Macau stuns Indonesia in friendly rugby duel
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the Indonesian national rugby team prepared to play Cambodia next week, it was beaten 10-17 in a friendly match against the visiting Macau team at the ISCI rugby field in Ciputat, South Jakarta, on Saturday evening.
The Macau players put heavy pressure on the home team from the start, repeatedly attacking the Indonesian defense to ground the ball in the goal line.
The home team fought hard to tackle the 15 physically bigger players from Macau, but Macau bagged the first try, 0-5.
"This is a very tough game. The Macau team forced us to play all-out, although most of us want to save our energy for the real fight next week against Cambodia," said Indonesian player Fikri Muhammad Al-Azhar.
Indonesia nearly scored a try when an Indonesian runner in the left wing was only five meters away from the Macau's tryline before he went down.
The game turned rougher in the second half, as the Indonesian team turned offensive and scored the first try within five minutes, to the boisterous cheers of around 100 supporters.
The Macau team bounced back and forced many scrums in the pitch before it scored two more tries.
It bagged two bonus points after successfully kicking the ball from the pitch's corner into the Indonesian goalpost.
Before the final whistle, Indonesia managed to get another touch-down to make the final score 10-17.
Indonesia and Macau are both newcomers to the Asian Rugby Football Unions (ARFU) organization, joining late last year along with Iran, Laos, Brunei and Cambodia.
The promotion of the Indonesian White Rhinos, came hot on the heels of a historic silver medal performance at the SEA Games in the Philippines in early December last year.
As part of the ARFU Division 6 championships, the Indonesian team will fly to Cambodia to play against the Cambodian national team from June 25 to July 2.
The 32-strong Indonesian squad consist of 21 locals from various areas across the country, three Australian citizens, three Englishmen, one Papua New Guinean and one South African. The team will be accompanied by coach Nicolas de Ribas of France and team manager William "Bill" James Ryan from the United States.
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