Selectors of the Royal Navy Rugby Union

Traditionally the Royal Navy Senior XV was selected by and under the management control of 'The Selector'.  More recently the role has evolved and the representative sides are managed by the Royal Navy Rugby Union's Director of Rugby who has also taken the traditional role of Selector. The first Director of Rugby was former Senior XV captain, Captain Chris Alcock RN.  Towards the end of his tenure as Director of Rugby, the Director Role and the Selector Role were split.  As a consequence, and to preserve the historical links that the Royal Navy Rugby Union has to the position of Selector, the History of Navy Rugby by Alligin Photography started in 2001 to record a Selector and a Director of Rugby.  The first Selector under this arrangement was Lieutenant Mark Sheldon.

The Director role and Selector role were re-united under Lieutenant Commander Geraint Ashton Jones and remained this way until Commander Mark Deller became Director of Rugby.  After his first season in charge it was generally accepted that the defined roles were no longer serving their intended purpose and there was a 'de facto' change to the relationship between the Senior XV Head Coach and that of the Director of Rugby.  To most accurately reflect the roles held for the 2015/16 season the History of Navy Rugby by Alligin Photography has once more reverted to recording two people in the role, with the first being the Selector, albeit named as Head Coach, as originally envisaged by the Royal Navy Rugby Union at their August 1911 meeting.

Chris Roberts held the position of Director of Rugby but due to Covid19 did not compete for a Senior XV Inter Services title.  Similarly when Rob O'Kane was appointed Director of Rugby the 2021 Inter Services had been cancelled, again due to Covid19

Currently there have only been four selectors who were not previously capped players when they were entrusted to Select the side and all were successful in winning an Inter Service title; John Moore Casement [1931], Geoff Randle [1970], Geraint Ashton Jones [2010] and Ash Coates [2016].

The full list of Inter Service winning Selectors is as follows:

The Sole Selector

When the Royal Navy Rugby Union first formed its Central Committee in 1907 they elected a selection Committee under the Chairmanship of Percy Royds.  This remained the way the Royal Navy Team was selected until 1911 and it was the only time that the Secretary was involved with selection.  At the Annual General Meeting of 30th August 1911 Commander Royds proposed "That the Selection Committee shall consist of one officer."  The motion, seconded by Ernest Roberts was carried unanimously .  Lieutenant Walcott, seconded by Captain Phillpotts then proposed "That Eng Lieut Roberts be asked to act as the Selection Committee"  Again this was carried unanimously.  Since that day the Royal Navy Rugby Union has had a 'Sole Selector' although it did come under debate during Captain Browne's tenure.

Ernest Roberts went on to be the Selector on four different occasions, covering seven seasons, a record that stands today. Another returnee was Trevor 'Binge' Gatehouse who completed two stints in the 1980s. Ginger Osborne who had two stints before and after WWII and Mark Deller, who acted as a Selector when Chris Alcock was Director of Rugby and in his own right when he became the last person to hold both the position of Selector nad the newly formed Director of Rugby.

Of the 43 people to have held the role of Sole Selector only 20 have delivered an Inter Service winning team.