March is dominated by Anglo-French clashes for the Senior Men’s teams from the Royal Air Force, British Army and Royal Navy.
The RAF get to lay the marker down for the UK teams first, as they host the French Air Force at the StoneX Stadium on Wednesday, March 6. This is the first time the two teams will have met since March 2022, when the French prevailed 28-20 on their home turf.
But this time there will be plenty of inspiration for the RAF to perform, not least because the StoneX Stadium is home to the reigning Premiership and multi-time European champions, Saracens.
Kick off on Wednesday is 1700hrs and entry is free for all.
The British Army and Royal Navy both have challenging trips over the Channel later in the month.
The Army are heading to the rugby heartland of Pau, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, for their ‘Le Crunch’ against the French Army on Friday, March 15.
Twelve months ago the Army flew out of the blocks to rack up a 17-0 lead, which turned into a 27-12 win at the end of what was a fractious 80 minutes which asked plenty of questions of the red shirts’ discipline.
A day later the Royal Navy are in Vannes, host venue for the International Defence Force World Cup at the start of the season, to play the Marine Nationale. The travellers are seeking to retain the trophy they won in memorable fashion in Plymouth in 2023, when they beat the French 30-13.
The Royal Navy’s Senior Women are also in Vannes, where they will be seeking to overturn the 5-27 reverse they suffered against an aggressive French outfit at Brickfields Stadium 12 months ago.
There are plenty of other matches in March, too.
The Royal Navy’s Senior Men come up against Exeter Chiefs (Weds, Mar 6; KO 1930hrs), and the British Police (Weds, Mar 27; KO 1830hrs), while the Mariners face HM Prison Service (Weds, Mar 13; KO 1430hrs) and Torbay Sharks (Weds, Mar 27; KO 1900hrs).
The RAF Senior Men are scheduled to play Bristol Bears on Weds, Mar 13, with the Senior Women in line to travel to Leicester Tigers on Sat, Mar 16 (KO 1630hrs) and the Vultures playing Richmond (Weds, Mar 6; KO 1930hrs), Gibraltar Rugby (Mon, Mar 25 and Fri, Mar 29; both KO 1930hrs).
Finally, the Army’s Senior Men travel to Bedford Blues on Thurs, Mar 28, the Senior Women have games scheduled against the British Police (Thurs, Mar 14) and England Under-20 (Sat, Mar 23), and the Masters take on North Petherton on Sat, Mar 9 (KO 1400hrs).
Tickets remain on sale for the three Inter Service Championship double-headers:
Royal Navy v Royal Air Force | Brickfields Stadium, Plymouth | Sat, Apr 20 | www.plymouthalbion.com/tickets
British Army v Royal Navy | Twickenham Stadium | Sat, May 4 | www.eticketing.co.uk/rfu
Royal Air Force v British Army | Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester | www.eticketing.co.uk/gloucesterrugby