Rain, shine and a load of great rugby action at the ACG

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Heavy monsoon storms and continual downpours scattered the week in the lead up to the event, suggesting for perfect conditions for rugby playing action.

Many teams, such as the Pronto Rugby UK, the Prebbleton Dinos from New Zealand, and the Moorabbin Rams and the Groote Eylandte Mudchooks, both from Australia, sent in advanced recon teams to secure their watering holes for the lads that were to follow. A commendable plan, though the advanced parties were looking pretty jaded by the time the others arrived, and they were, of course, shown no mercy by their comrades, meaning rest and recuperation was out the window!

Day one of the Phuket International Rugby 11s is aways a fun one with the Athena Siam Coffin Dodgers Over-35s and One Foot in the Grave Over-45s Vets tournaments.

This year the Over-45s were playing for the Carel Schutte Cup in commemoration of the legendary Kriel Roosters manager Carel Schutte, who brought the South African side over and helped create a golden era for the tournament with the rivalry between the Roosters and the Moorabbin Rams over a five year period, helping put the tournament on the world map.

It was last year's Coffin Dodgers runners up, Pronto Rugby UK, who started proceedings with a hard fought 10-0 win over tournament debutants, Kamesenryu Rugby Club from Japan.

Next, the aptly named Muddy Buffalos were unlucky to go down 7-0 to the Prebbleton Dinos and the home team, Phuket Viagrabonds, came through 10-5 against a plucky Chiang Mai Cobras side.

In round 2 matches the Kiwis Dinos side were unlucky to go down to Pronto UK 7-5 whilst the Buffalos got the better of the Kamesenryu 7-0, while The Viagrabonds went down to the Dubai Barbarians 14-0.

With the weather showing signs of clearing up and the sun beginning to shine through between the showers, the Pronto lads took control of their group with a 19-5 win over the Muddy B's, whilst the Dinos and Kamesenryu played out an entertaining 14-14 draw. The CNX Cobras were again on the wrong end of the scoreline, going down 7-0 to a classy Dubai Baba's side, before bouncing back to defeat the Dinos 5-0 in their Cup quarter-final game, while Dubai had a strong showing against Kamesenryu 31-5.

In the semi-finals, Pronto Rugby just scraped through, beating the Phuket Viagrabonds 7-0, whilst CNX Cobras went down to the Dubai Baba's side, 19-0.

In the Bowl Final the Kiwi Prebbleton Dinos were too strong for the Muddy Buffalos, winning 12-0, as the Chiang Mai Cobras won the plate by the same score against the Viagrabonds.

The cup final was a torrid affair with Pronto Rugby and the Dubai Baba's giving no quarter. Ultimately, in a topsy turvy high quality game, Ponto Rugby came out on top 14-7, to win the trophy that eluded them last year.

Silverbacks and Wrinklies

The One Foot in the Grave Over-45s continues to grow year on year and this year's division started with an all-Japanese encounter as the Asian Japanese Dragons took on Kamesenryu, with the latter showing their credentials to triumph 15-5. They would then go on to lose against the last year's winners the Taipei Silverbacks 12-5 before taking out the San Miguel Wanderers Wrinklies 5-0 in a tight game to reach the cup semi-finals.

The HKFC Vintage Gents had a shaky start to the day, going down to the Prebbleton Dinos 24-12 before bouncing back and beating the Moorabbin Rams 17-5 in the next game. They then won an entertaining game against one of the pre-tournaments favourites the KL Tigers 14-12 to advance to a Cup semi-final against Kamesenryu.

The Taipei Silverbacks weren't going to give up their title without a fight, winning their first two games against the San Miguel Wanderers Wrinklies 5-0 and a 12-5 win over Kamesenryu RFC. They had a slight blip against the Asian Japanese Dragons, going down 17-0, which meant a nervous wait to see if other results went their way so they could make the semi-finals.

The boys from New Zealand, the Prebbleton Dinos, won all their group games to storm to the semi-final where they overcame the Silverbacks 10-0. The other semi-final saw the HKFC Vintage Gents squeak through 10-5 against a gallant Kamesenryu side.

The San Miguel Wanderers Wrinklies were Shield winners against the KL Tigers, while the Moorabbin Rams won the bowl and the impressive Kamesenryu RFC won the Plate.

The Kiwi Dino's side were clear favourites going into the cup final. The Vintage Gents however had other ideas and rolled back the years to keep the best till last. Solid defence and pace out wide after turnover ball saw the Gents keep the eloquent Kiwis honest and, as the weekend began to take it toll, gaps appeared to allow the Gents through to score twice and win the Cup 12-0.

The One Foot in the Grave Over-45s player of the tournament was Tjaart Van Der Walt, while the Coffin Dodgers Over-35s player of the tournament was Alan Wolf.

Mother-daughter combo

The Women's division is always fun to watch and the girls bring a lot to the party with their enthusiasm and desire to entertain. The first game of the day was the Bangkok Bangers Belles against the tournament debutantes the Amblers Old Girls, featuring a triple mother-daughter combo in Marisse and TeHana De Klerk, Angel and Bree Portugal and Erica and Dylanne Savage.

Not having played for many a year showed as the Amblers were a bit rusty and had no answer to the Belles' power game, eventually going down 17-0.

The second game saw a new look Southerners Ladies team featuring up and coming local Thai talent up against a determined HKFC Ice & Fire side, joining the tournament after a six-year hiatus. There was nothing between the two sides throughout and the 5-5 scoreline was an apt result.

Elsewhere, The Bangers Belles struggled against the pace of the Southerners Ladies, but held on to take a 5-0 win. They would be held by the HKFC Ice & Fire 0-0 in their next game to make the cup semi-final against the Amblers Old girls who went down 17-0 to the Southerners in the final group game.

The Southerners took on the HKFC girls in the cup semi where the pace of the Thai girls and fatigue settling in saw the Southerners take the game 19-0. The Belles defeated the Amblers to set up a mouthwatering cup final against old adversaries the Southerners. The Plate final

between amblers and HKFC Fire & Ice was decided by an 11 a side boat race. With the initial race declared a draw it went down to extra time between the team captains with the experience of the Amblers Captain just scraping the win as the Amblers took the Plate trophy.

The much-anticipated cup final saw the Belles step up a level and the bigger pack dominated the match up front with the smaller Southerners having no answer to the power game. The final score of 27-0 didn't tell the full story on the quality of the game, as the Belles ran out deserved winners and 2025 Women's Champions.

Iconic

The Men's open division started out with Group A action with the UUDS Tuskers, a team of Sri Lankan and Fijian expats based in the UAE, taking on the local Phang Nga Rugby Club. The young Thai lads were excited to take on such iconic rugby players and put heart and soul into the game. Unfortunately for them the bigger, faster and more skillful Tuskers showed no mercy and blew them away 40-0. The beauty of the game was on show as the Thai lads had selfies with their opponents and swapped contacts. The Tuskers would go through the group games undefeated to make the cup semi-final, defeating a gallant Chiang Mai Cobras side 19-0 and making it to the cup final as firm favourites.

Another team making their debut, the Peak Baba's, a rugby academy from Hong Kong,

showed good form to finish second in the group stages whilst Seoul Survivors from Korea and the Phang Nga lads filled out the minor positions.

In Group B, Pronto Rugby UK had some tough encounters against the Chiang Mai Cobras (12-0) and the home town Phuket Vagabonds (5-0), before brushing aside the Groote Eylandt Mudchooks to finish unbeaten to top the group. The CNX Cobras finished a creditable second by virtue of a one-point score differential over the Vagabonds with the Mudchooks propping up the group.

In the minor finals the Groote Eylandt Mudchooks took the Shield, and the Seoul Survivors defeated the Phuket Vagabonds to win the bowl. The plate final was a close game with Pronto Rugby UK just getting over the line 5-0 against an ever-improving Chiang Mai Cobras team.

The Cup final saw the Peak Baba's up against the UUDS Tuskers with both teams putting on a show. The Tuskers went hard from the start and their flowing rugby, offloads and intricate passing saw them take the lead in a dominant first half performance. The Peak lads came out strong in the second half to reduce the deficit and put some doubt in the Tuskers minds. Constant infringements by the UUDS boys gave the Baba's field position and saw them further reduce the deficit. The Peak boys pushed hard looking to tie the game up but turnover ball in the midfield let the Tuskers backs loose, to turn on all the skills and score a match winning try under the posts with a final score of 28-12.

A fitting end to a weekend that had it all from torrential rain, sunshine, excitement, on and off the pitch, a classic women's boat race and a wonderful show performance by the Asia Center Foundation scholarship for children, thanking all their sponsors and the wider rugby community.

If you are interested in finding out more or sponsoring a child or making a donation, contact Roelien Muller at the Asia Center Foundation on roemuthai@gmail.com.