Bali International Tens Rugby Tournament 2003

Following a very successful return to the annual Bali 10s for Colleagues I thought a Bali Tour 2003 tour report would be appropriate to let you know how we went on the field! Unfortunately tour rules do not permit me from telling you about playing 'ball' with nude 16 year old German girls (legal??), Evil Spanner and Iraq-Attacks, innocent tourists being held down and having their underwear forcibly removed on 'no-undie-sundie', or the beer sculling caped Colleague gimp who delighted the crowds wherever he threw up. Yes, fortunately for family and friends and my own safety, this report is mostly limited to game time.

Well on Friday 3rd October, 6 Colleagues flew out in flashy tour uniform Honda overalls to Bali to join another 5 players already over there sturdily preparing in various bars and beaches round the island for one of Asia's best known international 10s tournament. The 2003 Colleagues side included 6 players from last year's uncompleted tournament. We had also already arranged another 3 players to join us from Hong Kong and Singapore to the boost our squad including the mercurial Charlie Brazier who played in the uncustomary position of 5/8th like he was born with a number 10 on his back. Charlie, unlike his cousin, can actually play this position well (no need to worry about choking kicks here!). Charlie slotted conversions from all over the park, only missing one kick all tournament, a 50m drop goal attempt against Hong Kong Football Club that fell only inches short!!

A quick late Friday afternoon training run on the hallowed turf of the Grand Bali Breach Hotel Asian Field of Dreams sorted out all our moves - all 3 of them including Spanner's jersey formation move which sees the 10 on field players assembling in a line with alphabet jerseys spelling 'w e a r e c u n t s' to the crowd. Then for those not off to the bathroom for a date with Bali belly, it was time for the Official Welcome Function (read 'piss up') for all the competing teams and the Captain's meeting. When there is a lot of alcohol and high 30-degree heat involved in any rugby tournament, it pays to know the organisers and this time was no exception. A very favourable draw would see Colleagues' first game the next day not kick off until 11.30am and with the ground only 150 metres from our rooms, this was a very good start. As a consequence, the Welcome Function at the newly renamed Colleagues Bar (yes we had our own beach pub with Colleagues sign) was thoroughly enjoyed and a lot of singing/slurring was attempted by the teams and players drawn from all round the world but largely Asian based. Judy undertook the opportunity to run the bar and spike everyone else's drinks as best he could with a napkin on his head in an attempt to pose as a Balinese barman. It was also a good opportunity to catch up with former Colleagues like Turtle now playing in HK and Andy Bowler whose older brother had played with several Colleagues players overseas previously but was lost last year while playing for Singapore Cricket Club.

The next morning a half awake and somewhat shaky Colleagues side turned up to play its first game against the Nagas, a team of very hard, mostly kiwi mining contractors from Irian Jaya who don't get out much and as a result had focussed their efforts into winning their only rugby tournament of the year. In stifling 35 plus degree heat and high humidity Colleagues received a deep kick off and setup a maul. Judy Garland at halfback then passed to the Bear running at pace on the fringe for the first hit up of the day. The next bit is a bit hazy but before anyone could react the Bear was suddenly being driven backwards by their prop at a rate faster than he has ever gone forward. Thankfully Bear did very well by fighting to stay on his feet to set up the ball nicely to diffuse the situation. We now knew we were in for a real game against some very hard and aggressive mining boys and not just playing a few guys who had turned up for a bit of a social run! Colleagues responded by lifting and partaking in probably the biggest hitting game of the tournament as Lovey, Dylan 'Pain train' Foo and Neil Hazleman in the centres, as well as Spanner and the Bear turned on and received some massive front on hits while the crowd (and the other teams) looked on in horror - even one of our Singapore based reserves nearly opted to take his boots off as he had only come on the promise of a social game! Highlights of this game were a combined clean out by Lovey and Benson which destroyed a mouthy Nagas backrower leaving him clutching his head and calling for his mother while Lovey stood over him and showed compassion by giving him a bedtime story full of the 'c' word and an enquiry as to the taste of the dish he had just been served up! Bear got his revenge on the freight train that hit him earlier as he destroyed his opposite number in a great hit, forcing him to be carted off with a knee injury. The punches to the head Benson gave him clearly did nothing! With the crowd enraptured by the scale of the hits both teams soon lost sight of the ball in the importance of the game - including our Judy at half back who was more interested in cleaning out the opposition then even picking up the secured ball, and a nil all result was achieved at the end of 16 minutes. Despite the result, the boys really relished the opportunity to play a team whose only attack was to try and run straight over the top of us & the physicality of our play genuinely earnt respect. Now it would come down to how either side went against the other two teams in our pool and the result might well have depended on for and against at the end of the day.

After a quick trip to the pool (all three of them) to cool down we returned for game two of our tournament against the Hawaiian jerseys of Hong Kong Football Club who had the year previously lost their entire team bar two players. A chance came early as Foo broke away down the right hand side of the ground but he 'couldn't be bothered' passing inside to Rob Rosenberg and opted to toe ahead which Benson aptly knocked on the 22 in trying to regather at pace. HKFC then turned up the heat with some good play from their skilful 5/8 and Colleagues were pressured inside their own 22 when some good work at the breakdown would see the ball turned over and Benson run a tight angle down the blind on the touch line, step two players, then kick over, chase, toe ahead and score under the sticks to redeem his earlier knock on. Do you believe it? Doesn't matter. The rest of the team deemed it the softest try in the world and claimed it was scored from only 5 metres out after a give-me pass. Benson sent to the reserves bench in disgrace! Foo and Charlie Brazier then stepped up the pace and several more tries were scored out wide to secure a good victory. Charlie, Dylan and Neil were an imposing three quarter line that began running over or around their opponents almost at will by the end of the game. Their use of the simple but very effective 'sliders' and 'blockers' moves drilled into us by the Blue Giant coaching staff all season really opened up the defence.

The Nagas had meanwhile comfortably won their second game against the Jakarta based ISCI Memories side (all over 40 and playing from memory!) so it seemed it was all going to come down to for and against as to who went through to the main contest on Day 2. However, HKFC then did Colleagues a surprising favour by beating a tired and already physically punished Nagas side in a thriller meaning we only had to win our last game against ISCI Memories to qualify top of our group. (Note our favourable draw spaced out our games very nicely!) And so we then took the field against the ISCI Memories at the end of the day full of vigour to try and secure top place. First half tries from Foo, Judy and Benson secured the game before the break and with plenty of reserves the Colleagues coasted to victory as the opposition thought more about finding the shade, Bingtangs and some cheap local dates. Some of the blokes were so old on the ISCI side that we they looked like our fathers - that didn't stop Foo though, pulling off one of the hits of the tournament in the midfield on their only younger player.

Following the conclusion of play for day one, a very special service was held at the top end of the ground involving players, families of players lost and the Balinese to dedicate a new memorial to the 27 players and tour party members lost in last year's Bali bombing. It was a very moving affair for all involved but an overwhelmingly positive experience as the rugby community showed the wonderful ties of our game that bind us together from across the world and the families and relatives of those lost were able to feel the tremendous support network behind them. Club representatives of the 4 clubs that lost players spoke fondly of each of the individuals they lost including former Colleagues player Ben Roberts then playing for ISCIs 1sts team who were looking good to win the 2002 tournament. The memorial does not mention the bombing but simply list the names of those killed with the inscription 'In memory of our friends and team mates playing the Bali 10s'. The words of poet Robert Orr are added underneath 'To live in the hearts of those you leave behind is not to die'. But probably the most apt words came from the Captain of the 2003 Hong Football Club side who recounted how, when the question was put to HKFC players the week immediately following the bombing as to whether they would play their regular club games that weekend following the loss of 7 players, the response came: 'On Saturdays, we play rugby'. HKFC then went out and won all its games that weekend as former players flew from every corner of the globe to bolster depleted ranks.

After a very physical day on the park and the fact that we had qualified top in what was obviously a touching tournament, the Colleagues boys had a few quiet beers and called it an early night in order to prepare for the next day. Morning would however see two bits of bad news delivered. Firstly Spanner had been dangerously ill for half the night from what we thought was Bali belly but turned out to be heat exhaustion and was subsequently grounded in bed for 3 days. Evil Spanner was not seen during this period. Then our mercurial 5/8 Charlie Brazier had to pull the pin on playing the second day due to prior engagements (he was a late ring-in anyway) so we were two down. Luckily however HKFC were knocked out straight away before our quarter final against Valley so we quickly recruited the services of Gibbo, their skilful 5/8, for our Quarter Final. John O'Rierdon from Halligan stepped up to the plate to perform the hooking duties in Spanner's absence which he would carry out admirably. Then, in what was one of the highlights of the tournament and in many of our rugby moments, Jan Roberts, Ben's mother, came over and joined the Colleagues huddle and gave a very emotional speech as to why we had to go out there and win this game for her. The speech did the trick because Colleagues went out there with 10 on the field but really playing with 11 and blew away Valley, the 1st Division HK defending Champions, off the field in a 24-0 blitz with Foo absolutely destroying them in midfield with two tries. One was done at such pace that the defence tackled each other and were later suitably fined! Breezie too picked up the crowd pleasing try of the tournament when the versatile hit man Lovey changed the direction of the attack by throwing a long spiral pass across the field to the talismanic Breezie steaming into a gap on the Valley 22. Breezie, our very own Dr Evil, proceeded to step, dummy sell and carry two over to score a great try. The Pot Belly Pigs, a team of props all over 100 KG, gave this a standing ovation! Mrs Roberts would later remark in a public address to the Coogee Memorial Service on October 12, at which 4 Colleagues players accompanied her, that standing in the 'smelly sweat of the Colleagues huddle was one of the highlights of her life and a real honour'. Melbourne's Age newspaper also made mention of her speech in Bali and how it seemed to work in the Colleagues favour as they went out and 'smashed the opposition'.

And so we had reached the semi finals but the heat and heavy hits were taking their toll with Judy carrying a badly bruised leg and Rob Rosenberg playing above his weight while only just holding his back together after some outstanding work round the park on the wing. With Colleagues becoming the peoples' favourites for the cup, a couple of recruits were kindly sent over from ISCI's 1st team to bolster the Colleagues squad to the maximum 15 players. The boys then had a swim and sat in the tent in preparation for this key game against the very physical and impressive Taipei Baboons, made up of very big and fit Canadian, Australian and South Africans who had just played an extra time golden point quarter final to get through. The other semi final was then played first with the Bali Chooks (a team of Sydney and Perth first graders, including one Brumbies squad member and only one local expat!) playing their second team as both had gone through undefeated on the same side of the draw. This turned into a farcical game of touch favouring the Chooks top side and it soon became blatantly obvious that they were trying to physically save themselves for the GF. The crowd were naturally unhappy with this and booed strongly while the Pot Belly Pigs led a long conga line across the park in protest. It was an absolute disgrace! Colleagues were clearly becoming the peoples' hopes to make the finals and smack the Chooks back to coop!

Game time came and the Colleagues huddle this time was treated to a very moving speech from Carolyn Chan, Ben Robert's partner, about how he and she had both so enjoyed their time at Colleagues. With emotions in check and the crowd behind them, Colleagues team took to the field fired up to do some damage only to try and hold in the laughter at the kick off as the Pot Belly Pigs gave a rousing rendition of 'Dont Cry for me Argentina' in response to the Colleagues blue and white striped jerseys. The game turned out to be another physical bash and crash match with all the Colleagues boys tackling their hearts out and three players virtually carried off pouring blood. The Baboons scored early as we were caught short out in the backs from over committing in the middle to a series of straight Baboon charges. The conversion was missed and we were 5-0 down. Foo then broke away from our 22 line in a clear bust but at that hot time of the day and with 4 hard games already under our belts, he couldn't quite reach the try line alone. Rob Rosenberg had run the length of the field to back up but was also mowed down agonisingly short. Colleagues dominated scrums with Baboons picking a front row of backrowers to try and run us off our feet. Unfortunately their extra mobility paid dividends for them, dominating the breakdown in the first half andlaying the platform for their second try. The Baboons cleverly used the full width of the field, working the ball wide to one wing after a lineout, recycling quickly back to the other wing to have their faster guys run at the gaps between our front rowers to score a well worked and ultimately decisive try to be up 10-0 at the break.

The second half would see the Colleagues lift as the crowd got behind us and wave after wave of Colleagues attack was met with stiff and committed and often brutal Baboon defence as they fought valiantly to defend their line as they too probably had their 5 lost players on their mind. However the Baboons hung on and when our import Simon Walker (an actual James Bond attached to the British Embassy in Jakarta) crashed over in injury time after some great lead up work from the whole team the crowd roared. We ran out of time in a high standard match, losing 10-5. Despite the loss it was a great result for Colleagues to end up third in such a tournament with a scratch side that had never really trained together and was drawn from 6th grade to 1st grade. Everyone stepped up to the plate to play their best rugby as a team and it was a 1st grade performance all round. A few of the blokes from lower grades really showed that if they get a chance up the grades for the Blue Giants they'll let nobody down. Not only did we make our usual mark off the field in the social stakes but we had also earned great respect on the field. The Baboons would go on to lose the final against the very unpopular but 'well-rested' Chooks three tries to one and in their losers speech acknowledged the Colleagues for giving them their toughest game of the day which probably explained why they ran out of puff in the final.

Foo got the highest try scorer for Colleagues, Breezie got our favourite try and Benson got players' player but really anyone could have earned this as everyone played beautiful rugby. 5 Colleagues players who toured last year - Judy Garland, Spanner, Lovey, Breezie, Bear and Benson - are up for possible selection in the Bali Memorial match to be played at North Sydney on November 12 against the Australian Barbarians.

Following completion of the tournament we were naturally the nosiest team at the presentation dinner (generally leading the charge in upsetting and booing the Chooks) and our celebrated beer sculling gimp, still in playing kit, was the hero of proceedings. All players have committed to return next year to 'cook some chook' and we are hoping to get a few more of you to come on what is a truly memorable rugby tour - so stay posted and start planning for the greatest rugby tour you could ever go on. Ten a side is a great format for playing rugby, combining the free open play of sevens with the tight forward play and tactics of fifteens. If the tournament sounds like fun, wait till you enjoy a week off in a 5 star resort and endless surf beaches with nothing to do but party with Evil Spanner!

Photos will be on the website soon so take a look and try and work out what the hell we were doing out round town. And thank you to all those who helped support this important tour through our various fundraising activities throughout the year. It meant a lot to many people the world over and not just to Colleagues players. And if you had heard the stories at that Saturday afternoon service about how these guys loved their footie trips, then you knew it meant even more to those players still on tour.

Lachie