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Navy helps to float Vikings
By Barry Rollings
Volume 50, No. 10, June 14, 2007 |
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CONNECTIONS: President of RAN Rugby Union, CDRE Bruce Kafer, talks to Nick Smith, Media and Communications coordinator for the Brumbies, at the HMAS Canberra memorial beside Lake Burley Griffin. Nick is the grandson of Admiral Sir Victor Smith, former Chief of Naval Staff and Chief of Staff committee, who gave a commemorative address at the opening of the memorial in August 1981. Admiral Sir Victor Smith was onboard the HMAS Canberra when it was sunk during the Battle of Savo Island in 1942. Nick and CDRE Kafer discussed the opportunities available as a Navy Reserve officer. Navy sponsors the Brumbies and now will also sponsor the Navy Canberra Vikiings.
Photo: POPH David Connolly |
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The national capital’s quest for success in the inaugural Mazda Australian Rugby Championship will have decided nautical overtones with the launch of the Navy Canberra Vikings in Canberra on May 29.
Navy is the naming rights sponsor for the Navy Canberra Vikings for the rugby union competition which begins on August 10-12.
Navy already sponsors the Brumbies, the highly successful ACT team in the prestigious Super 14 competition.
The Navy Canberra Vikings got into the “warrior spirit” of things at the HMAS Canberra Memorial launch at Lake Burley Griffin, with head coach Nick Scrivener and players Saia Faingaa, Francis Fainifo and Peter Kimlin arriving courtesy of the Australian Navy Dive Team on a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB).
Scrivener, who has held the position of CA Brumbies assistant coach since 2005, says he’s looking forward to the challenge of leading the Navy Canberra Vikings through the ARC.
“While the exact make-up of the squad is yet to be finalised, we have no doubt that we will be very competitive during the ARC,” he said.
“We’re expecting to combine players with Wallaby experience and several established Brumbies with some of Australia’s best rising stars. I have no doubt we’ll be staking our claim for the Mazda Cup when the finals roll around in October”.
The Navy Canberra Vikings will stage four home matches, three at Manuka Oval, including their season-opener against the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday, August 11, and one at Canberra Stadium.
Brumbies Rugby CEO Andrew Fagan says the ARC is an important fixture on the Australian rugby schedule.
“We see this competition as an important pathway for players into Super 14 rugby, as well as providing a high standard of football for those not selected in the national squad,” he said.
“While there has been a divide between the standard in Super 14 and club rugby, this new competition is a middle ground that will benefit Australian rugby, in the same way that the Air New Zealand and Currie Cups have benefited New Zealand and South African rugby respectively”.
Chief of Navy VADM Russ Shalders AO, CSC, RAN, said he was pleased to be on board with the Navy Canberra Vikings.
“We’re very proud to be involved with the Navy Canberra Vikings,” he said. “Canberra rugby, like the Australian Navy, has a strong and proud history,” he said. “We’re looking forward to being involved with the Vikings and we wish them every success in the inaugural Australian Rugby Championship”. |
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