Phuket Heineken International Rugby 10's 2012: Phuket Heineken Rugby 10's Final report

Day One
Athena Siam Coffin Dodgers Tournament

Great Rugby Weather

This was a trip down memory lane for many of the northern hemisphere players. Playing in condition of mud, rain, mud, storms,mud, tropical downpours and more mud,mud,mud it was like pigs wallowing in the proverbial..., having said that it produced some excellent rugby with the forwards, who are normally left puffing and grunting around the pitch looking for action in the shorter forms of the game, being at the forefront once teams adjusted to the conditions and realised that, with the slippery ball it was the short game that would produce dividends. Those glory boy backs with the Brycream bounce were suddenly in reach & the grunters duly took there due, it was payback time !! Some tremendous hits during the day saw the medical tent kept busy and as the rain continued to fall it became a contest to see who could aquaplane in for a score from the furthest distance !

In Group A Wanderers Wrinkleys started where they left off after last years event by making a clean sweep of all their group games with their toughest game against Hong Kong Bulls who finished group runners up. The Asian Japanese Dragons who never seem to age finished a creditable 3rd in a tough group and the Cottesloe Pirates who struggled with the conditions and late nights down town to finish a disappointing last.

Group B saw last years Champions the Moorabbin Rams Vets from Australia drawn in the proverbial group of death with the Taipei Silver backs, Bedok Kings Vets & the other Cottesloe team the the Olde Gulls. True to form the Rams came out firing and were lucky to scrape a 7-0 win against a very committed Taipei Silver backs side before beating the Bedok Kings 19 points to 5. The Gulles were then demolished 31 - 0 to end up being the tournament whipping boys.

In Group C the first game was the hosts Phuket Viagrabonds taking on old rivals Ye Olde Bangkok Bangers in the Weasel Cup. After a hard fought first half the Viagrabonds turned

Bedok Wets

up the pressure & produced a great victory to retain the trophy for the 3rd year running.

A bruising encounter against the Singapore Bucks Stags ended in the 5 all draw for the home side and a close 10-7 loss to the Gulf Legends meant the Viagrabonds would face a tricky Plate semi final against the Taipei team. The Bangers after their shaky start produced fine wins against the Gulf Leg'Ends 17-0 and the Bucks Stags 7-0 to proceed into the cup competition with a semi final against the Wanderers Wrinkleys where they went down by 26-5. The other cup semi final was between the Moorabbin Rams & HK Bulls with the Rams running out 24-0 winners. Cup Final a repeat of last years Wanderers Wrinkleys v Moorabbin Rams 0-12.

Rams Athena Siam Coffin Dodgers Champions for 4th year in a row.

In the other competitions Plate semi final was between The Gulf Leg'ends and Bedok Kings who won 26-0 and the Viagrabonds v Taipei Silverbacks who prevailed 15-0 Plate Final Bedok Kings v Taipei Silver backs

In the Bowl Semi Final the Coettesloe Pirates sank to the Asian Japanese Dragon Vets 32-5 and the Bucks Stags took out the Cottesloe olde Gulles in a close game 12-7 Bowl Final Asian Japanese Dragons Vets v Bucks Stags.

Day Two
Phuket Heineken Cup Competition

The day started with fine weather and weak sunshine trying to fight through the clouds but heavy overnight rain had left the pitch a mess but it started drying out quickly and didnt dampen the spirits of the teams eager for some serious action where the young studs with the odd old lag making up numbers were finally able to strut their stuff & the weather stayed fine for most of the day although the odd hairdo did get mucky in the mud. Although the conditions were at times more suited to water polo than rugby the quality of play throughout was outstanding and once again as the short game was better suited for the mud and the big bruisers of the pack came into their own with some tremendous hits close in and around the ruck area and exceptional ball skills. There were glimpses of brilliance in the back line too where despite the worry of how the hair was looking due to lack of decent gel, many tries were scored though open running rugby and slick handling.In

Group A one of the favorites for the tournament the Roosters from South Africa topped the standings after over coming The Singapore wanderers, Melanins from Japan & The Asian Japanese Dragons to move into the cup quarter finals.

Group B saw another contender the Thai legends produce some great rugby to top their group with a 3 out of 3 record over Singapore Bucks,Bangkok Bangers Colts & Taipei Baboons to earn a quarter final meeting with the Moorabbin Rams B side the Lambs.
Group C was headed by yet another contender for the cup in their 10th anniversary year the Moorabbin Rams who were looking to win the cup for the 2nd time since their first victory almost 10 years to the day. After over coming some spirited performances by Hong Kong Raiders, YCAC from Japan & Prince of Songkla Uni from Hat Yai they finished top of their group with a perfect record and broke the points barrier by scoring 122 for & 0 against. Looking good for their quarter final against Al Ain Amblers.

Group D was a lot closer affair with the Emirate Flying Muppets beating Al Ain Amblers 5-0, Bedok Kings 12-7 and the Groote Eylandt Mudchucks 10-0 to advance to a quarter final against the Singapore Wanderers who qualified for the cup competition as one of the best runner up.
The final Group E was also a tight run thing with the Pattaya Panthers stealing the group from The Moorabbin Lambs, Phuket Vagabonds & INSEAD to take on the Roosters in the quarters.
After a reasonably dry day with 3 games remaining the heavens opened and play was suspended for 10 minutes to let the rain ease.

Contenders for the Plate knockouts were

Hong Kong Raiders v Phuket Vagabonds

Singapore Bucks v YCAC

Bangkok Bangers Colts v Melanins

Bedock Kings v Taipei Baboons

In the Cup competition it was a tense day with the Roosters looking to win the cup for the 2nd time in three years and the Moorabbin Rams from Melbourne Australia looking to take out an unprecedented 3 titles over the weekend and the Thai Legends hoping to be 1st time winners.

Contenders for the cup quarter finals were

Roosters v Pattaya Panthers

Thai legends v Moorabbin Lambs

Moorabbin Rams v Al Ain Amblers

Emirates Flying Muppets v Singapore Wanderers

Losers of the plate drop down into the Bowl competition and the losers in the cup drop down to join the Plate competition

Unlucky to lose Edwina

Tour Virgin Beauty Pageant

In what was probably the most eagerly contested of all the beauty competitions to date and host & 70's Porn Star Rob "The Welsh Knob" Brewer had his hands full trying to keep the contestants in

order as they all wanted to be on stage to show their wares and try to influence the judge. In the end it was all down to style with a strut off between Edwina from the Emirate Flying Muppets and Bruce from the Moorabbin Rams who prevailed to take the prestigious title

Tour Virgin Beauty Pageant Winner

Bruce

Moorabbin Rams

Day 3

The weather had not improved over night and torrential rain and high winds greeted the players for the 1st of the Plate matches where home town boys the Phuket vagabonds were without captain Dan Ashburn who had been knocked out on Saturday unable to play. After losing out in a couple of close games the previous day the vagabonds found their scoring touch to beat Hong Kong Raiders by 20 - 5 to advance to the quarter finals. Bangers Colts were next up against Melanins & ran out 31-5 winners. Singapore Bucks got a walk over v YCAC when the Japanese side couldn't field a team. In the final game of the round the Bedok Kings took out the Taipei Baboons. Losing teams dropped down into the bowl competition.

The quarter finals saw the losers of the Cup quarter finals join the plate competition and some awesome rugby was on display with more than one player being carried off after being mullered by the forwards in close combat conditions. The Vagabonds took on the Wanderers and after a close encounter went down 10-5 to say good bye. The bangers Colts were also knocked out by the Moorabbin Lambs 24-0 to end their quest for a trophy at this years event. Singapore Bucks broke a 7-7 deadlock and Al Ain hearts with a stoppage time try by Mark Brinn to win 12-7 and move into a semi final clash with the wanderers. In an enthralling game Pattaya Panthers beat Bedok Kings with a score of 7-5 in what was another thrilling encounter. Semi Finals saw Wanderers go down to the Bucks 12-5 and The Panthers going down to the Lambs 5-0 in a tight finish. Plate Final Singapore Bucks 12 Moorabbin Lambs 0. Plate Winners SINGAPORE BUCKS

The Bowl Competition is always a feisty affair with teams determined to show their competitive nature and this year it was no exception. The Mudchooks who had won over the crowd during the weekend with their Chooka pre match ritual were more than at home in the conditions but lost out in a close quarter final 5-0 to the Hong Kong raiders. Asian Japanese, Prince of Songkla & Taipei baboons all progressed to the semi finals where PSU defeated Hong Kong raiders 10-0 & Taipei Baboons beat the Dragons 24-0. Final Taipei Baboons 21 Prince of Songkla RFC 0. Bowl Winers TAIPEI BABOONS

The Cup competition always produces rugby of the best quality and this year was no exception and in the Semi flnals the Roosters taking on the Emirates Flying muppets was a game of the best quality and will go down as the game of the tournament. In a game that had it all the Roosters scraped through with a try right at the end to secure a 5-0 victory. The other Semi final was on a par with the Rams taking on the Thai legends who with their in the face tackling and speed on the ball had the Rams on the back foot for much of the game but the bigger Rams centers finally secured a very hard fought win 12-5

The Final

In horrendous muddy and wet conditions an epic final was fought out on a field more reminiscent of the Somme rather than a field on a tropical island between close rivals the Roosters from South Africa and the Moorabbin Rams from Australia who are celebrating their 10th anniversary trip to the 10s and also 10 years since their only cup victory in the tournament. In a bruising encounter it was all square going into the final quarter when an incident off the ball was to prove the turning point in the game. During a phase of play one of the roosters was taken out off the ball unsighted by the referee. Play continued on for a couple of minutes culminating in a Rams try. After the intervention by the linesman a Rams player was sin binned but the ref ruled that the incident didnt interfere with play so the score stood and this was to prove the only score of the game with the Rams winning 5-0 !! A controversial end to a fantastic tournament that had it all, tropical storms, mud, fantastic rugby skills, brutal tackling, on & off the ball incidents, good beer, good food & most of all good company.

A big thank you to all the teams who produced a brilliant tournament under extreme conditions along with the refs who had the most difficult of jobs. A special thank you once again to Heineken and Athena Siam for their support, Phuket International Hospital for the medical support, Bubble Bee, Maria and strategic Sports for the organisation, Khun Eam and Kata Group for use of the ground, Shires Pies for all the hearty winters fare, Phuket News, 89.5 Live radio and Phuket Direct for the media support, Bob & Taipan for hosting the TV Beauty Pageant. Macoocoo.com. Last but not least Ken for helping me mark the pitch !!

Most of all we should applaud Roelien and the Asia Center Foundation for all the work they do.

See you all next year !!

The 14th Phuket Heineken Rugby 10's 2012
Champions