Naval Air Command are the new holders of the John Inverdale Trophy after a narrow victory over Plymouth in this year’s Inter Command rugby union festival.

With success in the Sevens already under their belts and the presence of Fijian players in the line-up, Plymouth were strongly fancied for the title, named in honour of the former surgeon captain who was a stalwart of Naval rugby.

But they were beaten 13-10 in an exciting final which proved a fine advert for the game, watched by a crowd of 150.

Last year the event was badly affected by Operation Fresco, when the Armed Forces provided emergency cover for striking firefighters, and such was the effect on the Air Command team that they could not field a side.

But a year on, all five commands were able to put up full sides for the four-day tournament in Plymouth.

In the earlier rounds, Plymouth walloped Portsmouth 45-12, with the Fijian influence having an immediate impact, and went on to annihilate a depleted Scotland team by 68-0.

Air Command notched a 17-10 victory over the Royal Marines, partly helped by handling errors by the Corps at crucial moments.

The Royal Marines bounced back to trounce Portsmouth 23-3 to claim a place in the Plate final against the Scots.

The Plate final was a landslide success for the Corps. Scotland held out for 13 minutes before the first cracks appeared in their defence, with Bucknel scoring the first of his side’s 16 tries.

The Scots managed top raise a cheer when Richardson intercepted a pass ten minutes from time to score their only try in a 98-7 demolition job.

The Trophy final was thankfully a much closer affair, with all eyes on Plymouth’s Fijian backs who had been in dazzling form in the earlier rounds.

Throughout the 80 minutes there was little to choose between the two sides. Air Command spent most of the second half camped in Plymouth territory, but it was the West Country side which scored the first try when Lowrie touched down.

Phillips’ kicking for Air Command kept his team in the game, before Plymouth edged ahead with a try from Stevenson on 57 minutes.

That sparked the airmen into action. They were awarded a penalty try after Plymouth collapsed a scrum, and Phillips converted, giving NAC a crucial 13-10 lead with 15 minutes to go.

Plymouth had a last-gasp chance to win the match with ten minutes remaining, but a dash for the corner was eventually blocked out by the NAC defence and the game was over.

Jendy Weekes, Surg Capt Inverdale’s daughter and joint provider of the trophy, performed the honours in presenting the trophies – her TV presenter brother and rugby fan John was unable to attend this year’s final as he was covering the Rugby World Cup tournament in Australia.

The tournament provided a useful guide as to form of players as the new season of fixtures gets under way tomorrow as the Navy takes on Dorset and Wiltshire at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, tomorrow.