Olivia Critchley-Peddle scored the history making try that the Royal Navy had hoped for, marking the first ever try scored at Twickenham by a Navy Women’s rugby player.
They may not have lifted the trophy but the Royal Navy Women’s team came away with a victory nonetheless when they scored their first try at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Army Women were crowned champions of the 2023 Inter-Services competition. Bethan Dainton shone with four tries for the Army, and Sale Sharks star Courtney Pursglove ran in a hat-trick and kicked an unobtainable deficit against the Navy for a 67-5 final score.
The Army Women were looking for revenge after the Navy Men lifted the Babcock Trophy earlier in the afternoon, made clear from the start when they scored two tries within the first 10 minutes of the match.
The Navy re-started the match, but were soon back underneath their goalposts. The Army gathered the kick-off, and played back-rower Bethan Dainton through a gap in the defence. An impressive solo try was capped-off by Pursglove’s conversion, and a 12-0 lead.
The Navy fired back, and they forced a change in the momentum at Twickenham. After pinning the Army back in their corner for a dominant spell, the Navy attempted a rolling maul but it was halted just short of the line. The sailors maintained the pressure and drove closer to the line with short picks.
Back-rower Olivia Critchley-Peddle gained the all-important yards for a milestone Navy try. This was the history making try that the Navy had hoped for, as it marks the first ever try scored at Twickenham by a Navy Women’s rugby player.
Despite these positive signs from the Navy, the Army reclaimed control and closed out the first half with three unanswered tries and a half-time score of 29-5.
After forty-four minutes the Army had a 41-5 lead on the game but despite the score-line, the Navy Women showed great resilience and pride when representing their service. Captain Rose Dixon led her side from the front, as they continued to make the afternoon a physical challenge for the Army.
After a scoreless 16 minutes highlighted the defensive tenacity of the Navy, the Army found a way through, as Courtney Pursglove sealed her hat-trick.
The Army hit top gear, and ran out a further three tries, in the final 10 minutes at Twickenham Stadium.
The match ended in fitting fashion, with Army Captain Jade Mullen scoring the Army’s eleventh and final try of the match, and wrapped up the day with a ‘captain’s contribution.’ Pursglove’s conversion closed out the day’s points-scoring, for a resounding victory for the Army.
Despite the score-line, the match did in fact feature a historic moment for the Navy Women. Back-rower Olivia Critchly-Peddle’s try after 15 minutes, marked the first ever try for the Navy Women at Twickenham Stadium, and a clear sign of progression in the side.
Navy Women’s Captain Rose Dixon highlighted the significance of Critchly-Peddle’s try, in the post-match reaction. Women’s rugby in the Navy has taken its first few steps in progressing in their ‘five-year plan.’
“Yeah, incredible. We are really going to thrive off that now. I do not know the last time that we put a try past the army off the top of my head. So that is something that we are going to take forward and really build on and there is so much excitement around that.
“We get better year on year. That is clear to see with scores throughout the services. So, you know what they say, it is a five-year plan and we are hitting all the goals that we want to hit. So obviously disappointed not to come away with a win today, but also really proud of the girls for hitting the goals and exceeding my expectations.”
Navy Women’s Head Coach Sam Cuff echoed his Captain’s comments, in how the Navy Women’s side are taking strides in the right direction.
“I think this year can be considered a small step forward from last year. We brought quite few new girls into the squad, there is a lot of young girls in the squad and we have some girls we could not select because they were on training courses or on ship, and we could not get them away.
“I think with all of that coming together and building for next season, if they hit the ground running from September, October onwards, it will be a closer game next year.”
