Army rugby takes Toowooba on home turf
Volume 11, No. 39, March 23, 2006

By Graham Davis

A TEAM of Army rugby players drawn from units in the Darling Downs region of Queensland took on a team from HMAS Toowoomba in Toowoomba on March 10.

Played in 33 degree heat, and broken into 20 minute quarters, the game attracted a crowd of more than 700 from the local community to Toowoomba’s Queen’s Park pitch to see some excellent lineout wins by the sailors who were playing as part of HMAS Toowoomba’s visit to the city for a freedom of entry ceremony.

But if they’d hoped to see Toowoomba win, they’d have been disappointed when Army put the only points on the board for a 12-0 win.

Junior Toowoomba City Cheerleaders (aged five to 11) and their older sisters entertained the crowd before the older girls, Australian flags in hand, formed a guard of honour for the two teams to run through.

Referee Kevin Flanagan kept a tight rein on play as Army pressed the sailor’s line, which they held for nine minutes before Army made the break.

After a torrid ruck WO2 Shayne Nelson scooped up the ball and crashed over the line to make the score 5 nil. The try was not converted.

Strong running, kicking and passing continued in the second quarter but no points were scored.
The third quarter saw the Army in again with Capt Jim Jackson touching down, with WO2 Wayne Vonhoff successful with his kick and the score rose to 12 nil.

From then on the Navy never looked close to closing the gap, with one notable exception.

A 50m sprint from Cmdr Bob Plath took him close to Army’s line before a desperate tackle put him over the sideline, thwarting Navy’s last chance of puting a score on the board.”