Exeter Departs For Sunnier Climes 
HMS Exeter left rain swept Portsmouth on 19 March to begin her
8-month deployment to the Far East. Onboard the ship there was great
anticipation at the thought of some of the interesting places she will visit
during the trip but the excitement of sailing was tinged with sadness for the
families and loved ones left behind.
Exeter will visit some extremely
interesting places, including a rare chance to see Vietnam and Japan. She will
also enjoy the chance to catch up on some of the Royal Navy's favourite ports,
including Hongky Fid (Hong Kong) and Singers (Singapore). During the trip she will play host
to people of many countries in one of her roles flying the flag for UK Defence
Diplomacy. Another very important aspect of the Deployment will be sport with
none more important than rugby.
Its been a very quiet start to the year for the
Red Lions, with Sea trials and Pre-deployment preparations. The team has also seen a large
turn around in personnel with lots of the key players departing and some new faces
joining.
Watch these pages for updates of the exploits of
Exeter's rugby team as they travel to the Far East. LPT Clayton
Patilla(Clubz) will be keeping you up to date with all the latest match
reports.
| Deployment Results
RAF Akrotiri 38 HMS Exeter 7
Madras 7's
Singapore Cicket Club 15 HMS Exeter 20
Vietnam Geckos 6 Trys HMS Exeter 2 Trys (10s)
Kowloom RFC 27 HMS Exeter 5
Shanghai Hairy Crabs 30 HMS Exeter 5
Quindoa Beech 7s - Won Mini Tournament
Manilla Nomads 5 HMS Exeter 65
Penang 5 HMS Exeter 48
|
EXETER V SINGAPORE CRICKET CLUB 2 MAY 04 
Next port of call for EXETER was Singapore. After constant badgering of the
liaison team it was still not confirmed whether or not an opposition for us had
been booked for our long weekend alongside. After a day in we knew that someone
had been booked to play us but had no idea of venue, time, date or who. Then we
had it confirmed as being at the local stadium pitch on Sun at 1700 against the
Hash house Harriet's. Of course come 1700 on Sunday no opposition in site and a
football tournament in progress on our pitch we were slightly miffed. As it
transpired the opposition had been told that it was a 1900 KO. The pitch had
been double booked and the opposition were in fact the Singapore Cricket Club
(SCC). All the best-laid plans go to waist! Any way after lots of aggressive
negotiations we managed to secure an hour between football matches to play a 30
min each way game.
What the delay had given us however was a great deal of preparation time. The
lads had been sent to the club for some much needed food and drink which in turn
meant that most were in a much fitter state than they would have been following
the nights previous excess.
A good squad turn out meant we could run through our full range of plays and
moves and were more than ready for kick off. The opposition looked the part and
were full of Ex-pat antipodeans who obviously knew what they were doing. This
was evident as we found ourselves 0-5 down after 32 seconds of play. After a
clever chip over the backs wrong footed the full back and winger allowing their
winger in for an easy touch down. Not to be disheartened a spirited come put us
level after 20 minutes through a well worked forwards move. The game was a bit
of a stale mate now with their fast backs running everything but not breaking
through some stiff defence by our backs. After half time our forwards really
turned on the style and started particularly to dominate the scrum resulting in
many balls won against the head. This lead to us storming into a 20-15 lead,
with all four tries coming from the forwards. With a minute on the clock, they
took a quick free kick gave them some running space out wide with the ball being
well moved by their backs. With a two on two the centre shipped the ball to
winger to touch down unchallenged - only for the referee to call the play back
for a forward pass, the sigh of relief could be heard throughout the ground. The
final whistle went for us to secure our first and most deserved win of the game.
Strong points from the game were set piece and tackling, but discipline and
organisation in defence across the backs must be improved.
On to a coach complete in full smelly kit and off to the SCC. Our eyes were a
picture when we pulled into the club set at the foot of the tallest skyscraper's
in Singapore set in lush grounds was the most beautiful colonial club building.
It was like stepping back to age of the Empire as servants handed us shower
towels and we were greeted to endless amounts of ale and a wonderful spread of
food. Our hosts were fantastic and have extended us a kind invite for a return
match at their ground upon our return in Aug.
|
AKROTIRI V HMS EXETER 31 MAR 04
Our second port of call and first for Rugby was Cyprus. The morning before
the match was spent on a pot holed jetty trying to put some line outs up and
running through some backs moves (more importantly trying to sweat the previous
nights beer out). Transport picked us up at 1300 and it was off to the ground.
Surprising upon arrival we were greeted by a lush pitch and excellent facilities
and were instantly made to feel welcome by the mainly RAF team. A Quick change
and into our spanking brand new strip, which Clubz got lots of grief for as
usual no pleasing
some people and the fact that there were only shorts big
enough for the two wingers.
Kick off and the lads were already starting to feel the effects of the
stifling heat, however we did have the better of the opening exchanges and
should have scored two before AKROTIRI took the initiative with a well worked
try through the forwards. This took a bit of the sting out of our lads and we
then shipped two poor tries to make the score 17-0. However not to be
downhearted we rallied back and just before the break a mistake by their backs
led to a great break by Clubz to release the egg for an easy touch down under
the posts for a 17-7 half time score. A few changes at half time and the second
half started as the first finished but try as we would, we just could not score.
The last ten minutes seemed like an eternity in the heat and fatigue really
started to show as we shipped a few more silly tries to give a final score of
38-7.
| MADRAS V HMS EXETER 7's 21 APRIL 04
A few days prior to arriving in Madras the Liaison officer excitedly informed
me that he had some interest from a local club that wanted to play us. I was
given a number to ring the head coach of the local region RFU (we would later
discover he was also No. 10 for the national team). A brief chat and explanation
that the pitch was on the small side we agreed to a small sevens
competition.
The ground was about 40 minutes form the ships berth and
situated in the International American School. The pitch we were please to see,
was remarkably lush compared to anything else we had seen in the area. The heat however was
a stifling 42 degrees in the shade. A quick change in the school (excellent
facilities) and out on to the pitch for our first decent warm up in a long time.
The opposition arrived and must have been all of the 6 foot plus people from the
whole region as we had seen none prior. Watching them warm up it became apparent
they meant business. All of them were very dextrous and well balanced runners
with good ball skills. In the opening exchanges it became apparent that they
shied form contact, but were extremely talented runners with as great bust of
pace. Although not outclassed in any game the eventual outcome would see the
Indians beating us 3 games to 1 in a very good natured and entertaining
afternoon. We later found out that they had four internationals playing that had
just returned form the National tour of the UK. Our hosts were excellent and the
night out was brilliant. India is an up and coming country in the IRB rankings
(93rd) but with the kind of enthusiasm shown to us it wont be long before their
provincial set-up is reaping rewards and they are climbing up the world ladder.
| EXETER V VIETNAM GECKOS 30 MAY 04
EXETER arrived in Ho Chi Min city, Vietnam on 27 May 04 after a 7 hour trip
up the Saigon river, mainly a good will visit with a view to strengthening
relations between the UK and Vietnam governments, our hosts still arranged us an
excellent spread of sport.
The rugby however came not form the military but in the form of the Vietnam
Geckos, a mixture of North and Southern Hemisphere Expats with a common interest
in the worlds greatest sport. Not a traditional match but a few new ideas we
played firstly against the Vietnam Boas, a ladies team at 7 a side touch Rugby
in a game that showed the lads how really unfit we actually are. We then played
the lads form the Geckos in a 15 minute a side game of tens. The speed at which
the mainly Antipeodean's played caught us totally unawares and we were soon a
few trys down. We then decided to tighten up our own attack and made more of a
game of it for the opposition. Ultimately the Geckos fitness and knowledge of
the shortened game would see them comfortable 6 trys to 2 winners. After the
game that was played in a five star country retreat we were treated to some fine
ale and good humoured singing and a good run ashore with the lads from the
team.
|
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