and matches again as the Army Women’s 1XV after an 18 month hiatus, with the knowledge that the long-awaited dream of
an Army-Navy Women’s match at Twickenham was just around the corner. We had 6 months to bring together the squad and develop
the team that would represent the Army on such a huge occasion; matches against the British Police, London Wasps Academy, Darlington Mowden Park & Richmond Ladies were all tests of our IS preparation.
Then came the RAF IS match at the Kingsholm Stadium, the RAF Women were the current holders of the title: ‘IS Champions’. 2019 was the first year the Army Women had lost that title since the inception
of Women’s IS Rugby, and so the
drive to reclaim the title was high. The game was an arm wrestle
as dominance flipped from one
side to the other, with the Army starting strong, but the RAF firing after about 30 minutes, the Army managed to take charge again towards the latter stages of the game, ensuring a red victory. Now all that stood in the way of the Army being IS Champions was the Navy.
The feel in the camp leading
up to Army-Navy was electric, the team was gelling well and training sessions were looking very positive. Sitting in the 1-on-1 meeting
with the coaches and being told I
had been selected in the starting line-up for the first Army-Navy at Twickenham was an indescribable feeling. The final session in Aldershot came and went, shirts were presented by Welsh legend Adam Jones, there was so much excitement building in players and managerial staff alike, but nothing could prepare us for the atmosphere and emotions of game-day.
The day before we were bussed
to Twickenham and conducted our final run through on Twickenham pitch in an empty stadium, before being checked in to the Marriott Hotel attached to the stadium. On the morning of the match the nerves and the full weight of the occasion started to register, looking out of
the hotel window we could see the edge of the stadium and a mass of people of all ages arriving in red and blue shirts. The squad gathered in the foyer and were accompanied on
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