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.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Sean Dyche on Thursday achieved in his first game with Nottingham Forest what predecessor Ange Postecoglou could not in eight matches in charge: Win. Under its new coach, Nottingham Forest presented a concentrated display resulting in a 2-0 victory over Porto in the UEFA Europa League. It was the first victory for Nottingham in the competition and only the second overall this season, while Porto were defeated for the first time this season. Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the penalty spot in the 19th minute at the City Ground in West Bridgford, England. Igor Jesus doubled the advantage from another penalty in the 77th
RSS