By Jason ThomasThe Brunei Times
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Sunday, May 2, 2010
LOVE them or hate them, you have to respect them.
The Knights Rugby Club ended the season as the only undefeated team after wrestling the Darussalam Cup from the stranglehold of the Belait Pythons 73-21 last night.
In what was the biggest night of local rugby all year, the Knights who also lifted the Kamaruddin Cup as a result of their win in the league dominated for large periods with their brand of organised rugby at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.
It was the first time the club has won both competitions.
"We did our best to play structured rugby despite the (wet) conditions and did well on our rucks and phase balls," said the Knights' playing coach Johannas 'Hansie' Hickey.
"We were a bit more organised on the pitch and that allowed us to score," explained the back row prop.
Two-time champions Bandar Blacks finished third in the competition which is a knockout event played between the league's four teams after beating newcomers the Universiti Brunei Darussalam Sharks 48-0.
The Sharks didn't return home empty-handed though, winning the award for 'Fair Play'.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah Hj Abdul Wahab presented the trophies.
The Pythons' faithful were hoping that their team would enter the history books as the only side to clinch the Darussalam Cup three times.
It hardly took five minutes for those hopes to be dashed, with the Knights scoring off a pass from fly-half Kerry Williams who then went on to convert it.
Another successful game with the boot, the New Zealander would convert six of the 11 tries.
A penalty kick from Williams made it 10-0 in the 12th minute, with compatriot at scrum-half Toma Unoi exposing some slack defending to score on the left a couple of minutes later and make it 17-0.
Another penalty kick and it was 20-0 to the Knights' after 20 minutes.
The Pythons needed some ideas, and they needed them fast.
None materialised though, and the Knights would go on to score two unanswered tries after exploiting more poor defending, missed tackles and ball handling errors to set the score at 30-0.
The Pythons got on the scoreboard in the 31st minute when Md Isa Hj Mohamad completed a kick and chase, with Pythons playing coach Petrus Tuan converting the try to make it 30-7.
Talk of a comeback was short-lived though, with Hickey barraging his way through the Pythons' defence two minutes before half-time to score on the right.
Williams converted the try to set the score at 37-7 heading into the break.
Though both forward packs were well matched, the Pythons failed to make theirs count and they really should have done better bringing the ball up.
Forced to play to the Knights' tempo, the Pythons also didn't kick out of danger and it cost them dearly as the match progressed.
Among other downfalls were not recycling the ball well enough and affording the Knights too much space on and off the ball.
Careless passing by the Pythons saw the ball worked to Williams, whose defence-splitting pass to another New Zealander, Stuart Smith, made it 44-7 three minutes into the second half.
A try by Knights' captain Dinnie Hj Bakar made it 49-7, with substitute Buda William cutting the deficit to 49-14 with a try in the 52nd minute.
The rain which started in the second half had died down by now and the Knights started to reassert themselves once again, making it 56-14 after some slick passing.
A well-worked team try which was capped by Rudy Baja sparked more talk of a Pythons comeback at 56-21, but a kick and chase saw Sui cross the line to widen the gap to 63-21 after the conversion.
Tries by Kama and Sui ended the scoring.
The first team to score three tries against the Knights in a single match over the past two seasons, Tuan remained upbeat about the result.
"We had a lot of injuries, before and during the match, so that was one factor in the result," said Tuan, who plays at fly-half for both club and country.
"I'm definitely happy and proud with the boys though, and they gave a good show.
"We are still the Pythons."
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