uring the preceding day the teams started to arrive, and on Friday afternoon a coaching clinic was held.

On Saturday the ceremony started with a welcoming dance by five local Dayak women, then a traditional Dayak war dance got the teams into the spirit of play. Pak Utoro, Chief Operating Officer for Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) made a short speech encouraging everyone to play in the spirit of the game and then performed a sterling kick off making the Sengata Hornbills wonder if he should be playing as well.

The 10 game “premiership” competition started on time at 13:30 with the home team, the Sengata Hornbills, coming up against the Bali Stiff Chilis. In this event Putu and Alfie managed to cross the line twice for the Hornbills with Fadin getting one conversion, and the 12 points was enough to beat the Chili’s five from Kurt’s try.

Two fired up teams then hit the field as the Gosowong Ghosts took on the Jakarta Bantengs. A low scoring but hard fought game had the Ghosts take the Bantengs 10 to five, with tries to Carl and Sony for the Ghosts and Effendi for the Bantengs.

The Balikpapan team met with transport problems and stepped off the bus to step straight onto the field, coming up against a confident and fired up Hornbills. Unfortunately the Balikpapan boys didn’t trouble the scorers and the Hornbills took the game out with tries to Nigel (2), Niar, Iswaluyo and Putu. The game was slightly marred when Iswaluyo had to leave the field for what later proved to be a broken collarbone.

Next to the field were the Chilis and the Ghosts. Despite some excellent defense the Chilis were beaten 15-0 by the Ghosts with trys to Markus (2) and Sony.

The Bantengs then played Balikpapan in a hard fought game that had the Bantengs win 17-0, with trys to Yuda, Bobby and Teguh.

Due to the delays the predicted break was passed over. By this stage the top three teams were the Hornbills, the Ghosts and the Bantengs. The Hornbills took the field against the Ghosts in what was hoped would be a decider of things to come. A tense game saw the first draw of the tournament with scores at 10 all with the Gosowong Team missing a try conversation attempt after the siren. Markus and Yani crossed for the Ghosts, while Agung scored both of the Hornbills trys.

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Next up was the Chilis and the Bantengs which proved to be a close fought match, however the Bantengs held on to take the game 12-5. Teguh and Fikri scored the Banteng’s tries while Julian crossed for the Chilis.

The hungry Ghosts then put through three converted tries to beat Balikpapan 21-0, with trys to Teguh (2) and Yuda.

A confident Hornbills then headed out to take on the Bantengs and in a humbling experience were beaten 22-0 by a fired up Banteng team. The Bantengs were unstoppable and the Hornbills were starting to feel the effects of four games.

In a heart stopping last game the Chilis were knocked out by the Balikpapan team when Balikpapan slotted through a conversion after the siren to take the game 7-5. This meant that with no wins for the tournament the Chilis were eliminated from the semi final series. At the end of the first series the order of teams were Ghosts, Bantengs, Hornbills, Balikpapan and Chilis.

The second semi-final was played first, meaning the on-fire Bantengs were up against homeside favorites, the Hornbills. At half time things were looking grim for the home team, being down 12-0 thanks to trys from Bobby and Teguh, however they somehow called on their reserves and managed to run in three unanswered trys to Nigel, Mick and Putu to take the game 15-12. It was a firey game but well controlled by the referees. This comeback by the Hornbills put them into the Grand Final, with the Bantengs relegated to the third/fourth playoff.

As expected the first placed Ghosts then quickly put paid to the Balikpapan team and at the final siren it was 20-0.

After a short break to allow the Balikpapan boys to gain their breath they went up against a Banteng team keen to restore some honour, and despite a strong game and only their second try of the tournament the Balikpapan team went down 7-5 to the Bantengs.

So after five games the teams were starting to feel the pressure. The Ghosts and the Hornbills took the field for the Grand Final. Two very good teams played a grueling last 20 minutes but in the end the Ghosts had the legs and the power and took the game 12-5. The Gosowong Ghosts took the prize in the first Sengata 10s tournament.

Pak Ashok Mitra, Chief Financial Officer for KPC awarded the tournament cup to the Ghosts captain Markus. Number 18, Eki, was awarded the player of the tournament. Try of the tournament went to the Banteng’s “Man Mountain” Yuda, and if not the try of the tournament was certainly the “celebratory dance” of the tournament. Lastly, Bobby of the Bantengs was awarded the three best tackles for the tournament – all on the Hornbill’s Nigel.

All teams then retired to the pool bar for a meal, celebratory drink and post mortems. The Ghosts presented Sengata with an Indonesian Rhino’s jersey and friendships were made. The band played well into the night.

There were no losers on the day and the big winner was Indonesian Rugby. Over 75 players, 90% of whom were Indonesian Nationals gained great exposure to the game, sportsmanship and the camaraderie offered by Rugby. It can only be hoped that this will be the start of something big for Indonesian Rugby Development.

Thanks to all the sponsors for the day, see below for a complete list. Special thanks to the volunteers in the souvenir stands, scorers, linesmen Referee’s {Mark Manderson, Anthony Dickinson & Dave Nye} and all those who helped. In particular, thanks to SOS International for the medical support and to Indocater for the assistance with catering.

Sengatta RC

BRC would like to thank all that participated in the Sengatta 10's and a special appreciation for Robin Quinn and Kurt Lovell for their effort in putting the team on the paddock,and Craig Harrington for organising the logistics.

Rodney Holt
BRC President

Photos courtesy of Paddy O'Loughlin
Sengatta Rugby Club

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