Saturday 14th November saw the heavyweights of schoolboy rugby in Asia gathered at the coveted British International School for the U’16s Rugby 10’s tournament.

With a focus on Rugby development Indonesian schools teams from Darunnajah, Cita Buana, SMA 3 and Labschool Kebayoran were also invited to participate.

A great day of rugby was had by all, as well as a great post-tournament function.

A special thanks needs to be given to Denis Clarke and Matt Deegan from BIS for organising the tournament and the referees from the Indonesian Rugby Referees Association for officiating the games.

Time Game Score Referee
8.00 UWCSEA v ISKL (Pool 1) 0-24 Steve M
8.30 Tanglin Trust School v BISJ (Pool 2) 30-0 John S
9.00 JIS v Darunnajah (Pool 1) 30-0 Chris R
9.30 KLASS v Bantengs Development (Pool 2) 30-0 Seb S
10.00 UWCSEA v JIS (Pool 1) 0-30 Geoff
10.30 Tanglin Trust School v KLASS (Pool 2) 7-17 Steve
11.00 ISKL v Darunnajah (Pool 1) 17-0 John
11.30 BISJ v Bantengs Development (Pool 2) 30-0 Chris
12.00 UWCSEA v Darunnajah (Pool 1) 30-0 Geoff
12.30 Tanglin Trust School v Bantengs Development (Pool 2) 30-0 Seb
1.00 ISKL v JIS (Pool 1) 5-18 Chris
1.30 BISJ v KLASS (Pool 2) 0-30 Steve
2.00 1st Pool 1 v 2nd Pool 2 JIS v TTS 12-14 Mark
2.30 2nd Pool 1 v 1st Pool 2 KLASS v ISKL 28-0 Seb
3.00 Consolation Game (3rdv 3rd) BIS v UWC 12-0 Geoff
3.30 Consolation Game (4th v 4th) Dar v Bentengs 24-0 Chris
4.00 3rd Place final JIS v ISKL 24-7 Seb
4.30 Final TTS v KLASS 34-7 Steve
Schedule and Results

Pool 1 Pool 2
UWCSEA KLASS
ISKL Tanglin Trust School
JIS BISJ
Darunnajah Bantengs Rugby Development

In what is a great sign for the development of Womens Rugby in Indonesia JIS invited and hosted the SMA3 touch rugby team to play and afternoon of touch rugby games last Thursday.

SMA3 (the 1st government school to adopt rugby into it’s curriculum) learnt greatly from the chance to share the field with some very skilled, well drilled and enthusiastic players from JIS 2nd and 3rd teams.

Pak Sim Cook (Athletic Director at JIS) is working hard to develop some local competition for his varsity team, and this is a small step towards his goal. JIS even arranged a bus to transport the SMA3 team from there school in Setiabudi (Central Jakarta) to JIS.

Pak Iswayudi (SMA3 coach) was very happy to see his girls running around the field against some healthy competition, and for some of them this was their 1st chance to play a game. “The girls are learning by doing” Said a proud coach Yudi.

Yudi hopes to bring his other team from Labschool Kebayoran to JIS next week for the next round of Jakarta schools girls touch rugby..

Although the Indonesian Harimau was only formed this year, It was a return to Singapore for a few of the players, who represented the Indonesian Barbarians at last years competition and won the ‘Bowl’ competition. In 2009 the competition was much stronger and the chance of bringing home trophies looked unlikely from the get-go..

Being pooled against the World Champions (South Africa Vipers), Asian Champions (Japan Samurai) as a well drilled team from the Northern Territory of Australia, was never going to be easy, even for the best of teams.

Coming up against the Vipers in their first game, the Harimau showed in patches that they are developing as a Rugby 7’s team in the 53-0 loss.

The 2nd game was against the Japanese Samurai and although the score line was 48-0 it was better than last weeks performance in Borneo against the same team.

The last game of Day 1 was no easier than the first two, up against the NT Mosquitoes the Harimau dropped their heads early and ended up going down 59-0 after a very tough day of rugby.

In a tournament full of world class teams, the competition was never going to be easy but the finals series on Day 2 is supposed to even out the competition… Or so they say.

Game 1 of Day 2 saw the Harimau matched up against East Arnhem Rugby club. Daniel Nugroho (Indonesia’s most capped International Rugby player) took over the captaincy duties, due to an injured Andrew White, and led from example from the kick-off making a string of bone-crunching tackles, resulting in Indonesia’s oldest representative player, Warren Wilcox (41yrs), falling over the line for the Harimau’s first points of the tournament and managed to convert his own try to take the lead 7-0 after 2 minutes of play. Unfortunately it was a one-sided affair after that with East Arnhem Rugby winning the game 42-7.

The 2nd game and the semi-final of the ‘Jug’ competition, was a bit more of a competitive performance by the Harimau as they faced the might of the British Army from the Flying Kukri’s. 2 more tries; A barnstorming run through the centre of the field by Indonesia’s youngest player Derek Eggerman (18yrs) and a graceful dash down the sideline by Papuan Septian Bunai, helped the boys post a respectable scoreline of 38-14.

It’s sad to say that the Indonesian Harimau are yet to record a win, but have faced some of the best rugby playing teams in world, so it’s only going to get easier from here.

The Indonesian men’s rugby sevens national squad, the Harimau, had their dreams of causing an upset dashed as they walked away with five defeats from five matches at the recently held iRB Asian Sevens Series in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Ranked 12th out of twelve national sides that took part in the event, Indonesia were pooled with first-ranked and eventual winners Japan along with Asian rugby heavies Malaysia (6) and Thailand (7).

With only two weeks of training and problems with getting players from across the archipelago to come together, the Harimau led by captain Andrew White were realistic about their goals.

“It is an honour just to be able to attend and get the chance to play some world class squads” says national coach Sam Refshauge. “The experience will be monumental and as the first ever national sevens side, historic. What we may lack in skill and ability we make up for in passion and heart.”

Indonesia faced Japan in their first pool match, losing 57-0. Their scoreless performance continued throughout the day but was highlighted by some brilliant rugby such as holding Malaysia to 10-0 at halftime of their second game. Thailand defeated the Harimau 41-0.

The second day saw the Harimau conceding to 4th-ranked Chinese Taipei 40-0 before scoring their first ever international rugby sevens points against Brunei by way of fly-half Moses Kalo who also converted for maximum points. The game ended 7-26 to Brunei.

A crowd-pleasing feature of the Harimau is their war dance known as ‘Kabasaran Harimau’ which incorporates the many cultures and languages of Indonesia. This ‘haka’-like challenge drew applause and cheers from the stadium as it was performed in front of Japan for the first and Brunei for the last game.

“This is our tribute to the people and to our country” says Team Manager Tito Vau. “We want to show the world that we are a united, strong and proud nation and that we stand to face up to the challenges in rugby as we do outside of rugby. The results are secondary for now. It’s the learning and development of the sport that we are more concerned about.”

Indonesian rugby was given a morale boost with the inclusion of Rugby Sevens as an Olympic sport to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and also has plans to form a national women’s side next year.

By Tito Vau, IRFU Acting-Chairman

[Sabah, Malaysia]: Japan beat Hong Kong 38-14 in the final of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series event held yesterday and today in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Japan was the form side of the tournament from the opening kickoff, posting 187 points while conceding just four tries and 26 points over two tournament days and six matches.

In today’s Cup semifinals, Japan edged Korea 10-7 in a tight encounter that was entirely fitting for these two Cup finalists from the Shanghai Sevens in September. This time Japan emerged victorious despite being a man down deep into injury time.
Hong Kong hobbled through to the final after a series of injuries kept much of its star power on the bench over the two tournament days. Despite the injury woes, it was a recovery story that dominated Hong Kong’s semifinal against Malaysia. On his return from a long absence rehabilitating a shoulder injury former captain Mark Wright led from the front against the hometown team, seemingly willing Hong Kong to victory to the dismay of the 3,500 thousand strong crowd.

Wright tallied two tries and set up a third in the match to help steer Hong Kong out of trouble against a talented Malaysian that looks to be a contender in Asian sevens in the years ahead. Hong Kong advanced in a seesaw match over Malaysia, 22-17.
Japan’s dominance extended into the final as Hong Kong started to show the toll of its cumulative injuries with several players taking the pitch heavily strapped. The Brave Blossoms jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes through a long ranging try to Michio Iwa.

Hong Kong’s Keith Robertson, who was playing despite a rib injury, replied in the fifth minute with an audacious up and under, catching his own ball at the 10 metres before dragging a defender over the line for Hong Kong’s only try of the first half. The successful conversion brought the score to 7-all.

Hong Kong’s defence almost held for the remainder of the half before a crucial knock on by captain Jeff Wong on his own five metre line gave an opportunity for Kenji Shomen to dive over from the ensuing scrum, bringing the score to 12-7 at halftime.
In the second half, Japan put paid to Hong Kong’s hopes for a comeback with two tries in the first two minutes to Usaku Kuwazuru and Atsushi Tujiya bringing the score to 26-7. The third Japanese try came in the fifth minute to Japan’s Michio Iwa, giving him a brace for the final, and bringing the score to 31-7. In the seventh minute, Kensuke Iwabuchi finished Japan’s scoring with a try that was converted to bring the score to 38-7.

Hong Kong winger Salom Yiu Kam Shing added a last bright moment for the losing finalists with a 60m sprint that he converted himself to bring Hong Kong to 14 points. The whistle blew a moment later ending the match at 38-14 and giving Japan its first title on the new Asian Rugby Sevens Series. In the Bronze Medal (3rd/4th place) match, Korea surpassed a tired Malaysian side 31-7.

Japan’s win sees them clear to the top of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series with 23 points, one ahead of Korea and two in front of Hong Kong.

The Plate final pitted China against an unexpected Philippines team that entered the tournament ranked 10th and was competing in just their second Asian Rugby Sevens Series event after last week’s run in Brunei.

The Philippines’ had formed a habit of unseating favoured opponents over the weekend, ushering Chinese Taipei into the Bowl competition on day one and beating the Thais today to reach the Plate. But the streak ended in the Final as a comprehensive display by China saw the favourites romp home 31-0. China finished in fifth place overall in the Borneo Sevens and in fourth spot on the Series table with 16 points.

In the Bowl final Chinese Taipei took its revenge for a weekend of injury setbacks and disappointing results to beat India 19-0. Chinese Taipei finished 9th overall and will be ruing missed opportunities after entering the tournament as fourth seed and in fourth place on the Asian Rugby Sevens Series table. After the weekend’s results, Chinese Taipei slipped to fifth place on the table with 13 points.

Another surprise package this weekend was Guam in its debut Asian Rugby Sevens Series event. After running Korea close in the opening day and consistently scoring against Hong Kong throughout the weekend, Guam took its chances well to upend a favoured Thailand 24-7 in the 7th/8th place playoff today. Their performance in Borneo was good enough to elevate Guam to sixth place on the Series standings.

In the Bowl Semifinal Chinese Taipei beat Indonesia 40-0 while India beat Brunei 19-10. Brunei then beat Indonesia 26-7 to finish in 11th place with Indonesia rounding out the 12 Asian teams in the final spot. Brunei and Indonesia charted two and one points on the Series table respectively.

The Borneo Sevens is the last of two ranking events on the inaugural Asian Rugby Sevens Series. The final table rankings will be effective for the remainder of 2009 and will be used for ARFU competitions, multi-sport games and IRB World Sevens Series events when applicable.

About the Asian Rugby Sevens Series:

The Asian Rugby Sevens Series was launched in September 2009 with the first event being in Shanghai in September. Two of the five events on the inaugural calendar (Shanghai and Borneo) have been awarded official Rankings Status. The Asian Rugby Sevens Series is sanctioned by the Asian Rugby Football Union and International Rugby Board.

2009 Asian Rugby Sevens Series Schedule

Shanghai Sevens, China - September 12-13
Brunei Sevens - October 24-25
Borneo Sevens, Kota Kinabalu - October 31 - November 1
Kish Island Sevens, Iran - November 20-22
Sri Lanka Sevens, November 28-29

Borneo Rankings Table:

Team Place Points
Japan 1st 12
Hong Kong 2nd 11
Korea 3rd 10
Malaysia 4th 9
China 5th 8
Philippines 6th 7
Guam 7th 6
Thailand 8th 5
Chinese Taipei 9th 4
India 10th 3
Brunei 11th 2
Indonesia 12th 1

Asian Rugby Sevens Series Ranking Table 2009:

ARSS Ranking 2009 Team Shanghai Points Borneo Points Total
1 Japan 11 12 23
2 Korea 12 10 22
3 Hong Kong 10 11 21
4 China 8 8 16
5 Chinese Taipei 9 4 13
6 Thailand 5 6 11
7 Malaysia – 9 9
8 India 5 3 8
9 Philippines – 7 7
10 Sri Lanka 6 – 6
10 Guam – 6 6
11 Singapore 4 – 4
12 Brunei – 2 2
13 Indonesia – 1 1

Day TWO Results
Cup Quarterfinal 1: Japan 34 – Thailand 5
Cup Quarterfinal 2: Philippines 0 - Korea 22
Cup Quarterfinal 3: Hong Kong 38 – Guam 12
Cup Quarterfinal 4: China 7 - Malaysia 22
Bowl Semifinal: Chinese Taipei 40 – Indonesia 0
Bowl Semifinal: Brunei 5 – India 19
Plate Semifinal: Thailand 7 – Philippines 20
Plate Semifinal: Guam 15 – China 31
Cup Semifinal: Japan 10 – Korea 7
Cup Semifinal: Hong Kong 22 – Malaysia 17
11/12 Place Playoff: Brunei 26 – Indonesia 7
BOWL Final (9/10): Chinese Taipei 19 – India 0
7/8 Place Playoff: Thailand 7 – Guam 24
PLATE Final (5/6): China 31 – Philippines 0
Bronze Game (3/4): Korea 31 – Malaysia 7
CUP Final (Gold/Silver): Japan 38 – Hong Kong 14

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