Generally speaking most people accept that at the age of 21, one has come of age! This year was the 21st edition of the Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament was held back at the ancestral home of the Pattaya Panthers, The Horseshoe Resort in North Pattaya. By the end of the tournament on Sunday evening most people agreed that The Panthers had indeed come of age!
As Saturday dawned we realized that for once the weathermen had got the forecast right, after a huge downpour during Friday’s preparations we were concerned that we would be washed out. However it was a steamy morning that greeted the players as they arrived for the start of Pattaya’s foremost rugby tournament. It was VERY HOT and by 10 o’clock players were already taking ice baths to cool off! As usual the grounds of the Horseshoe Point were in perfect condition and the now familiar amphitheatre effect had been created around the playing area by the CR3 tents.
This was to be the 21st staging of the tournament, which was going ahead despite a catalogue of problems with particularly the weather and also a large number of teams withdrawing due to the hangover from the Covid-19 epidemic restrictions that had been imposed most had been rescinded but there were still problems particularly with international travel which reduced the number of teams from overseas coming. Indeed in the final lineup there was only one team from outside Thailand our old friends the Hong Kong Scottish led by ace tourist, the intrepid Jacky Hui! We were reduced to a field of only 12 teams. However we were able to find quality rather than quantity among the growing number of Thai clubs now in existence in the country.
Numbers were down but with the enthusiasm of the teams and the endeavor of the organizing committee the tournament ran without a hitch. In his welcome address the Pattaya Panthers Chairman Jim Howard warned all participants to expect a very hot weekend and cautioned everybody, even spectators, to keep well hydrated and drink lots of fluids! According to the staff from The Outback everybody took this warning to heart and the operators of the food trucks confirmed that there would be no threat of starvation or dehydration after the quantities of food and liquids that had been consumed.
Due to the aforementioned problems the tournament was to be contested by only 12 teams with a very strong local bias. Although the number of teams was lower than usual Jim Howard promised that there would be much more rugby for everybody and he forecast that this year it would be much more competitive. The entries were led by the reigning champions Southerners Black who were determined to retain their title and had brought a very strong squad and a second team Southerners Gold.
A team composed mainly of students and alumnae of Chulalongkorn University were boosted by a couple of Thailand international players and were expected to be hard to beat. Those great tourists the French Asian Barbarians (FABS) were bound to bring plenty of colour and Gallic flair along with copious quantities of cheese, Pastis, wine and foie gras. Foreign teams had mostly been unable to enter but the Hong Kong Scottish were expected to give a good showing as they play regularly in the Hong Kong League.
Perennial crowd favourites the Bangkok Japanese were expected to make a stronger showing as the tournament was being played over a holiday weekend so they would have more of their players available and the team has gone from strength to strength in recent years and were expected to be among the trophies. A new addition to the rugby playing community is Burapha, a team put together by navy stalwart Khun Nuu. The team is a mixture of experienced marines and young recruits who are all very keen to be playing their first tournament.
Another young team are the Bangkok British Club Legends, who have been formed by Khun Dakorn to keep alive the Legend of the British Club, the players are all young Thais and they are trained and supported by Khun Dakorn, who is a former national team player and also played for the British Club during their halcyon years. The Pat Cotter clubs from Phuket and Chiang Mai are emerging as serious challengers for major trophies and will be difficult to beat. We also welcome back former champions The Royal Thai Air Force who will no doubt be looking to win back the trophy that they held several times years ago, watch out for the “ Fly Boys “!
The roster was rounded out by the hosts the Pattaya Panthers, who had been training hard under the watchful eyes of several coaches, principally captain Joe Edama (Filipino), Dehann (South African), Dan (Australian) and Diarmuid (Irish)! So you can expect a really mixed box of tricks in their play. Some brave punters have declared that finally Panthers will actually be among the trophies!
In the shortened format forced upon us by the number of teams that had declined, the teams were divided into 2 pools of 6 teams. Saturday’s games were to be played in a round robin format to determine the ranking for the various knockout tournaments to be played on Sunday. This format meant that every team would need to play 5 games in the pool rounds, which would stretch team’s resources, whilst giving all participants more playing time.
Despite the heat and the pressure of playing more games the quality of the rugby was of the highest level throughout and was a credit to all who played their part. There were strong performances from all of the teams and many of the games were very close. Due to the large number of games it was not possible to finish all of the preliminary games on Saturday! For the unlucky ones we had to finish the round robin matches on Sunday morning which saw a few strange results from the hard partying teams
After a hard days play that ended with the promise of some light showers, that never did materialize, there was a hard day’s night looming and there was a mad dash to get back into town. Where most players just resumed where they had left off in the early hours of the morning. There had been some rumours that it was to be dry evening in Pattaya this was definitely proved to be wrong as there was no rain but Pattaya was very wet! A strong start was made on some of the mighty hangovers to be seen the following morning. Later there was an impromptu evening tour of the cultural attractions along the beach and walking street led of course by the most knowledgeable of the Panthers!
Sunday dawned bright and early and it was going to be hotter than yesterday, if that was possible, but by kick off time the sun was well and truly up with the promise of a real cauldron by the middle of the day. However the powers that be took mercy on us and a strong breeze developed with some light showers that took over and the temperature for most of the day was hot but bearable. Those unlucky ones that still had pool games to finish were trying hard to shake off the effects of a night on the town and focus on qualification for the afternoon finals. The night‘s partying had definitely taken its toll and tired limbs were anointed and strapped and there was a queue for places in the medical tent!
There were players missing from most teams, it is very difficult to keep everyone on the straight and narrow and it leaves a heavy burden on those guys that do turn up! The now well-known Pattaya Trickle Down format had to be adjusted this year to account for the lesser number of teams. Knock out play started with the elimination of the lowest finishers and separating them into contenders for the Bowl and Shield. The quest for Cup, and Plate, got under way and many first time losers were surprised to find that they then had to play more games than if they had won as the famous trickle down came into play.
This revised format saw the top two teams from each pool proceed directly to the Cup and Plate semifinals with the winners going on to contest the cup final and the losers the plate final. Thus, Southerners Gold the reigning champions were to play their old enemy the French Asian Barbarians whilst the new boys from Chulalongkorn University who were the surprise winners of Pool A and were to play against former champions Royal Thai Air Force.
All remaining teams were then drawn into a quarter final rounds with the losers to contest the Shield semifinals. The winners would contest the Mike Cobb Bowl semifinals. All of the possible permutations seemed very puzzling and there were one or two surprises and some of the teams found themselves in unfamiliar territory. All of the favourites were safely through to the cup / plate semifinals and there were some interesting match ups to start the final rounds off. There were some superb performances and some very close encounters in the knockout rounds with not a few surprises.
The Cup Semi Finals saw some very good and hard games, as expected the Southerners Gold had a hard time with the FABS but eventually the Pastis told on the French and the “Goldies” eased past into the final 17 v 0. The second semifinal saw a fascinating all Thai encounter between the well drilled, very fit military men and the youth and fitness of the university boys. Finally but not without a fight the “Fly Boys” triumphed. With age and experience outwitting the university boys by a score of 19 v 5! So the scene was now set for two compelling finals. In the Cup Final we were to see the reigning champions defending their crown against the former champions the Royal Thai Air Force.
In the Plate Final we would see the flowing rugby of the worldly wise and highly experienced FABS, against the young bucks of the Chulalongkorn students and alumni, who whilst very fit and willing might lack the experience of the wily FABS. Following the completion of the Shield Quarter Finals the lineup was as follows the Mike Cobb Bowl Semi Finals were to be contested by the hosts the Panthers v the Phuket Vagabonds and Bangkok Japanese v Chiang Mai Cobras. The Shield Semi Finals would see the Hong Kong Scottish v new comers Burapha and very surprisingly Southerners Black v British Club Legends, who had so far acquitted themselves very well.
As the climax to a great weekend of exciting rugby the finals were to provide a wonderful conclusion to the tournament. With no quarter asked or given and all finalists there on merit all of the trophy winners deserved their silver reward. In the Shield our old friends the Hong Kong Scottish finally nailed a trophy after I don’t remember how many tours! They did make hard work of defeating the youngsters of the British Club Legends 12 v 7. I am sure that in the future we will see a lot more of the Legends as they gain some experience under Khun Dakorn’s guidance.
In the Mike Cobb Bowl the Bangkok Japanese finally collected their just desserts, after many years at our tournaments they outlasted the Chiang Mai Cobras to claim the Bowl, which for many clubs is the only trophy after the cup that they want to win! Bangkok Japanese 12 v 7 another final won by one score! In the Plate Final the young pretenders from Chulalongkorn were to take on the old warriors of the Pastis fueled FABS in a replay of their pool game it was an end to end game with few chances for either side to score. The greater experience of the wily FABS finally proved to be decisive and in the end and they ran out narrow winners 14 v 7.
At last we had reached the grand finale and it proved to be well worth the wait …a clash of the titans Southerners Gold v The Royal Thai Air Force. The game was played at a frantic pace as both sides were determined to dominate the opposition. In the first half most of the play took place within the Air Force twenty five, the “Goldies” attacked again and again but the Air Force defence stood firm. According to the penalty count 9 penalties were awarded to the “Goldies” to only one for the airmen. In the second half Air Force managed to get more ball in midfield and threatened to break the opposition defensive line.
But there were several lineouts and the well drilled “Goldies” were dominating the smaller Thai forwards. Eventually the “Goldies” won good ball from a short lineout close to the Air Force line and their hooker scooted over for the try, it was a difficult position for the conversion and the kick was missed. Going behind spurred the airmen and as the clock ticked down they found a way through the “Goldie” back line and their right wing outran the cover defence and scored the equalizing try about 15 meters in from touch. Time was running down and a conversion would be the winning score! To everybody’s surprise the kick was missed and the whistle was blown for full time, a draw, a first in this tournament meaning that the teams would continue to play with the first of any score (golden score) would be the winner.
The “Goldies” took the kick off, which of course gives the ball to the opposition. The Fly Boys were not going to give it back easily and they set up a series of rolling mauls, which tired the “Goldies”, this opened the wider pitch to the fitter Fly Boys and eventually (no pun intended) opened the wider areas to the faster backs and it was the right wing again that broke the defensive line and flew to the try line for the winning score! According to the Panthers statistician that is the first time ever that all finals were decided by one score and the Cup Final was won by a golden score after extra time! Congratulations are due to the Royal Thai Air Force, who are worthy champions for 2023!
After the final whistle everybody gathered midfield in order for the ceremony to be filmed Jim Howard introduced Ray and Lin Kays (Chris’ parents), who had travelled from England to attend the tournament. Jim invited Mr. Ray Kays to make the presentations to all trophy winners. Jim Howard the Chairman of Pattaya Panthers RFC commended everybody for the Great Spirit in which the tournament had been played and the outstanding quality of rugby throughout despite the weather’s interference. It was a great pity that the numbers had been reduced due to circumstances beyond our control; however there were many comments from players who said that they had enjoyed this format as it gave them much more playing time! We will consider this when we start to plan for next year’s tournament.
A vote of thanks is due to all the organizers, supporters and sponsors without whom a tournament like this could not happen, of course major plaudits to the Horseshoe Point Resort, for once again producing a great pitch and our longest serving sponsor Dave Richardson of CR3 (formally Contract Resources) who provided all of the tents for shade and cover and pushed us further into the digital age by building the support platform for the cameras producing the streaming (which went worldwide). Lucy Electric Ltd. WHA Industrial Development PLC., Manpower Group, The Baron Devereux, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), the Outback Sports Bar, The Jungle Gym, Integrated Global Services. Our media partners Pattaya Mail, Sponsor Energy drinks, Red Bull, Proengy Bars, The Sawang Boriboon Foundation for the standby ambulance and first aid and medical team.
David Viccars the referees supremo who kept everybody under control even the referees, who themselves deserve a mention for the great effort in keeping all the matches running smoothly with the minimum of fuss. Thanks also to Jon Prichard author and announcer and Ron Keeley, our IT wizard who has again produced another superb programme. A final thank you to everybody who supported us this year and made it a great tournament, we hope to see you all again next year.
Very best wishes to all players, sponsors, supporters and the wonderful staff of Horseshoe Point and the Outback Pub and Restaurant stay safe and travel well!
Jim Howard, Chairman, Pattaya Panthers RFC.
