Twenty Pattaya Panther tourists embarked on a journey to Phuket on Friday, 25 May, to take part in the Phuket International 10’s rugby tournament. A quiet night settling in was then ordered as the troops prepared themselves for the battles to come.
The appearance of the pink tourists the next morning received a cheer on arrival at the Phuket Rugby Stadium grounds as they swaggered (or more like staggered) onto the field in their glorious new pink kit, ready for their opening fixture against the Beaver Nomads.
A close first game against the Nomads saw Panthers’ captain Chris Mander score his first try of the tournament and Joe Edama proudly notch his first of the season, however the Nomads got the final say and edged a close encounter 12-10. Perhaps the Panthers got too much sleep before this 11am kick off?
After a short break the Panthers next faced Old Man Mix, with the boys in pink running riot and winning the match 41-0. The food and beverage team had clearly energized the Panther squad as they ran through their opponents at will.
The final fixture on Day 1 saw the Panthers brought back down to earth with a 26-0 loss against the reigning champions, the Phuket Vagabonds. Despite this, the Panthers were still in high spirits after an impressive first day of rugby.
The following morning, The Rooster (Marc) kindly played music up and down the corridor for all guests staying in the vicinity at the early hour of 7:00 am as the Panthers readied themselves for their 9:00am kick-off on Day 2. Their opponents, Old Man Mix once again, arrived sober and ready to compete but the Panthers proved too strong once more for the Old Man and prevailed by a score of 26-5. Tom Edwards stormed through and scored 2 tries for the Panthers alongside Marcus Large and Franco Vorster, using their strength and impulsive power to pierce through Old Man Mix’s defence to score 2 more tries.
A win by default over the Dubai Wasps in The Bowl semi-final reinforced suspicions that the Panthers’ short robes and social antics on Bangla Road the previous night had intimidated their opponents into not showing up.
The Bowl final was to be against the Gold Coast Barbarians, so the Panthers got strapped up and prepared for their final debut. Some strong runs from Andrea Bellato and Yuji Kitahara plus brute strength from Alex McInnes, Pongipat Pongsima and Harrison Fletcher resulted in a long term of Panther possession and saw Douglas Bursill score a well-deserved try in the corner.
The Panthers continued to pile on the pressure and gained a second try off a dropped ball, with Tom Edwards showing panther like speed to cross the line.
The Barbarians were worthy finalist however and also scored a brace of tries to tie the game at 10-10. The final score meant a ‘boat race’ was required to decide the winner. The Panthers had to prepare 10 of their finest athletes but sadly they couldn’t compete with the Barbarians’ twisting technique and the Bowl went to the Antipodeans as Panther captain Chris Mander proudly stepped up to accept the consolation silverware.
 |
 |
