Five women star in Navy victory

LACW Stacey Greenwood and OCDT Dani Phelps in action for Navy.

FIVE Air Force women’s rugby players were part of a memorable victory with the Navy side that defeated Army at North Sydney Oval on June 14.

The 14-7 victory was the first time Navy has defeated Army since women’s rugby was incorporated into the National Interservice Carnival in 1997.

The five Air Force players helped bolster the Navy side, while it is hoped the victory will inspire more women to pull on a rugby jumper to produce a format featuring all three Service teams.

The five Air Force players were: Corporal Shanna Antrim (32 Sqn), Leading Aircraftwomen Stacey Greenwood (323 CSS) and Kate Harry (381 ECSS) and Officer Cadets Ilka Jakitsch and Dani Phelps (ADFA).

Giving the team a tri-service flavour was coach WO1 Ross Cullen, a member of the New Zealand Army, who described the win as a team effort that was “all heart”.

Army led 7-0 after 20 minutes before Navy responded almost immediately to level the score, which remained 7-all at half-time.

Ten minutes into the second half, Australian Wallaroos representative LEUT Nyree Osieck scored under the posts and added the extras to give Navy a 14-7 margin.

Navy dominated field position for the remainder of the match, with Army making a dash at the Navy line as the full-time siren sounded.

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