JEDDAH, 6 March 2007 — Back to avenge their two matches to one defeat at the hands of Jeddah on Jan. 22, the Royal Navy rugby team, from HMS Campbeltown, failed to overcome a revitalized Jeddah Rugby Club (JRFC). Playing ten-a-side, a fit and tightly coordinated Jeddah gave no room to Campbeltown to open up the game and use their three-quarter line to good effect.

HMS Campbeltown called at Jeddah while returning to the UK after duties in the Red Sea and along the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. It is a long-standing tradition that visiting Royal Navy sailors stretch their legs in a series of sporting encounters during courtesy visits.

“It was a very tough game,” commented JRFC chairman Jake Ball. “Teams from the Royal Navy are never pushovers and Campbeltown was here to win. That gave the game an extra edge.”

JRFC’s loose head prop Jacques Kline drew first blood with a sharp break away from a set piece scrum on Campbeltown’s 20-meter line. Gathering the ball on the move, Kline charged for the corner, brushing off two tackles on the way. He then demonstrated his all round skills with a well-taken conversion.

Stung into response, Campbeltown ratcheted up their attack and with a swift clearance from a loose scrummage a few minutes later flicked the ball to Richard North on their wing who in a blistering turn of speed ran the ball into Jeddah’s corner for an unconverted try. At half time the score stood at seven points to five for Jeddah with all to play for.

JRFC returned to the field determined to consolidate their lead. The second half saw a display of rapid and terminally effective defense tackling from JRFC shutting down Campbeltown’s attack and opening the way for three more Jeddah tries.

Andrew Vele for Jeddah ran one in and in a moment of inspired opportunism snatched another in the right corner to make JRFC lead unassailable. David Kinkead supplied the final belt-and-braces try with a nicely worked journey across the Navy line, bringing the final score to JRFC 22 points, HMS Campbeltown 5.

The game was however not without incident; a Royal Navy player, taking a hard tackle from a determined JRFC earned himself a suspected broken collar bone and, according to the wry comments of his teammates, will have the reward of light duties aboard ship for the cruise back to the UK.

“The navy are a pleasure to play against,” commented Ball. “You know you are going to get a really hard match but there is never a hint of crossing the boundaries from hard and fair into bad feeling.”

Rugby is experiencing something of a resurgence in the Kingdom and especially Jeddah as the season progresses. The JRFC’s website — www.jeddahrugby.com will keep the increasing number of rugby devotees up to date with activities in Jeddah and with rumored future developments in the sport within the Kingdom.