Last weekend, a myriad of men’s and women’s rugby teams from Indonesia, Australia, Taipei, Singapore, Brunei, Timor Leste and Malaysia gathered at the Canggu Club, Bali to participate in the 2012 XP Xclusive Property Bali Rugby Fest. It was without doubt the biggest and best club rugby tournament ever played in Indonesia and it was a full credit to Nick Mesritz, Kurt and Faiz Lovell, Greg Hinchcliffe and many others from the Bali Rugby Club for putting on such a great tournament.
Pre-tournament on Friday October 12, representatives from some of the participating clubs plus those present in years gone by, especially the 2002 Bali International Rugby 10s, gathered at the Grand Bali Beach Hotel Field at Sanur to remember the 27 rugby players and supporters from that tournament who were lost in the 2002 Bali Bombings. It was a short and moving ceremony that honoured the memory of the 27 and a pledge was made to play the 2012 XP Xclusive Property Bali Rugby Fest in the spirit of rugby just as those who were lost would have wanted the tournament to be played. A Memorial Match was played on Sunday October 14 and featured players who played in the 2002 Bali International Rugby 10s.
The top Men’s 10’s teams battled out over the course of the weekend for a series of trophies, which included the ultimate prize of the 2012 XP Property Bali Rugby Fest Cup Champions, which was eventually won by the Bush Turkeyz RC from Darwin, NT, Australia who triumphed 24-7 over the Nedlands RC from Perth, WA, Australia. Earlier, Cottlesloe RC defeated Curtin Goats (both teams from Perth, WA, Australia) 19-0 in the Plate Final; the Komodo Reds from Jakarta won a tight Bowl Final 5-0 against the WA Fire & Rescue team, dedicating their win to the 6 ISCI players killed in the 2002 Bali Bombings; in the Shield Final, the Bush Turkeyz B’s beat the Flying Kukri’s from Brunei; and JJRG from Jakarta defeated the Cendrawasih from Papua 15-14 to take out the Jug Final.
In the Women’s 7’s competition there was many spirited matches with the Bush Turkeyz taking out the title 36-7 over the Singapore Bucks; and the Selangor Dingoes triumphed 19-0 over the Taipei Baboons to finish 3rd.
The highlight of the weekend for those that have been involved in Indonesian Rugby for over 10 years was the vast improvement in all of the Indonesian Men’s 7’s teams who played in the 2012 Intraco Penta Indonesian National 7’s Tournament, which was played as part of the overall 2012 XP Property Bali Rugby Fest. Following a tough day of pool play on day one the Indonesian teams battled out in tough Qualifying Finals first up on day two to set up a number a mouth-watering Semi-Finals in both the Plate and Cup competitions. The Papuan teams are always tough to beat, as are the Jakarta Bantengs, but this year’s surprise packets were the Bali Hanoman who played well all weekend making it into their first ever Indonesian National 7’s Cup Final by beating the Sengata Hornbills 7-0 and the Kotekas 24-0. On the other side of the draw the Bantengs beat Gosowong 17-0 to set up a Semi Final clash with the Cendrawasih from the Papuan highlands, who beat the Matano Miners 12-0. The Bantengs were headed for the Final against the Hanoman but when they took their foot off the accelerator the Cendrawasih lads seized the initiative taking out the Semi 19-15 in the dying seconds. It came down to the local lads from the Bali Hanoman taking on the Cendrawasih Highlanders in what was a gripping Final of the Intraco Penta Indonesian National 7’s which saw the Hanoman take out the title 24-12 much to the delight of their local supporters! Earlier, the Sumbawa Nagas defeated the Matano Miners 7-5 to take home the Plate trophy.
Indonesian Rugby congratulates Bali Rugby on a fantastic tournament and would also like to pay a special thanks to the title sponsor XP Xclusive Property, plus give a mention to the great support from RMA Automotive, as well as the Pulman Legian who accommodated all of the referees, Aqua for the supply of water and Mizone, the Canggu Club for the fantastic ground, International SOS for their medical care, Tsunami for the merchandise, Heineken for their refreshing product and Quiksilver. Special thanks, also goes to Intraco Penta from sponsoring the Indonesian National 7s Tournament.