Teams from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam are to take on local sides at the Taiwan International 10’s Rugby tournament at the Bailing rugby fields in Taipei’s Shilin District on Saturday and Sunday.
“The primary aim of this tournament is to propel the growth of rugby in Taiwan,” said Andrew Leakey, president of the Taipei Baboons and one of the event’s organizers.
“By showcasing elite teams in an international arena like this, our objective is to ignite interest across various demographics and reach a broader audience,” Leakey said. “Central to our mission is the promotion of women’s rugby. Our aspiration is for the Taiwan 10’s to not only cement its status as a premier tournament in Asia, but also to stand as a flagship event for women’s rugby in the region.”
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Baboons
Asia Rugby Performance Panel referee Christabelle Lim, who worked the 10’s event in September last year, is to return as the lead referee for the tournament.
Lim is a former Singapore international who played at the Asian Games and won a silver medal at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. As a referee, she has officiated at the Asian Games Sevens and the Dubai Sevens Invitational.
Rugby 10’s limits the number of players on the field to 10 per team compared with 15 for standard games. The play time for pool and knockout games is 10 minutes with no halftime break, and just 2 minutes between games. Sunday’s finals are to be 7-minute halves with a 1-minute halftime interval.
Scrums have five players and line-outs must have four on each wide.
The action is scheduled to start on Saturday at 9:30am with a Group A men’s clash between Tainan City and Baboons Black.
Group A also includes Omura Takeshi, Keelung and the Samurai, while the men’s Group B has the Giants, Baboons Reds, Fivewoods, Chien Kuo OBs and the Eleven Dash Linesmen.
The Baboons said that their men’s teams were “on a quest to reach consecutive finals and avenge their narrow defeat to Chien Kuo” in last year’s decider.
Chien Kuo High School has had a rugby team — known as the “Black Shirt Army” — for 79 years.
“Thanks to the rigorous training by the coaching staff, the relentless efforts of the players and the wise guidance passed down from senior players, the team often finds itself victorious in competitions,” the team said, adding that they have “achieved the legendary feat of winning the national championship for 19 consecutive years.”
The first of the finals on the following day for the Women’s Cup, as well as the Bowl, the Plate and the Cup for the men’s teams, is to start at 2:46pm.
The women’s competition features the Baboons, Bedok Kings Skyllas, Bomber, Maoyu Biotech and the Seoul-based White Tigers.
The Bedok Kings Skyllas from Singapore promised to bring “our unique flair to the competition and leave our mark on the field.”
The White Tigers said that they have joined forces with the Saigon Geckos from Vietnam and the Lanna Lionesses from Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the 10’s.
The Geckos and Lionesses often combine into the VietChiang Barbarians at tournaments across Southeast Asia, “and are excited to travel further north to team up with the White Tigers for the first time,” they said.
The Veterans’ division includes the Silverbacks, the Blackpink Babas and Omura Takeshi.
Leakey thanked the other members of the organizing committee: Pete Chworowsky, Patrick McKeering, August Brenner and Claudio Lin, as well as Taiwan’s Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union.
He also thanked the Gold sponsors of the tournament — Yuan-Kun Sports and E-Da Hospital — and the Silver sponsors: Redpoint Brewing Co, Bolong, the Brass Monkey and Croxover Teamwear.
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