What's New? Hants & Isle of Wight Wing

Regional Inter Wing Senior Rugby & Netball

Sunday 5th November 2006

RAF Lyneham

Rugby Champions and so, so close for the Netball team!!!

Sunday 5th November was another excellent day for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wing at this years Inter-Wing Rugby and Netball.

The open age group girl’s netball tournament was held in the gymnasium at RAF Lyneham with the Wing coming second to Plymouth and Cornwall Wing.  Hants & IoW results were:

This was an excellent result with an improvement from 4th last year to runners up.  Additionally three cadets from the Wing side have been selected to represent South West Region on the 2nd December.

Also on the 5th December the Wing’s senior rugby team competed in the annual inter-wing competition held at RAF Lyneham. For the tournament the region was split into to two pools with the winning team from each pool competing in the final. The results from the Pool that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wing were drawn in were:

The opening match saw the fifteen of Hants & IoW play the ten of Plymouth and Cornwall.  The strength in the pack reduced to six man scrums and the additional players available to Hants & IoW meant the match was always one sided with eight unanswered tries run in and seven of the eight converted.

In the second match Hants & IoW came up against a powerful fifteen from Bristol and Gloucestershire Wing and the match was a well contested affair with the extra pace and superior ball handling of the Hampshire backs proving the difference and a try either side of half time with one converted, was enough to settle the score. 

This set up a final with Thames Valley Wing.  In their second hard fought match of the day Hants & IoW struggled to pick themselves up for the first half and although Thames Valley were only fielding eleven players the match was very close with Hampshire ahead at halftime by 7-0.  In the second half the team picked up their performance and with Richard Retallick kicking well and finishing the day with fifteen conversions from eighteen attempts Hants & IoW were able to pull away and finally finished runaway winners 35-0.

This is the first time that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wing have won the senior Rugby Trophy since 1980.  Nine cadets from the eighteen-man Wing squad have been selected as part of the travelling twenty-one man squad to represent Southwest Region at RAF Cosford on the 2nd December.