The tournament adopted the Rugby 7’s format of the sport, which is now a focus for Indonesian Rugby since the sport was recently included in the 2016-20 Olympic Games.

A total of 14 teams were split into 2 pools of 7, which allowed the competition to be run continuously on 2 adjoining fields from 9am to 4pm, with the heat on and off the field rising throughout the day. With over 200 kids from 11 Schools across the Jakarta-Bogor region it was the first chance for many of them to experience what Rugby and playing in a competition is all about.

Indonesian players from National Schools shared the field with expatriate players from International Schools, meaning that the combined on-field effort of all the players, coaches and match officials was a huge step forwards for the Indonesian Schools Rugby community. IRFU President, Air Vice Marshall (retired) Pieter Wattimena was very impressed by the quality of the tournament and commented, “I became involved in Rugby so that I could help a new sport be developed for Indonesian school students.”

The Pool games played throughout the morning evened out the competition, with the Finals Playoffs kicking off after a short lunch break. All teams had a chance to win a trophy at a different level of achievement in the Finals.

Sekolah Bogor Raya (the youngest team in the competition) ended up taking the ‘Wooden Spoon’ as they were defeated in the last place play off. Although they were not able to score a point all day, Head Coach, Robert McKinnon was happy with the performance of his boys, “Some of my players are 5 years younger than their competitors, for them to be included in this competition is a great honor, the boys will gain enormous experience from this day. They’ll definitely be coming back bigger, better, stronger and fitter next year.”

Unfortunately Cita Buana were forced to forfeit their finals game against Lab School Kebayoran due to injuries sustained throughout their 4 grueling pool matches, thus handing Lab School the opportunity to walk away with the Saucer Trophy.

The Jug Final saw the Indonesian locals from Global Jaya come up against the might of Jakarta International School’s 3rd team, and after JIS scored the 1st try early on in the match, Global Jaya managed to assert their dominance to run away with a convincing 39–5 win.

If there was a most improved award for the day it would have been awarded to the BPK Penabur team from Gading Serpong. BPK decided they wanted to enter a team only 2 weeks before the tournament, so the team Coached by Andy Stephens (an Indonesian Rugby stalwart) and Gino Arseneault had a lot of work to do in a very short time period. After a tough first game BPK won their next 3 Pool matches and secured a place in the Shield Final against Darunnajah Pesantren. Unfortunately BPK’s glory run came to an end, with Darunnajah running out 17-0 winners. It should be noted that earlier in the day the Darunnajah lads had pushed the JIS 1st team all the way after leading against them early in the 2nd half of their Pool match.

The next final saw the JIS 2nd’s taking on the SPH 2nd’s in what was the most closely fought match of the day. This match was a see-sawing affair with the lead changing on several occasions and just as JIS had the match won, the SPH lads ran the ball from their own tryline following a JIS mistake, to score a try on the siren to win the match and the Bowl Trophy 15-12. Both teams could be commended on the spirit in which this match was played.

The Plate Final was a replay of last year’s Cup Final, with the JIS 1st’s taking on the SPH 1st’s. After the painful defeat on the siren last year the SPH lads were not about the lay down at the final hurdle, by asserting their dominance early in this match. In what was a tough match the SPH team proved that they are a serious Rugby playing school by winning the Plate Trophy 14-10.

Although the British International School managed to rack up a massive 230 points for and none against in their 4 Pool matches, BIS were unfortunately under strength for the Cup Final and had to borrow a few players from other teams as most of their team had to leave for another sporting commitment. BIS were up against another team that was also unbeaten in their earlier Pool matches in the French International School. The French team is known as ‘Ayam Legend’ and in the Cup Final they were too strong taking out the match and the 2010 Indonesian Schools Rugby 7’s Cup by a margin of 22-0.

Special mention must be given to Jean Layhaud from ‘Ayam Legend’ who won the ‘Top Try Scorer’ award with 11 tries for the tournament and Mitchel Choo from the JIS 1st’s who was awarded the ‘Best and Fairest Player of the Tournament’.

Apart from these two boys there many more standout players, especially a number of Indonesian youths who suitably impressed all of those present including IRFU Chairman, Stephen Barber who said, “I am very proud of the progress Sam has made with Schools Rugby development and I hope to see some of these players representing the Indonesia in the very near future.”

The success of this tournament and the IRFU’s Schools Rugby program has encouraged a number of people in the Jakarta Business Community to back Jakarta- Bogor Schools Rugby, including Graham Lawrence from Maxidrill Indonesia, who has agreed to the sponsor 2010-11 Schools Rugby Season. This idea is for all the schools to play in a series of tournaments at the various schools to decide the ultimate winner of the inaugural Maxidrill Schools Rugby 7’s Cup.

The IRFU has set a firm goal of selecting a National U20’s Team to represent Indonesia in 2011.

The IRFU would like to thank all players, coaches and schools involved in the 2010 Indonesian Schools Rugby 7’s Tournament for making it such a great success. Indonesian Rugby is also very grateful to SPH and its Staff for providing a first class venue and helping with preparing the immaculate pitches for the tournament. The Union is also very thankful to Coca-Cola for their supply of refreshing drinks and the tournament balls, plus International SOS for providing medical assistance and support throughout the day. A final big thank you must go to all the Referees and Tournament Officials who volunteered their time and worked tirelessly from start to finish.

It was a great day for Schools Rugby development and a fantastic day in the history of Indonesian Rugby!

The IRFU (Indonesian Rugby Football Union) will hold their annual Schools Rugby 7’s tournament on Saturday 23rd January at Sekolah Pelita Harapan, Lippo Karawaci, 9am – 4pm. (FINALS WILL COMMENCE AT 2PM). This is the second time that the IRFU has held the tournament, with Jakarta International School (JIS) narrowly defeating Sekolah Pelita Harapan (SPH) in last years final.

Rugby 7’s is an internationally recognised sport and has recently been chosen to be included in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. The IRFU is also hoping that with the growth of the game in Indonesia it will also be included in the 2011 SEA Games to be held on our home soil.

With over 180 players from 11 schools, this tournament has grown from just a 5 team tournament in 2009 to a 14 team tournament in 2010. JIS, SPH, British International School (BIS) and Darunnajah will return to the tournament in 2010 and will meet newcomers from SMA 3 Setiabudi, LabSchool Kebayoran, Cita Buana, Bogor Raya, French International School, Global Jaya, and BPK Penabur.

The IRFU are hoping that this tournament will give the up-and-coming stars of Indonesian Rugby a chance to perform against the best players in the region. “With nearly 3 times the amount of teams competing this year the action is guaranteed to be 3 times as exciting” Says Fikri Muhammad Al Azhar (IRFU Board Member).

Although JIS are defending the title in 2010, SPH are going to do everything they can to make up for last years defeat in the final. “The boys are willing to put it all on the line to show up their international school competitors” Says Bruce Comrie (SPH Head Coach)

This is the one chance that these budding rugby superstars get to prove themselves on a national level so make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to see the action!

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

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..

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.

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

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

Released by Elite Step Asia Limited on behalf of the Asian Rugby Football Union. For enquiries, please contact Sean Moore on sean.moore@elitestep.com or +852 9095 8889.

This will be the first rugby sevens tournament that Indonesia takes part in since the sport gained Olympic entry, to be played in the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“Our team is young and eager and although Indonesia is still a very young rugby playing country, the team is fired up and ready to go,” says Sam Refshauge, national rugby sevens coach and Indonesian Rugby Football Union Development Officer. “The number of people playing – especially in schools – has really increased in recent years and we are hopeful that Indonesia can play and succeed at the top level in coming years,” Sam continues.

“This (event) is historical and even though we are ranked quite low for the start of the tournament, sports is always full of underdogs making surprises,” says team manager, Tito Vau. “The whole Indonesian rugby community is behind us and the ‘Harimau’ will show their appreciation by giving it their best on and off the field.”

Indonesia, ranked 12th out of 12 for the tournament is in the same group as Asian champions Japan along with regional powerhouses Thailand and Malaysia.

The national rugby sevens ‘Harimau’ will also take part in the prestigious Singapore Cricket Club Rugby Sevens Tournament to be held 7-8 November 2009.

Based on the strong motto ‘Miners for Life’ the Sorowako Rugby Club has come along way since its humble beginnings in 2007. Established by a New Zealand ex-pat Andrew Kelman in the small mining town of Sorowako, located in the depths of South East Sulawesi, its remoteness makes for a special breed of players, with the Matano Miners renowned for their fast-paced, tough, competitive, and open style of rugby.

The Matano Miners now boast a player roster of 20 male seniors, 30 male juniors and 15 female juniors and with interest and support growing rapidly in the area, thanks to the hard work of the senior club members, these numbers are increasing rapidly.

Whilst visiting the Miners this week IRFU Rugby Development Officer, Sam Refshauge, managed to assist the local boys in their promotion of the game to the local community through presentations and coaching at the local SMP & SMA schools and meetings with the ValeInco community development managers and the Lulu TImur representative to KONI.
Sam also found time to identify some local talent in both the senior and junior teams. Irwan Rahim and Hasri Bahading will be traveling to Jakarta next week to join the Indonesian ‘Harimau’ Rugby 7’s team for their upcoming tours to the Borneo and Singapore Cricket Club 7’s tournaments.

Sam also found time to identify some local talent in both the senior and junior teams. Irwan Rahim and Hasri Bahading will be traveling to Jakarta next week to join the Indonesian ‘Harimau’ Rugby 7’s team for their upcoming tours to the Borneo and Singapore Cricket Club 7’s tournaments.

It is truly great to see grass roots rugby developing from the ground up and in Sorowako the Matano Miners are doing just that. If things continue along the same track it won’t be long until Rugby drop kicks sepak bola off its perch in Sulawesi!

The Matano Miners and the Sumbawa Naga’s are in the process of organising a Rugby XV’s match to be held in Makasar, January 2010. This would be the first ever rugby match in the South Sulawesi. Well done on making history boys!