The 2013 Xclusive Property Bali Rugby Fest was another great rugby event put together by the Bali Rugby Club and played on the immaculate turf provided by the Canggu Club. Many new club sides were in attendance this year and those teams from the west coast and the east coast of Australia proved to be competitive with some managing to take home some of the silverware.
Yet for all the new teams and faces, it was the Nedlands RUFC that returned to Bali for the fifth time and managed the take the top prize for the second time in their history – the Open Men’s Bali 10s Cup. They did so by defeating one the surprise teams of the tournament, fellow Western Australian club side: the Kalamunda Bulls 24-7. The victory was poignant as the team accepted the award in memory of their good friend Mike Denton, who was lost to us in Bali prior to the Nedlands’ 2011 Bali 10s campaign.
The Bali Rugby Fest is not only about Men’s 10s as four women’s teams put on an entertaining display of 7-a-side rugby that was wholeheartedly supported by all those in attendance. Great interest centred around the two teams from Cendrawasih Muda “young birds of paradise” where most of the ladies hail from the Mama Sayang Orphanage located in Jonggol, south of Jakarta. In their last game between the Cendrawasih Reds and Cendrawasih Blues for the 3rd/4th place playoff, as a tribute to the great efforts shown by the young ladies of these teams throughout the weekend; participants from all the teams formed a ‘guard of honour’ or a ‘tunnel’ for the young ladies from these two teams to run through onto the field for this match. The camaraderie shown by all the participants will continue to live on as one of the fondest memories of the 2013 tournament. Meanwhile, the Selangor Dingoes from Malaysia won the Women’s Cup overcoming the NT Women 12-7 in a closely fought match.
In other results, the Bali Chillis showed great form to make it into the top 8 of the competition, eventually being knocked out by the Gaulois Frenchman from Singapore after a match winning try by the Chillis was ruled to have been held up. The Gaulois made it to the Plate final but were defeated by fellow Singaporean team the Wanderers 10-0 who took the Plate. Newcomers, Griffith Uni from the Gold Coast defeated the Jakarta Komodos Red in the Bowl final 12-3, fellow newcomers and the most recognisable team as each member of their group was donning a cowboy hat; the Brigalow Bushwackers from country Queensland took home the Shield after defeating the Bush Turkeyz 12-5. The last of the silverware was a local derby awarded to the Sumbawa Nagas who collected the Jug after overcoming the Jakarta Komodos Green 12-5.
As tournament director, Kurt Lovell wishes to greatly thank his wife Faiz for her help and support, and also Nick Mesritz, Greg Hinchliffe and Chris Dharma who together made another great tournament that Bali can be proud of. Sponsorship and support from Neil Power of Xclusive Property, Luke Benlow of the Pullman Hotel Legian and also Heineken, SOS International, Anglo INFO and the staff from the Canggu Club is most needed and very much appreciated.