A superb kick off by RN hooker Steinberg, which beat the Army defence, earned his side good field position 15 metres from the Army line. On only the second play in the set Steinberg himself forced his way between defenders for the first score and with his conversion he put the RN 6:0 up after less than 2 minutes played. The Army were next to score good pressure in the RN half ended with centre Suguvanua crossing left of the posts but with the missed conversion the RN still had the lead at 6:4. The Army once again failed to deal with the kick off and a knock on by Yabaki gave possession once more to the RN. From the scrum the ball went out to the RN right before good play throughout the set brought the ball back cross field to the Left wing, after the Army defended plays a speculative grubber by Steinberg got behind the defence and winger Lloyd Williamson dropped on the ball for the score. Another confident conversion by Steinberg stretched his sides lead to 12:6 after 10 minutes. The Army began to make inroads into the RN half but strong resolute defence by the RN kept them at bay however this resolute defence was considered to strong and a yellow card was given to the RN reducing them to 12 for ten minutes. The RN dug in well and coped with the sin binning keeping the Army out but with errors on both sides the game was a bit scrappy into the second quarter. The visitors had their chances to get back on terms but a series of handling errors took the pressure of the RN defence and in the last 5 minutes of the half were able to put pressure back on the Army. With the clock running down to half time RNRL were awarded a penalty in centre field 15 metres from the line, up stepped Ben Conner to put the ball neatly through the posts to give his side a ten point lead at the break.
Into the second half the first 8 minutes of which were scoreless until Army second row Tamani finished off a good move to double his sides score to the right of the posts taking the RN cover with him as he crossed for the score, no conversion so it remained 14:8. For the next 10 minutes RNRL pressed for more points taking the game to the Army, and it was during this passage of play that perhaps the only flashpoint occurred, 2nd row Charlie Morton-Morgan who was coming more and more into the game was tip tackled by the Army defence, luckily for him he landed on his back but the incident did lead to a bit of ’handbags’! Another penalty to the RN but the Army dealt with the attack again. Another penalty to the RN raised the tension a bit more so much so that the Ref spoke to both skippers advising them to speak with the players and calm things down. Despite the better possession the home side could not find a way through but kept the Army in their own half of the field with some wonderful pressure on the ball carrier as well as some top tackling against a bigger Army side. Into the last 10 minutes and finally the RN got the break through, an offside penalty gave the home side a good platform and after some good approach play a slick inside pass found No 14 Cam Cummings who skipped across the front of the defence before going over behind the posts making for a straight forward 2 pointer for Ben Conner 20:4.Despite a late flurry by the Army the RN defence held firm and the final whistle saw the RN begin the defence of the Academy title with a win to make it two in a row over the Army. The Man of the Match award went to RN 2nd Row Charlie Morton-Morgan for a powerful performance throughout the match both in attack and defence. RN skipper Luke Warrington accepted the newly rededicated Academy trophy from Lt Col Dave Groce from UKAF RL

Great result for Coach Adam Birkett and a great platform to build on ahead of the RN second fixture at Wakefield against the RAF

RN Academy:- 1. Luke Warrington 2. Ben Pogson 3. Joey Sugden 4. Joe Potifa 5. Lloyd Williamson 6. Joe O’Hanlon (7) 7. Ed Holland (6) 8. Ben Conner 9. Eli Steinberg (20) 10. Robbie Hawkshaw 11. Charlie Morton-Morgan (9) 12. Rowan Birch 13. Elliott Richardson 14. Cam Cummings 15. Jonny Stoppard 16. Jake Young 17. Cam Benson
Army Academy:- 1. James 2. Porteus 3. Tait 4. Suguvanua 5. Bainikoro 6. Irving 7. Houghton 8. Yabaki 9. Brown 10. Waqanivere 11. Daveta 12. Tamani 13. Green 14. Bartlett 15. Green 16. Verevalu 17. Vatuloka
18. Riley