Thailand has been sweltering in the hottest and driest weather for more than 50 years and the forecast for the weekend of 30th April – 1st May was that it would be getting hotter, with the likelihood of some heavy thunder showers! This could of course not deter the teams that gathered at Hooters, the newest hot spot in Pattaya, to sign up for the sixteenth staging of the Chris Kays Memorial 10’s Rugby Tournament, which was to be contested at the Horseshoe Point Resort.
In his welcome address the Pattaya Panthers Chairman, Jim Howard, warned all participants to expect a very steamy weekend and cautioned everybody, even spectators, to keep well hydrated and drink lots of fluids. Well the teams certainly did that but many of them preferred the amber fluid variety in the name of good health.
Phuket Vaganbonds celebrate with the Hooters girls after regaining the Cup trophy.
The tournament participants arrived from all over Thailand and other parts of the world, one team even came from Derby in England. They all descended on Pattaya to contest what has now been established as one of the principal 10 a-side tournaments in the region. Many of the visitors arrived early and left very late after having drunk Hooters almost dry! Hardly the ideal preparations for a rugby tournament, but then rugby players are hardy souls.
The tournament was to be contested by 16 teams with a very strong local bias, with former champions Phuket Vagabonds (2014) and the reigning champions the Southerners (2013 and 2015) leading the way. The Bangkok Bangers Colts and Bangkok Japanese as well as the hosts Pattaya Panthers were all potential outsiders.
Hong Kong Scottish out-jump the Panthers at the line-out.
There was a strong Hong Kong influence led by The Valley Griffins, returning for their third year and determined to win something this year. They were joined by the Hong Kong Scottish, who were also returning for their third year, and newcomers Borelli Walsh USRC Tigers. We also welcomed all the way from Derby in England “La Vache Rouge”, who were already feeling the heat in the air-conditioned splendor of Hooters.
The Thai teams that had accepted the invitation were mainly newcomers and a fairly unknown quantity at the start of the weekend, especially a young team from Ubon Rachathani who according to their coach “Bomber” Bombell were actually rugby league players with little or no rugby union experience, this was to prove an illusion.
The Hooters girls brought some beaming smiles and slick dance moves to the event.
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 following the national team’s performance in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Southerners touch down against the Bangkok Bangers Colts in the Cup semi-finals.
Also returning after a couple of years away were the Suas from Chiangmai and after a decade of debauchery our old friends the French Asian Barbarians (FABS). The roster was rounded out by the host Pattaya Panthers who had been training hard under the watchful eyes of coaches “Stout” and Bazz Bain.
The teams were divided into 4 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 dry 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.
It was all thirsty work in the broiling temperatures.
The host team stunned everybody, including themselves, by playing out of their skins and actually finishing second in their group without losing a game and holding the strong Phuket Vagabonds to a 5-5 draw.
The biggest surprise of these early exchanges was the young boys from Ubon Rachathani who had overnight acquired considerable rugby union skills! They won all 3 of their pool games and easily qualified for the Cup from pool A. They were joined in the Cup by Southerners Black whilst Bangkok Japanese and Arch Thai dropped to the lower division.
Svelte athletes displayed nimble ball-handling skills.
The champions Southerners Gold, the Phuket Vagabonds and Bangkok Bangers Colts were the other division winners and they were joined in the Cup quarter-finals by the hosts and Still Young Blood, and most surprisingly the FABS. The FABS had been hoping for a late start on Sunday but were outmaneuvered by the Valley Griffins, who forfeited their game against the FABS after claiming heat exhaustion, which meant that the FABS were in the Cup with an early start on Sunday morning!
Vagabonds and Southerners go head to head in the Cup final.
La Vache Rouge put up a plucky display but unfortunately the weather conditions and the standard of the opposition were just too much for them. They have vowed to return next year with a stronger squad and having trained in the local sauna. There were also good performances from Hong Kong Scottish, Arch Thai and the Chiangmai Suas, with an exciting cameo from Valley Griffins.
After a hard day’s play ended with some light showers, 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. Downtown Pattaya was awash with rain but most of the hardy souls made it to Hooters, where the Valley Griffins had organized a bull riding competition. It was hilarious fun but most spectators and the management of Hooters awarded a stunning victory to “Ricardo” the BULL!
Players sought any relief they could find from the heat.
The traffic was horrendous on Sunday morning and some of the teams were forced to change into their playing gear on their bus to be ready to start on arrival. The night‘s partying and bull riding had definitely taken its toll and tired limbs were anointed and strapped and there was a rush for places in the massage tent! The quest for Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield got under way and 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 Gold, Bangkok Bangers Colts and the surprise package Ubon Rachathani all progressed effortlessly to the semis whilst the first time losers then dropped into the quarter finals of the Plate, led by the Panthers and Southerners Black and joined by Youngblood and the ebullient FABS to face Elephant Brutal, Bangkok Japanese, Hong Kong Scottish and the revitalized Chiangmai Suas.
The big hits kept coming all weekend.
Meanwhile, the Bowl quarter final line up would feature Arch Thai, Borelli Walsh USRC Tigers, La Vache Rouge and Valley Griffins
With the quarter finals completed the lineup for the Plate semi finals featured the hosts against Southerners Black and The Bangkok Japanese against the Chiangmai Suas. In the Bowl, Hong Kong Scottish, who were hoping to retain the title, were pitted against Elephant Brutal whilst Still Young Blood were to take on the mighty FABS in their 4th match of the day. Finally the FABS would run out of stamina against the much younger Young Bloods and H.K Scottish finally halted the Elephant Brutal charge.
In the Plate semis the Panthers kept their hopes of silverware alive with a convincing 19-0 victory over the Southerners Black and were into the final where they would meet their old friends and adversaries Bangkok Japanese, who had squeezed past the Chiangmai Suas in a very exciting and closely fought game.
Both semifinals of the Cup were hotly contested and the Ubon Rachathani lads showed just what a potent force they will be in the future as they ran Phuket Vagabonds right down to the wire. Scores were even at full time and Phuket squeaked in with a golden score in extra time.
Southerners Gold had a much easier time in the other semi, beating their old rivals the Bangkok Bangers Colts 19-0 and setting up a ‘Clash of the Titans’ between the 2014 and 2015 champions. Once again the Cup final had to be brought forward to accommodate the Phuket early leavers but a mouthwatering game was a certainty, before the dash to the airport!
Arch Thai run the ball against Valley Griffins in the shield final.
The shield competition saw Arch Thai beating USRC Tigers and then face a rested and now fully dressed Valley Griffins. The architects were not overawed and the Griffins were overdressed so in the end Arch Thai ran out 19-0 winners.
The Bowl competition was a contest of fitness and age and that is what finally told on the FABS, who went down in their 4th game of the day to Still Young Blood by a score of 32-5. In the other semifinal, Hong Kong Scottish squeezed home narrowly 10-7 against the Elephant Brutal with another extra time golden score. In the final, Still Young Blood had just too much gas for the Scottish boys, who will I am sure be back to reclaim the Bowl next year.
The Plate saw the host Pattaya Panthers’ challenge undone by the all-round excellence of the Bangkok Japanese yet again. The scores were tied at full time and the winners were decided by a golden score from the Panthers’ old enemies.
So the Cup final was to be the reigning champions Southerners Gold against the team that they had dethroned last year. It was a scintillating affair and no quarter was asked or given in a magnificent display of hard running rugby.
Jim Howard (centre) presents the Plate to players from the Bangkok Japanese team.
The Southerners took an early lead with a solo try and then displayed a watertight defence against the Vagabonds who produced wave after wave of attacks. Just as it looked that the Southerners would hold out and retain the trophy, the Vagabonds scrum-half picked the Southerners’ lock and sent his speedy winger away to touch down under the posts. The try was easily converted just as the final whistle blew so the Vagabonds had regained the cup, winning a close final 7-5 and providing 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 except the Cup champions Phuket Vagabonds as they had caught an early flight home. 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.
For the second year in succession the prestigious Chris Kays Award, for the person contributing most to the tournament on and off the field, went to a team although they do not know it. The Valley Griffins / La Vache Rouge were selected on the basis of their good sportsmanship and conviviality throughout the weekend. Congratulations Aarann and Boris for your outstanding organization and performance!
Still Young Blood receive the Bowl trophy after triumphing over Hong Kong Scottish in the final.
A vote of thanks is due to all the organizers supporters and sponsors without whom a tournament like this could not happen: Hooters Pattaya and the Hooters girls, Amari Orchid Resort, home of the Tavern By The Sea and Mantra restaurant, NMT Global Project Logistics, Hemaraj Land and Development, The London Pie Shop, Manpower Thailand, S 5 Asia Shipping Agencies, Phoenix Pacific Inc., The Baron Devereux, Societe Generale de Surveillance and the Pattaya Mail.
Also a heavy vote of thanks to Contract Resources Asia, who provided all the shade, Drinking 4U all the drinking water and the Sawang Boriboon Foundation for the standby ambulance and first aid and medical team.
Appreciation also to David Viccars, the referee’s supremo who kept everybody under control (even the referees) and to Mark Coombs Tournament Director, Jeff Powers the statistician and Ron Keeley, our IT wizard who 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!
