Thai girls outtouch Jakarta Dragons
Thai girls outtouch Jakarta Dragons
JAKARTA (JP): Nine girls from Bangkok who had not heard of
rugby 12 months ago won the inaugural International Association
of Southeast Asian International Schools women's touch rugby
tournament here Saturday.
The International School Bangkok team went through the two-day
event undefeated, beating the host, the Jakarta International
School (JIS) Dragons, 4-1 in the final.
International School Manila beat the Singapore American School
3-0 to take third place in what was probably the biggest women's
touch rugby tournament ever held in Asia.
In the men's rugby sevens competition, host JIS, after a
sluggish start, overwhelmed the Singapore American School 36-18
in the final.
Playing in their first competition before a crowd of several
hundred people, the Bangkok students never looked like losing the
final after going three tries up, thanks mainly to the scorching
pace of freshman winger Tyler Caudle.
Christine Danahey, with a lunging dive from several meters
out, scored the only try for the Dragons but tight defense
ensured the Bangkok girls' lead was never seriously threatened
and they scored again just before the final whistle to confirm
their superiority.
The final two teams in the competition were the JIS Griffins
and the Jakarta Touch Rugby Club. The latter was a group of more
experienced players who wilted as the temperature and their ages
took their toll.
Tournament organizer Mark Gray, the JIS athletics director,
said: "I'm really thrilled by both the high quality of rugby and
the level of sportsmanship shown by all the participating teams.
"It was great to see how the level of play improved during the
tournament as the young but very fit girls adapted very quickly
to what is for many of them a new sport."
Donna O'Conner, a former captain of the Australian women's
touch rugby team and currently its assistant coach, attended the
event and helped train the teams.
She said afterwards: "It was a really good standard of play. I
don't think the girls really knew what it was going to be like
when they started, but the success of the event shows that
women's touch has a really big future in Southeast Asia." (jea)