| Founded | 1918 |
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| Official website | |
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The Royal Air Force Rugby Union (RAFRU) was formed in 1918 to administer the playing of rugby union in the Royal Air Force. It fields a representative side that competes in the Inter-Services tournament with the Army Rugby Union and the Royal Navy Rugby Union. [1]
The founding of the RAFRU relies much on the shoulders of William Wavell Wakefield. He joined the Royal Navy Air Service but on the formation of the Royal Air Force in April 1918 he transferred to them. He was one of the founders of the RAFRU; and in its early years a driving force:- he was a player, captaining the team; a selector; and the secretary of the RAFRU. [2]
He played in 8 Inter-Service matches for the club, captaining the side in all the matches. His last two matches for RAFRU were particularly noteworthy.
The RAFRU played its first Inter-Service match at Twickenham Stadium on 14 February 1923. This was against the Royal Navy Rugby Union. They beat the Navy 3–0 in the match. Another Inter-Service match was organised against the Army Rugby Union on 10 March 1923, again at Twickenham, and again RAFRU were victorious, winning the match 13-5 and becoming Twickenham's Inter-Service champions at the first time of asking. [3]
The RAF-Army match was Wakefield's last match as a player for RAFRU. That same year he was called up to the England squad.
2018 became a notable year for the club as they beat both the Army and Navy sides, becoming Inter-Service Champions for the first time since 1994. [1]
The RAFRU run a women's side. They compete for the Molly Rose trophy with the women's navy side. [2]
The veterans side is known as the Royal Air Force Vultures. [2]
The following former RAFRU players have represented Scotland at full international level.
The following former RAFRU players have represented Wales at full international level.
The following former RAFRU players have represented England at full international level.
The following former RAFRU players have represented Ireland at full international level.
Rory Underwood, is an English former rugby union player. He is England's record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games for Leicester Tigers between 1983 and 1997, he also played for Middlesbrough, Bedford Blues and the Royal Air Force. Underwood toured with the British and Irish Lions in 1989 and 1993 playing in six tests and scoring one try. In 1992 Underwood played for England alongside his younger brother Tony Underwood, becoming the first brothers to play together for England since 1937.
Cyril Nelson "Kid" Lowe, was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, a First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and supposedly the inspiration for W. E. Johns' character "Biggles".
The Army Navy Match is the annual rugby union match played between the senior XV teams of the Royal Navy and British Army. It marks the culmination of the annual Inter-Services Competition. Although a match was played between the officers of the British Army and the officers of the Royal Navy at The Oval, London on 13 February 1878, it was not until 1907 that the Army Navy Match became an annual fixture. For the first fixture the match Secretary was Surg Lt George Levick RN. From 1909 it was jointly administered by the newly formed Royal Navy Rugby Union and the Army Rugby Union. Since then it has been played every season, with the exception of during the world wars and COVID-19 pandemic when the matches were suspended.
The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partridge's idea to have a body to administer the playing of rugby union in the British Army.
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.
Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force from the Second World War to his retirement in the late 1950s. Prior to the Second World War, while Beamish was in the RAF, he was a keen rugby union player, playing for Leicester and being capped 26 times for Ireland and was selected for the 1930 British Lions tour. He was also the chairman of the RAF Rugby Union and an Air Force rugby selector.
Air Commodore Alfred Drummond Warrington-Morris, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the first half of the 20th century.
John Hoani Macdonald was a New Zealand sportsman. He competed in rowing at the 1930 Empire Games, winning gold in the coxed fours, and at the 1932 Summer Olympics, becoming one of the first two Māori Olympians. He played rugby union for New Zealand Māori from 1926 to 1935 and professional rugby league in England from 1935 to 1939. During World War II he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and played rugby union for New Zealand Services and England Services sides. He also played tennis for the Royal New Zealand Air Force team in armed forces matches at Wimbledon. He was inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
Air Vice Marshal Sir William Tyrrell, was a rugby union international who played for Ireland and was part of the British & Irish Lions team that toured South Africa in 1910. He went on to have a successful career in the British Army and Royal Air Force and became the Honorary surgeon to the King in 1939.
Captain Lewis Robertson was a Scottish rugby union player. He played for London Scottish FC and was capped nine times for Scotland between 1908 and 1913. He also played for the Army from 1904 to 1914, and several other clubs.
The New Zealand Army rugby team of 1919 was a rugby union team which represented New Zealand after the end of the First World War. Although spoken of as a single team, there were several New Zealand Services teams playing in Britain at the conclusion of the War. The most notable being the touring Army XV who played a series of games throughout Great Britain and France, including an internationally recognised match against the Wales national team. With the introduction of the King's Cup; a services tournament between forces from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, the team split intself in two. The 'A' Team taking part in the King's Cup, while the 'B' team continued touring against club and county opponents.
Robert Harold George Weighill, CBE DFC (1920–2000) was a rugby union international who represented England in the Five Nations Championship in 1947 and 1948. He also captained his country, and later became Secretary of the Rugby Football Union. Weighill served in the Royal Air Force and rose to the rank of Air Commodore.
Anthony Henniker-Gotley was a rugby union international who represented England from 1910 to 1911. He also captained that country.
United Services Portsmouth RFC once featured amongst the top clubs of English rugby. With a proud history and boasting many former international, county and inter-service players.
The Royal Navy Rugby Union (RNRU) was formed in 1907 to administer the playing of rugby union in the Royal Navy. It fields a representative side that competes in the Army Navy Match, although a side representing the Royal Navy predates the formation of the union by at least twenty-eight years. The RNRU also has had a number of international players within its representative squads in all forms of the game. In 2011 the RNRU produced its first women's international as well as providing the captain of England VIIs.
Martin Alun Whitcombe is an English former rugby union footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s.
Alpin Erroll Thomson played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and the Royal Navy Cricket Club in 1922 and 1923. He also played international rugby union for Scotland. He was born in Perth, Western Australia and died at Hawridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. In some sources, his second name is spelled "Errol".
Flt Lt Robert Howell Craster Usher MC AFC was born in 1896 and was christened in East Lulworth, Dorset on 15 November 1896. He had a short but distinguished career in both the military during World War One, and subsequently, playing rugby. He died in a flying accident at the age of just 27.
The Royal Navy Rugby League team is a British rugby league team representing the Royal Navy. They play their home matches at the United Services Recreation Ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire. They were founded in 1997 following an increase in support of rugby league by members of the Royal Navy.
The Royal Air Force Rugby League is a British rugby league team representing the Royal Air Force. They were officially set up in 1994 following an unofficial team set up in 1992 to circumvent a British Armed Forces ban on rugby league. They play in the Challenge Cup and they play their home matches at RAF Cranwell in Cranwell, Lincolnshire.
