By Jason ThomasThe Brunei Times
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Sunday, June 28, 2009
THE Knights Rugby Football Club delivered a commanding display of rugby during yesterday's 36-0 win against the Bandar Blacks/Yachties to set up a title deciding clash against the Belait Pythons in next week's final game of the Brunei Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Rugby League.
Contrary to last week's report in The Brunei Times, the Python's 82-12 result against the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (ABDB) was not enough for them to defend their title as league champions and holders of the Kamaruddin Cup, the trophy awarded to the league winners.
Both teams have yet to face each other this season, with the Knights forfeiting the first match on May 16.
Yesterday's result means that the Knights and the Pythons are the only two teams in the four-team league not to have tasted defeat all season, and the Knights look set to dethrone the Belait-based team if they win because of their superior point difference.
They have let in a measly five points all campaign, and the Bandar Blacks/Yachties have been the only team in the league to have found a way to get past their tenacious defence during their 34-5 loss to the Knights on June 20.
However, that was a feat which hardly looked like repeating itself during yesterday's game at the Balapan Track & Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas, with the closest they came to scoring perhaps their failed penalty-kick in the first half.
The Knights scored four tries and converted two of them in the first half, with the second period seeing them grab another two tries and convert one.
They could have scored more if not for shifting down a couple of gears mid-way through the second half, with the Bandar Blacks/Yachties threatening to break their duck but unable to find a gap.
The Knights got on the scoresheet in the first five minutes with a converted try and found their second try a few minutes later when Hans Hickey unselfishly laid the ball off to a teammate just metres from the touchline to cap off a period of strong pressure.
The Knights dominated the game through their forwards and scored a superb team try mid-way through the half when the ball was worked from the left to the right to create space, converting that try too.
Hickey would grab a try of his own after pivoting around two players and it was looking like a lost cause for the Bandar Blacks/Yachties even before the second half had started.
Their ball handling errors did not make things easier for them, they were unable to recycle the ball, and combined with the Knights' good tackling especially one late in the half which prevented a try the Bandar Blacks/Yachties could only hope the second half would be easier on them.
The Bandar Blacks/Yachties were not able to get their passing game going or find space on the flanks, and when they did, it was a certainty that tight marking would prevent them from getting into their opponents' 22-yard line.
They were able to hold the Knights off until mid-way through the second period when a scrum on the right saw the ball worked to the left, a good team try built on the back of fluid passing.
The Knights continued to tackle well in the second half, coming up with several hits that got the crowd on its feet.
The Knights spent most of the game in their enemy's half and scored their second try of the period when one of their players blocked a kick from a Bandar Blacks/Yachties' player inside his own 22-yard line, running a couple of metres to score the team's sixth try.
"Teamwork really won us the game today (Saturday) and I am hoping to win next week's game against the Pythons," said Ben Bourne, the Knights' player/coach.
"I think we should be able to win the Kamaruddin Cup if we beat the Pythons because we have done well to keep our opponents scoreless. We have only let in five points all season," he added.
It was the last game for the Bandar Blacks/Yachties, who now face ABDB in the battle for third on July 11.
The Brunei Times.
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