The 1922 Army Navy Match was the third win for the Navy since
the post-war resumption of the fixture in 1920. In all three of
these matches, the Navy team featured one of England's most
celebrated half-back partnerships - fly-half WJA 'Dave' Davies and
scrum-half Cecil Kershaw. Davies, who captained the Navy side in
1922, had served aboard HMS Iron Duke and the Grand Fleet Flagship
HMS Queen Elizabeth during the First World War. He played for
England on twenty-two occasions. Kershaw, who wore this badge,
served as a Royal Navy submariner. He achieved sixteen
international caps and also represented Great Britain in fencing at
the Olympic Games in 1920 and 1924. Kershaw earned fourteen of his
sixteen caps alongside Davies and together they never lost a game
for England.
The Army started well, and during the first half, their intense
forward play subdued the Navy's experienced pack. The Army opened
the scoring with a try but missed the conversion. The scores were
then levelled when the Navy kicked a penalty goal awarded for an
offside infringement at a scrum. In the second half, fortune turned
in favour of the Navy team: after receiving quick ball from
Kershaw, Davies struck a drop goal which took them into the lead.
The score was 7-3 at full-time, and with their 9-6 victory over the
RAF, the Navy were declared Inter-Services Champions.
One hundred years on, Twickenham Stadium will host the
103rd Army Navy Match for the men's teams and the 18th Match for
the women's teams. This will be the first time that the women's
game has been held at Twickenham. The Army has registered more wins
in both the men's and women's series, but which team will be
victorious this year?
