2015 Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament
In the immortal words of the TV commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme “They think it’s all over – it is now!” Yes, the fifteenth staging of the Chris Kays Memorial 10’s Rugby Tournament has now passed into the history books and this year’s was one of the best. The weather for the weekend was predicted to be hot and for once the forecasters were right, and the rugby was hot too!
The tournament took place over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd May, and 16 rugby teams from all over Thailand and other parts of the world descended on Pattaya to contest what has now been established as one of the principal 10-a-side tournaments in the region. The teams had gathered at The Tavern By The Sea at the Amari Orchid Resort on the eve of the event for the registration, where they were royally entertained by the General Manager, Brendan Daly, who is a very keen supporter of local rugby. The players were also very honoured to have Chris Kays’ parents Ray and Lin present to welcome the visitors and see how Chris’ memory lives on.
Representatives of Southerners Gold hoist the Cup after winning the 2015 Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament.
The 16 main tournament teams contained a very strong local bias; old foes the Bangkok Bangers and the Southerners led the way and both clubs had entered 2 teams, as had the “ Old Bill” a club from Hong Kong with strong police connections and they had also brought along a cheering squad of WPCs. Hong Kong was also represented by The Valley Griffins and the Hong Kong Scottish, who whilst they have strong affiliations with the land of the glen and heather had nary a Jock in sight.
The Thai teams that had accepted the invitation were mainly newcomers and a fairly unknown quantity at the start of the weekend. Youngblood, Samutprakarn and Arch Thai (a team composed of architectural students from around Bangkok universities) were joined by Elephant Brutal from Surin, a team that has come up through the youth tournaments and is now seeking to make a mark at the senior level.
The Vikings skipper receives the Plate from Jim Howard (left) and Ray Kays (right).
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 had more of their players available, and there does seem to be more Japanese playing the game as the Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Japan in 2019, has increased the interest in the game there.
Ray Kays (left) presents the Bowl to the captain of the Young Blood team.
We also welcomed back the Phuket Vagabonds the reigning champions, who according to Pat Cotter were only here to take the Cup back with them.
Our old friends from the Australian Navy “The Buccaneers” had returned, or at least some of them had, in a new guise as the Military RPL Vikings with the addition of some younger players and they were fully expecting to at least out-drink all other teams!
The roster was rounded out by the host Pattaya Panthers, who had been training hard under “The Coach” Tom Kerr and they felt that at full strength they also stood a good chance of getting amongst the trophies, but with Tom’s departure for sunny Ireland the fitness levels were dropping and the alcohol levels rising.
The playing venue at Horseshoe Point was in perfect condition and all was set for another great tournament. The beer and cider were cooling and some great food catered by Selena, the cider honey, was ready to feed and water the hungry hordes.
The teams were divided into four groups and Saturday’s games were played in a round-robin format to determine the ranking for the various knockout tournaments to be played on Sunday. In the perfect conditions, hard and fast running rugby was the order of the day and most games went to form as expected. 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, there were one or two surprises and some of the teams found themselves in unfamiliar territory. The host team stunned everybody, including themselves, by playing out of their skins and actually finishing second in their group. After a disastrous start against the Vikings they found their mojo and beat their longtime nemesis the Bangkok Japanese to qualify for the Cup.
The winning captain of Elephant Brutal receives the Shield from Jim Howard (left).
Reigning champions the Phuket Vagabonds, urged on by their new sponsors, the Hooters girls, sailed through the preliminaries without having their line crossed. In pool C there was a titanic battle between the Southerners Gold and the Bangkok Banger Colts with both teams qualifying for the Cup. There was a big surprise in Pool D where unknown newcomers Samutprakarn swept the board and led the way into the Cup quarterfinals, followed by the Southerners Black. There were also good performances from Hong Kong Scottish, Bangkok Japanese and Valley Griffins
After a hard day’s play, cooling off in the pool was obligatory and a strong start was made on some of the mighty hangovers to be seen the following morning. The hosts had also issued a number of challenges to each team and the success or failure in completing these challenges would count towards the prestigious Chris Kays’ Award.
The preliminary rounds of the Junior tournament were played in the cool of the evening with final rounds to be played early on Sunday morning to allow the old fellas time to sleep in. The Kingdom Property Trophy for Under 16’s tournament was contested by 8 teams, with 7 from Thai schools around the country joining The Bangkok Barbarians, a team comprised mainly of the sons of expatriates based in Bangkok.
The games were all very hotly contested, with the team from Bangkok battling against the boys from the provinces. The boys set a very high standard for the men to live up to and everybody who witnessed their ability and courage agreed that the standards are improving very quickly. It was an absolute delight to watch these youngsters play according to the book, with great respect paid to the referee’s decisions: No arguing or back chat (except from one or two very excited parents).
The tournament was won in some style on Sunday morning by the Bangkok Barbarians, whose size and experience finally told as they overcame the boys from Rachaborikarnukroh. The big surprise was the failure of the team from Surawittayakrn School from Surin, who have dominated this tournament for the last few years. They did however win the Plate so their efforts were not in vain.
Thanks go to all the boys who participated and to Henri Young and Nigel Cornick of Kingdom Property for their generous sponsorship of this event.
With a slightly later start on Sunday, the quest in the main tournament for Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield then got under way. Again there were some superb performances and some very close encounters with not a few surprises.
The Cup quarter finals saw some very good and hard games and eventually the Phuket Vagabonds, Southerners Black and Gold and the surprise package Samutprakarn progressed to the semifinals whilst the first time losers then dropped into the quarter finals of the Plate, led by the Panthers and Military RPL Vikings and joined by Youngblood, Bangkok Bangers Colts and Bulls, Bangkok Japanese, Hong Kong Scottish and Valley Griffins.
Following another round of games, the semi-final lineup for the Plate featured the hosts Pattaya Panthers against Hong Kong Scottish, who were hoping to go one better than last year when they won the Bowl, while the Bangkok Japanese and Military RPL Vikings would contest the other semi-final.
The lineup for the semi-finals of the Bowl saw, rather ironically, Young Blood matched against the Old Bill Colts and the Bangkok Bangers Colts against their sister side the Bangkok Bangers Bulls. This particular game was contested as a ‘boat race’ in which the older and more experienced Bulls triumphed despite having the handicap of Keith Coljohn.
The Shield final saw Elephant Brutal taking on Arch Thai and the brutes were just too strong for the architects and in the end ran out 29-0 winners. The Bowl final was a contest of age and that is what finally told on the Old Bangkok Bangers as the Young Blood squeezed home narrowly 17-7.
In the Plate final it promised to be just as exciting and hard fought and it was hoped that the Pattaya Panthers would be able to reproduce their earlier form and finally nail down some silverware. However, that was not to be as they were undone by the all-round experience of the Vikings who used their size and weight to outmuscle the Pattaya boys. Still, a creditable performance and many lessons learned.
So to the Cup final, which was to see the reigning champions Phuket Vagabonds take on the Southerners Gold team. It was a scintillating final and no quarter was asked or given but two portions of the Southerners proved to be just a little too much for the Vagabonds and the Gold team won a close final 12-0, a fitting finale to another great weekend..
After the final whistle everybody crashed into the pool and the presentations were made to all trophy winners by Ray Kays, assisted by Jim Howard, the Chairman of Pattaya Panthers RFC. He also presented the prestigious Chris Kays Award, for the person contributing most to the tournament on and off the field. In a tournament first, the award this year went to a team, the Old Bangkok Bangers who were selected on the basis of their good sportsmanship and conviviality throughout the weekend.
A vote of thanks is due to all the organizers, supporters and sponsors without whom a tournament like this could not happen: Amari Orchid Resort, Kingdom Property Company, NMT Project Logistics, MAS Ausgroup, The Lion Pub, Steve of The London Pie Shop, Manpower Thailand, Jardine Shipping, Phoenix Pacific Inc., The Baron Devereux, Hemaraj Land and Development, Societe Generale de Surveillance.
Also a heavy vote of thanks goes to Contract Resources Asia, who provided all the shade, and Bangkok Pattaya Hospital for the first aid and medical attention, Horseshoe Point staff for providing a perfect venue, David Viccars the referees supremo who kept everybody under control (even the referees) and thanks to Jeff Powers and Mark Coombs and Ron Keeley, who produced another superb programme.
(Photos/Harpic Bryant & Pattaya Mail Reporters)
Old Bangkok Bangers Colts and Bulls players in fine spirits after their Bowl semi-final ‘boat race’ contest.
The Vikings kick for goal against the Panthers.
Players and spectators fill the shaded viewing areas as the tournament reaches its climax.
A leap of faith at the line-out.
The Thai Barbarians co-opt the Hooters girls into their ranks.
An exchange of pleasantries on the field of play.
The junior players put on a great display of rugby over the weekend.
Flag in one hand, beer in the other – the duties of a touch judge.
Southerners Gold and Phuket Vagabonds forwards get up close and personal.
The Pattaya Panthers rugby team with their famous mascot.
