Victory at the home of The Honourable Artillery Company avenged the heavy loss suffered by the Reds in last season’s fixture and saw them move on from their defeat to Wests Warriors in the first round of the Challenge Cup in January.

Kgn Jeremia Daveta, LCpl Pita Tamani (both Lancs), Pte Dylan Jackson and Pte Aborosio Sovatabua (both RLC) all crossed for tries to seal victory in style and head coach Cpl Leigh Paul-Rientoul (R Yorks) was delighted with his team’s performance given the fact key personnel were missing.

“We had a lot of players out due to deployments and injuries, so I’m really pleased we managed to get the result against a well drilled side,” he told SoldierSport.

“We set some goals before the game and discipline was the key area to work on.

“Secondly, we had to earn the right to play and not be too expansive early on. We were patient, and that paid off.

“The players now have a spring in their step. Hopefully, they can do the hard work needed outside of camp, stay injury free, play in the Lawson Cup and then go again.”

Fullback Gdsm Semiti Driti (Coldm Gds) and wing Sovatabua both impressed with their physicality in a succession of strong carries, while Capt Ben Waud (Ranger) played a starring role at prop as he continued his return from injury.

With the new campaign now under way, attention turns to the Inter-Services and Paul-Rientoul said he and his coaching staff will be keeping a keen eye on fixtures in the corps-level Lawson Cup as squads for that tournament take shape.

“It is a chance for us to identify players and initially draft them into our academy side,” he added. “That system is working really well.

“We took a lot of positives from last year, despite losing to the Royal Navy, when injuries cost us.

“If we can stay at full strength there is no reason why we cannot turn that around.

“We got a good result against the Royal Air Force and hopefully that can continue. We will go all out for two wins.” Elsewhere at the HAC, the Infantry defeated the Royal Artillery 36-14 to retain the 1925 Rebels Cup.