The first quarter of the game saw RN playing into the sun and matched a very physical RAF side in the opening quarter. RAF Academy lost a player to the bin for a high tackle which in itself was not that dangerous but was the result of similar previous incidents. RN took advantage of the numerical advantage with a score for scrum half Eli Steinberg who slipped through the defensive line to td left of the posts adding to the score with a comfortable conversion, 6:0. With RAF still down to 12 an interception by the Brothers put them on the offensive Danny Dainty rounding off the move to touch down, a superb conversion by Steinberg doubled the score to 12:00. On the half hour RAFRL struck back with a converted try of their own which turned out to be the last of the half. A good tussle in the last ten was a good watch but no thing more on the scoreboard, 12:6 at the break.

Steinberg hit another touchline conversion for the next RN score with only a couple of 2nd half minutes on the clock so the Brothers were now 18:6 up and looking to take the game away from the opposition. However, on the hour RNRL saw a player red carded for a dangerous tackle, initially the Brothers seemed to still have the upper hand but a good try from the RAF finished off under the posts changed that, the conversion was good so it was now a 6 point ball game. Worse still for the RN they lost another player to the bin for ‘afters’ following the score, 18:12. Despite being down by 2 players a massive defensive effort prevented RAF getting any closer and two more try’s sealed the win. Danny Dainty’s 2nd of the day would have graced and top try competition, receiving the ball in his own half he brushed past the RAF tacklers and sprinted a good 60 m to touch down under the posts, converted by Steinberg there was a bit more breathing space for the Brothers 24:12. The final score went to Steinberg who picked up a slick offload to td right of the posts, the conversion was wide but the try was enough to make the game safe, 28:12 at the final whistle.
Despite playing the last quarter with 12 men and sometimes just 11 it was another dominant performance to give the Houghton’s men a chance of a third IS title in next week’s clash with the Army
Scrum half Steinberg was awarded man of the match for a top performance throughout the game both as scorer and provider.