Nearly 35 years between matches - Royal New Zealand Navy take on the Royal Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has recently hosted the Royal Navy (RN) in a three match series at the National Hockey Centre (NHHA) with both men's and women's teams competing. The tour also included a warm-up game against invitational teams and a "social" mixed game against the Royal NZ Air Force.

The RN team featured a blend of players drawn from their U25s, seniors, and masters squads — a real showcase of depth and versatility across the ranks. Despite both sides managing player availability around military commitments, the series saw strong representation - the most notable moment going to NZ international Jan Peterson, who celebrated his 50th cap for RNZN.

Match details were as follows:

Match 1 (5 June):

The first matches were both extremely hard-fought affairs with the home team winning each game 1-0. The closeness of the matches foreshadowed what would be a competitive series.

Match 2 (9 Jun):

The RNZN women came out strong against the RN team in Match 2 and were convincing 3-1 winners to take the series with a game in hand whilst the men's game finished in a 1-1 draw after the RN fought back from a goal down to keep the series alive going into the third and final game later in the week.

Match 3: (12 Jun):

With plenty of pride on the line, both RN teams turned the tables on their hosts in the final matches of the series with the RN women winning 4-3 in an intense game whilst the RN men saved their best till last, achieving a well earned 3-1 victory over the RNZN, also managing to win the series on goal difference.