Rugby, Navy, Pilot
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Rugby, Navy, Pilot
Good luck to him. Don't know the rules, not sure if he'd ever have the chance to play for England. Not sure if the RN, or the RAF for that matter, has the slack to have in a post to do both like Rory. Hope he makes it to Dave.
Dean flies again after surviving wreckage
Most young English rugby players dream of playing at Twickenham. Very few get to do it, and there is only one about to do so having served a two-year ban for doping. Adam Dean will run out in the blue jersey of the Royal Navy in the annual match against the Army next Saturday, and 50,000 spectators at HQ will bear witness both to a dream fulfilled and a cautionary tale.
Dean originally intended to reach his goal in the white shirt of England but he does not bemoan his lot. "I see myself as representing Queen and country by playing for the Navy," he said, "so I am just as happy as if I was playing for England."
There have been tears along the way. Dean wept when the secretary of his club, Chester RFC, came to his home to deliver the results of his positive drugs test in March 2005. He cried with joy last month on the morning of his first match back after the ban, for the Combined Services' Under-23 team against a Vale of Glamorgan XV......
Today, Dean is a 20-year-old midshipman stationed in Portsmouth, soon to begin training as a Navy pilot in the Firefly aircraft; whereas he once had in mind a rugby contract with Sale Sharks, his aim now is active service in the fixed-wing Harriers and JSF (Joint Strike Fighters).
Nevertheless, he is "counting down the days" to Saturday, when his proud parents, John and Denise, will be at Twickenham. Though the Navy team has yet to be named, he is hoping to start at No 6. After appearances already against Plymouth Albion, London Irish and the RAF, he is starting all over again.
"The whole thing - being around the lads in the changing room, getting the boots back on - is dead emotional. Someone said to me that if I succeed as a pilot, I'll have to cut back on the rugby. I felt quite sick about it but you can't turn up to handle a £50 million plane with a rugby injury. And at least this time it will be my choice, and mine alone, if I don't play."
Dean flies again after surviving wreckage
Most young English rugby players dream of playing at Twickenham. Very few get to do it, and there is only one about to do so having served a two-year ban for doping. Adam Dean will run out in the blue jersey of the Royal Navy in the annual match against the Army next Saturday, and 50,000 spectators at HQ will bear witness both to a dream fulfilled and a cautionary tale.
Dean originally intended to reach his goal in the white shirt of England but he does not bemoan his lot. "I see myself as representing Queen and country by playing for the Navy," he said, "so I am just as happy as if I was playing for England."
There have been tears along the way. Dean wept when the secretary of his club, Chester RFC, came to his home to deliver the results of his positive drugs test in March 2005. He cried with joy last month on the morning of his first match back after the ban, for the Combined Services' Under-23 team against a Vale of Glamorgan XV......
Today, Dean is a 20-year-old midshipman stationed in Portsmouth, soon to begin training as a Navy pilot in the Firefly aircraft; whereas he once had in mind a rugby contract with Sale Sharks, his aim now is active service in the fixed-wing Harriers and JSF (Joint Strike Fighters).
Nevertheless, he is "counting down the days" to Saturday, when his proud parents, John and Denise, will be at Twickenham. Though the Navy team has yet to be named, he is hoping to start at No 6. After appearances already against Plymouth Albion, London Irish and the RAF, he is starting all over again.
"The whole thing - being around the lads in the changing room, getting the boots back on - is dead emotional. Someone said to me that if I succeed as a pilot, I'll have to cut back on the rugby. I felt quite sick about it but you can't turn up to handle a £50 million plane with a rugby injury. And at least this time it will be my choice, and mine alone, if I don't play."
