Fijian sailors helped power HMS Raleigh to victory when the Cornish team travelled to Hampshire to challenge for the Royal Navy’s Rugby Union Sevens competition.

The training Torpoint establishment put four teams into the contest at HMS Collingwood in Fareham – two male and two female.

Raleigh’s second string fought their way through to the Plate semi-finals, despite fielding the bare minimum of seven players, with no substitutes.

But the first team, made up chiefly of youngsters from Fiji plus LPT Maxwell and SA Shields, won every match on their way to the final, where they came up against the home team.

And even Collingwood proved no match for Raleigh. Despite scoring first, they were well beaten - 24-12 to the visitors.

The contest at the warfare training establishment proved a useful pointer to form for the full RN rugby squads.

Three of the women’s side were picked to join the squad, while CH Drauninin, SA Shields and OM Hunt were picked for the RN U21s and CH Ragede, CH Drauninin and STD Luveniyali were selected for the full RN squad.

And with the success of the England rugby team still being celebrated around the country, coach Clive Woodward has revealed how Royal Marines willpower helped drive his side to victory in the World Cup.

Woodward told his players to emulate the Royal Marines’ mind-set for the clash which brought the Webb Ellis Cup to the Northern Hemisphere for the first time – a lesson he learned on a visit to the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone four years ago.

And as the rugby supremo geared up for the final showdown with host nation Australia, he reminded players of what he experienced in 1999.

“When we were training with the RM, their senior officers pointed out that their preparation was without parallel, and that was why they were the best,” he explained.

“Their mind-set is that they know what is going to happen. The secret of success is that if it doesn’t happen that way, they have to be able to adjust immediately.

“When my guys ran out in the final they felt how the game was going to unfold. But when things didn’t go as planned, they changed things. It’s a great comparison with the Royal Marines about how your mind-set has got to be.”