HMS Sutherland Rugby in the snow

HMS Sutherland’s first rugby match outside of the UK in over 2 years was played against Trondheim RugbyKlubb, Norway yesterday with one and a half foot of snow covering the pitch.

With Trondheim still 3 months away from their regular season, the hosts had marked out the pitch to rugby lines with the use of a snow plough.

The unconventional game ended with a win for Trondheim 15-5 in what turned out to be a war of attrition with plenty of handling errors due to the slippiness of the ball.

Following the match, Sutherland’s team were hosted at a local pub by the Trondheim players where they watched the Six Nations rugby matches being played that afternoon.

Sutherland’s team captain, Petty Officer Chris Harris (33) said: “Playing in the snow was a new experience for everyone and something they will never do again.

“The weather obviously played a major part and I could feel the temperature drop when it started snowing.

“Trondheim looked after us really well and it was good to see a club with so many different nationalities coming together.”