UKAF v North Select XV Report – Military vs Cancer 2026

UKAF 42 – 26 North of England Select XV
Saturday 4 July 2026, Castle Park, Doncaster

The Military vs Cancer Armed Forces Day rugby event finished on a high at Castle Park. In the final match, the UKAF Men scored six converted tries to beat a North of England Select XV 42–26. A crowd of 1,149 watched on.

It was also the first time all three UKAF sides had played on the same day. Earlier, the Under-23s lost 33–21 to England Counties Under-20s. Meanwhile, the Women beat North East Women 31–17. All proceeds went to Military vs Cancer, which supports serving and former personnel facing cancer.

Before kick-off, the crowd held a minute’s applause for Charlotte Lindsay, who died earlier in the week. She was the mother of UKAF loosehead Tam Lindsay. As a tribute, Tam started the match with her name embroidered on the back of his shirt. Afterwards, the York and Military Wives Choir led the national anthem.

Head coach Lt Col Tim Osman named several new caps who had impressed in the Inter-Services. These included a new centre partnership of Matthew Blee and Penaia Tagutu. Hooker Pete Austin captained the side.

Rigelsford sets the tempo

Scrum-half Will Rigelsford was in control from the start. After three minutes, the forwards carried to within a metre of the line. Rigelsford then spotted that nobody was guarding the side of the ruck. He threw a dummy and darted over, and Jake Hanley converted.

However, the North hit back after 15 minutes. They tapped a penalty quickly from a scrum five metres out. Openside Matt Gallagher then spun through contact to score, and the conversion levelled it at 7–7.

After that, UKAF’s lineout steals kept North possession scarce. Rigelsford soon grabbed his second try. First, he fired a pass across the face of his forwards on the short side. Then he looped round to take the return inside ball. Soon after, Tam Lindsay broke through the middle and Ben Mallett carried on. Finally, number 8 Oni Nayagi powered over. Hanley’s conversions made it 21–7.

In fact, only a superb cover tackle stopped UKAF going further ahead. Senitiki Nayalo was clear and racing for the corner. However, North scrum-half Alex Davis chased him down and knocked the ball loose.

On the stroke of half-time, the North finally made their maul count. Gallagher broke off the back of it for his second try. The conversion was missed because the ball blew off the tee. As a result, UKAF led 21–12 at the break.

Fresh legs, same pace

UKAF carried on where they left off. Five minutes into the second half, Senitiki Nayalo’s inside pass sent Drew Davison over. Hanley’s fourth conversion then made it 28–12.

A wave of replacements followed. They included Elliot Berryman, whose father played for the Combined Services. Meanwhile, the North dominated territory for a spell. They had a try ruled out for obstruction, and UKAF held a carrier up over their own line. Eventually, though, the pressure told. Winger Cam Brown came off the shoulder of his fly-half and stayed on his feet to score. The conversion cut the gap to 28–19.

Soon after, UKAF had a replacement front-rower sin-binned. Even so, they scored again with 14 men. Chris Mills broke through the middle, and Sam Boxhall kept the tempo high. Replacement fly-half Mikey McDonald then stepped and accelerated through to score. He also converted his own try for 35–19.

Military vs Cancer: the final ten minutes

The North got another lifeline when a forward powered over from close range. The conversion made it 35–26 with eight minutes left. Chasing the game from deep, they tried a cross-field kick. Unfortunately for them, it backfired. Kieron Prescott gathered, swerved infield and dived under the posts. In the end, McDonald’s conversion was the last kick of the match.

Pete Austin lifted the trophy as the curtain came down on a successful first Military vs Cancer day at Castle Park.

Watch the full replay on YouTube