Navy News
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Royal Navy Polo team bid for Rundle Cup
8 August 2018
It was a case of third time unlucky for Royal Navy Polo as the Army claimed the Hackett Rundle Cup held by the Senior Service for the previous two years.
In front of a crowd of more than 5,000, on a scorching summer day, the Royal Navy took on the might of the British Army for the 2018 Hackett Rundle Cup at Tidworth Polo Club, in Wiltshire.
With a two point handicap lead to start, the Royal Navy kept up the pressure on the Army, however, the stronger Army team began taking the lead throughout the chukkas.
Wining this year’s Hackett Rundle cup by six points to two, the Army ended the Royal Navy’s winning streak.
This year saw Capt Jess Wood Royal Artillery become the first female player selected for the Army team in the history of the Rundle Cup.
The day was also an opportunity for charity fundraising, children’s entertainment and community engagement and also featured both the Royal Marines Band and the Royal Navy Parachute Display team.
The Hackett Rundle Cup is a major event on the military sporting calendar having been first played in Malta in 1909.
The Royal Navy won that first cup and the Army won the last time the match was played in Malta back in 1966.
After that it moved to the UK where the Navy won the first recorded match in 1976 and had a hat-trick of victories from 1994-96.