By
CAPT James Nicholas
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ASRU
players clash with the US Naval accademy team at Annapolis
during the ADF side’s North America tour last year.
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THIS
year’s Australian Services rugby season will be fiercely
contested by all of the single-Service participants as they vie
for the coveted status of national champions.
The Army women put on a dominant display of rugby to win last
year’s title Australian Services Rugby Championship (ASRC)
Commodore Mick Dunne Trophy.
The ASRC men’s competition between Army, Navy and Air Force
will be contested from May 15-21. Air Force and Navy have been
preparing hard for their return encounters in an attempt to dislodge
Army from its top spot in ADF rugby.
Last year Army put on a dominant display of fast running rugby
highlighted by their loose forwards, who provided good service
to the back line and helped them to run out convincing winners.
Air Force players will undertake a pre-ASRC lead up, which includes
match-toughening encounters against their New Zealand counterparts,
while newly appointed Navy coach Geoff Stokes has been putting
the hopefuls through their paces in an attempt to single out the
best squad for the upcoming competition.
ASRU chairman Commodore Kevin Taylor said the organisation hoped
to improve on spectator figures from last year’s ASRC.
“Last year’s event attracted, on average, 750 spectators
per game and I would like to see an improvement on this for the
2005 fixtures,” he said.
“ASRU’s long-term goal is to attract much larger crowds.
The standard of inter-Service rugby is excellent and I believe
that this year’s competition will be worth the effort of
people getting to Coogee Oval at Randwick to support their respective
teams.”
Apart from the fierce competition expected for the ASRC team event,
the Wing Commander John Caldwell Perpetual Trophy competition
for places in the ASRU squad is also expected to be tough.
Last year ASRU undertook a successful tour of Canada and the US,
winning all of its games against quality opposition, such as the
Canadian Pacific Pride (Canadian national under-23 side).
For full details of ASRC and other ASRU match times and locations
visit the ASRU website at www.servicesrugby.asn.au.
