New IRFU Rugby Development Officer, Sam Refshauge, has arrived in country and is now busying himself doing what we here at the IRFU do best; developing the game here at the grass-roots level. With legendary former Queensland and Australia hooker Chris “Buddha” Handy visiting for the Indonesian Rugby Businessman’s Lunch last week, the pair got together to watch some schools’ rugby and pass on tips to the young players from Cita Buana and Lab Schools, who put on a game to remember. The Jakarta Globe was there to cover the story

Wimbo Satwiko
Two Jakarta High Schools Huddle Up for Rugby Lessons

On the field, just as in the classroom, students learn better by doing.

With that in mind, some 30 boys and girls from two Jakarta high schools, Lab School and Cita Buana High, learned about rugby firsthand when the latter held a training session and exhibition game at its campus on Tuesday.

The session was part of a continuing effort to introduce rugby to Indonesia at a grassroots level.

Equally crucial to education is a good teacher, and the students had a wealth of knowledge at their disposal with former Wallabies and Queensland star Chris Handy on hand to offer tips.

Arianni Citra Frasdillia, one of the girls in attendance, said she wasn’t surprised that so many girls enjoyed the sport.

“It’s a team sport and it’s different,” she said. “Some girls like basketball and others like other sports. We just love playing
rugby.”

The first session was held with mixed teams of three boys and two girls, and played with touch rugby rules, where a player is down when an opponent catches them with two hands. A five-a-side girls game followed, and Cita Buana displayed good skills and speed despite only training together for a month.

The boys played with standard rules, and though tensions rose when the game got tough, the coaches managed to keep their players in line.

Cita Buana got the better of the visitors, but Lab School coach Iswahyudi said he was grateful for the experience.

“Cita Buana is much better than us, as some of their players are very familiar with the sport,” he said. “But our team displayed encouraging performances, especially the girls. I think the Lab School girls team might be the only all Indonesian team.”

Lab School started rugby as an extracurricular activity in August 2008 and has grown steadily since then.

Cita Buana benefits from the knowledge of Iswahyudi, who is also the head coach of the SMA 3 rugby team.

Another local school, Pesantren Darunnajah, took part in the inaugural Indonesian Schools 10s tournament at the Pelita Harapan School campus in Karawaci,
Banten, in January.

Due to the tragic events in Ciputat last Friday, the IRFU decided to cancel the weekend’s fixtures for the Fez by Aphrodite Cup. The IRFU would like to extend its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and those affected by this tragedy. We will advise at a later date if and when the round will be replayed. In the meantime, round 3 will be played at ISCI on April 4.

Saturday, March 21 saw the inaugural round of the Fez by Aphrodite Cup commence at the ISCI ground in Tangerang, Banten. Under gloomy skies and amounts of precipitation that caused some worry, especially with the far right corner of the field resembling a water polo venue rather than one on which you’d play rugby, the great and the good of the IRFU gathered to indeed concur that play was possible.

With the weather clearing towards the 4.30 p.m. kick-off time, the mighty ISCI Komodos and Samurai took to the pitch for the opening salvo in this year’s competition. And despite an early try by both sides, the half-time score resembled that of the first hour of a cricket game at 46-5.

The second half saw three more unanswered Komodo tries before the Samurai crossed for their second of the day. Alas Morita’s five-pointer was to be the last for the outpaced Japanese outfit who eventually went down 94-10.

In the second, the highly anticipated grudge match between the Bandung Rams and the Jakarta Bantengs was played under lights and the full-strength local boys were out to prove their arrival on the local rugby scene. The half time score was no surprise with the Bantengs holding a slender 10-5 lead at the interval. A further try just after the break looked to put the match beyond doubt, but the indomitable Rams hit back seven minutes later with a converted try, leaving the fixture poised on a knife-edge at 15-12. However, those of us hoping for a close finish were to be disappointed as it was all one-way traffic from there on. A thoroughly deserving Bantengs outfit closed out the game 30-12 and showed that they will be a big threat to the dominance of the Komodos this year.

In case you have been living in a cave for the last month or have the internet skills to avoid the spam bombing we’ve been engaging in from IRFU HQ here in sunny Menteng, you should have heard about the 2009 IRFU Businessman’s Lunch on the 25th of March at the Ritz Carlton in Mega Kuningan. If you haven’t, you have now, so don’t make us come out and find you in order to drag you there kicking and screaming!

But if you are not the sort of person who responds to threats, taunts and insults, allow me to sell you on the benefits of this event. Firstly, you get three hours of drinks and food from a 5-star hotel whose catering is renowned as the best in town. Second, yourself and a couple of hundred like-minded souls get to eat, drink and breathe rugby for the best part of the afternoon. Third, in addition to the above, there is all the Chris “Buddha” Handy one can get, and boy is that a lot! Finally, this is the biggest networking event since Bill Gates and Steve Jobs last got together for their last pajama party. Anyone who is anyone in town on that day will be there.

So if you haven’t yet got your ticket, please fire off an email to rugbygm at gmail dot com and we will let you know how to avoid embarrassing yourself and get you a guernsey for the most spectacular rugby event of the year*

*so far!

The premier XV-a-side competition of the Indonesian rugby calendar, the “Fez by Aphrodite Cup” is set to explode onto the hallowed turf of the ISCI ground, Ciputat Tangerang this weekend.

Sponsor Fez Bar of Kemang proudly lends its name to what should be 10 rounds of action-packed, pile-driving, lock-up-your-daughters rugby in what will be the biggest season yet. Rounds one to six remain at ISCI, but as part of the IRFU brief to take the game to the four corners of nation, we are proud to announce that additional venues have been added. Having already talked up the scenic UPI ground in Bandung, which by no doubt you will all be visiting given the glowing report, we will say no more than be there on the 16th of May for Indonesian rugby’s equivalent of a six-man, tag team title bout with the Rams taking on the Bantengs and ISCI’s Komodos and Samurai battling it out for the belt. The 23rd sees us head to the Jakarta International School, scene of the earlier JIS 10’s, while we go back to Sekolah Pelita Harapan for round 8 on the 30th of May. Those who had the pleasure of attending the IRFU Schools’ 10’s will attest to what a state-of-the-art facility this is, and if your significant other is nagging you about all the time spent watching rugby, you can drop her (or him) around the corner for some shopping so that she can cool her (or his) heels. Finally, British International School will host the final preliminary round before the finals, whose location will be known later to the date.

Now that you know, your excuses not to come and watch the cream of Indonesian rugby play are few if any. But just for those of you whose reading comprehension is below that of a sixth grader, we’ll print it again, without the associated waffle.

Round 1 Saturday March 21
Venue – ISCI 4.30pm ISCI Komodos vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm Jkt Bantengs vs. Bandung Rams

Round 2 Saturday March 28
Venue – ISCI 4.30pm Bandung Rams vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Komodos

Round 3 Saturday April 4
Venue – ISCI 4.30pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm ISCI Komodos vs. Bandung Rams

Round 4 Saturday April 18
Venue – ISCI 4.30pm Jkt Bantengs vs. Bandung Rams
6pm ISCI Komodos vs. ISCI Samurai

Round 5 Saturday April 25
Venue – tbc 4.30pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Komodos
6pm Bandung Rams vs. ISCI Samurai

Round 6 Saturday May 16
Venue – UPI Bandung 4.30pm ISCI Komodos vs. Bandung Rams
6pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Samurai

Round 7 Saturday May 23
Venue – JIS 4.30pm ISCI Komodos vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm Jkt Bantengs vs. Bandung Rams

Round 8 Saturday May 30
Venue – SPH 4.30pm Bandung Rams vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Komodos

Round 9 Saturday June 6
Venue – BIS 4.30pm Jakarta Bantengs vs. ISCI Samurai
6pm ISCI Komodos vs. Bandung Rams

Finals Series Saturday June 13
Venue – tbc 4.30 pm Plate Final (3rd vs. 4th)
6pm Cup Final (1st vs. 2nd)