The one-day tournament, fondly referred to as ‘Phuket Mixed’, made its bow at the Alan Cooke Ground (ACG) in Thalang on Saturday, Oct 11 and proved to be a huge success both on and off the field.
A total of 10 teams battled it out on the pitch, with one team travelling almost 800km from Pattaya to test themselves against Phuket’s finest.
Others participating included the ‘Toe Ends’ who were made up of players from the local Headstart school, as well as four teams from the Phuket Vagabonds rugby family; the senior teams were expertly named ‘The All Ballers’ and ‘The Kings’ while the academy teams were ‘Moodeng’ and ‘The Flying Lizard.’
Four other local Phuket-based teams included ‘The Hickeys,’ the ‘Phuket Piranhas Ogs’, the ‘Hat Yai Pretty Mammoth’, and ‘The Barbarians’, while the touring ‘Pattaya Panthers’ made up the numbers.
Inclusive
Touch rugby, or touch footy as it is commonly known in Australia, is a non-contact variant of rugby meaning no tackling. Instead players lightly tap their opponent with their hand to stop the play then restart the action by putting the ball backwards through their legs.
This lighter approach to a traditionally high-contact sport makes for a much more inclusive environment, meaning male and female players of any age are able to compete on the same field – perfect for the whole community!
The Oct 11 tournament was played on two high standard pitches and began with a fiery group stage, consisting of two pools of five teams. The knock-out stages then followed, including Plate and Cup semi-finals, third place matches and Grand Finals.
Intermissions in play were filled by a players raffle provided by tournament sponsor Radisson Red Hotel, as well as a footrace, which was won by Kyle Addison of ‘The Hickeys.’
With an enthusiastic crowd roaring on from the grandstand, the Cup Grand Final saw The Hickeys run out 1-0 winners against The All Ballers, with Merrick Fairall supplying a strong left-handed pass out to Josh Keys on the wing, who capably dove over the line for the winning try.
The 2nd and 3rd tier Grand Finals were won by The Pattaya Panthers and Moodeng, respectively.
Team effort
An array of individual awards were also won, including: the men’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) going to Merrick Fairall of The Hickeys; the women’s MVP to Ruth Weakliam of the Pattaya Panthers; the Golden Girl being shared by Pan and Noon of the Flying Lizards; the Golden Boy to First of Moodeng; and the Super Senior to Sam Schofield from The All Ballers.
The event was a huge success and sincere congratulations go to all those that participated and helped organise the event - a true team effort!
Despite travelling such a long distance, the Pattaya Panthers thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, with team captain Ruth Weakliam commenting “[We] will definitely be there next year… it was a memorable tour for us as a club.”
Moving forward, the sky is the limit for touch rugby in Phuket, and indded Asia as a whole. The next edition of the Phuket Mixed aims to take place in the not too distant future, hoping to draw even more talent from the island’s development systems and afar by extending the invitation for international teams to get involved.
In the meantime, regular training takes place with the Phuket Vagabonds RFC every Monday evening from 6:30pm at 99 Grand Arena, Samkong Boat Plaza. Also, Family Touch takes place every Saturday morning at the ACG from 9am.
Follow the game’s development on Facebook and Instagram @phukettouchrugby as well as on YouTube at ‘Phuket Mixed Touch Rugby’ where action from the recent tournament can be viewed.