Ready to Go !

I am leaving the office, in like 15 minutes ! Going home, I'm going to pack.., and tomorrow.. will head straight to Kota Kinabalu.. Nov 3rd & 4th .. where else would u wanna b ?

Before I go, just wanna say that I've recently created a goggle group, and invitations will be out (hopefully next week), to all our friends, so we could stay "in touch". To those, who would like to be apart of this group, pls let us know, by sending your email to borneocobra10s@yahoo.com or borneocobra10s@gogglegroups.com.

Also, we've added a little forum for all rugby fans out there. Feel free to drop by, and talk about rugby ! Soon, new topics will be posted in the forum plus the Hall of Fame.

In rugby fanatics, no one is too far.. and there's a place for all to hang out & talk rugby !

Let us know your thoughts at:http://rugbyfanatics.freeforums.org/

Cheers!

Published in the Daily Express on Oct 31st,2007

In the Mood : Published in the Daily Express Oct 30th,2007

The Penguins International rugby team and Sandakan Rugby Club officials pose for group photo on their arrival from Kuala Lumpur at the LCCT Terminal on Monday. The Penguins led by team manager, Craig Brown will be competing in the 7th Borneo COBRA Rugby 10s Championship to be held at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex from Nov 3-4th.

The team who competed in the HSBC Cobra Rugby 10s Tournament in Petaling Jaya over the weekend, will be up against nine other international teams and six local competitors in the tournament.

They will however, be powered by two well known ruggers, namely (inset from left) William Hafu and Mesake Davu.

The Borneo Cobra 10s jointly organized by the Sandakan Rugby Club and IJM Plantations Bhd offers cash prizes totaling USD15,500 (RM55,000) to winners in the Cup, Plate and Bowl Finals.

Wanna say something, cause I do !

Gosh, another 5 days.. we are there ! Time really flies, and the excitement is pretty hard to ignore! :)

We are expecting the arrival of our international teams from today until Friday. The commitee is all spread out, making sure all plans are in place. It's been crazy.. but hey, its been great.

Last weekend, was the COBRA 10s, Sing 7s & Bangkok 10s. We just wanna say a big CONGRATES! to all the organising commitees (who are our dear friends) as even though we were not there (Singapore & Bangkok), we heard .. that it was a BLAST ! Everyone had a good game, good fun & a great experience. We hope to be able to extend the same kind of hospitality to all our guests, as well as a great game of rugby to all the rugby fans out there !

I'm taking a couple of minutes break, when I come back, hope to post some articles on the recent COBRA 10s.

By the way, to everyone who has been sending us emails, thank you for your support. For those who has been dropping us a few notes on the shoutbox, thank you for your time, and for those who has been checking us out regularly, thanks alot guys. If you would like to send us any feedback.. or whatsoever inquiries or just to say hi (probably), pls send your thoughts to borneocobra10s@yahoo.com.

We'll be more than happy to hear from you !

Cheers!

Team Profile 15: SRU Eagles

Young siblings to the senior Borneo Eagles from Sandakan Rugby Club Sabah, the Borneo Eagles Development Team is the future of Sabah Rugby.

This elite group of youngsters are being vigourously groomed to be the future torch bearers of Sabah Rugby. In fact, several of them have already ‘earned their wings’ and have played in the senior squad at selected tournaments. The ‘cream of the crop’ selected from the Sabah Academy for Rugby Excellence, these up-and-coming youngsters play an exciting brand of rugby with all the enthusiasm and youthful exuberance expected of them. They have passed assessment by a panel of professional coaches who are assisting in the development programmes drawn up by Sabah Rugby Union and its Affiliates.

There is no denying that they are still a little inexperienced, but, given time and guidance, there is little doubt they will soar to great heights.

Team Profile 13 & 14: Malaysia's Armed Forces (Team A) & (Team B)

The AF Rugby Team were once the pillar of the National team, and synonymous with the development of rugby in Malaysia . Rugby has been shortlisted as one of the core sports by the MAF Sports Council, therefore commitment at the national level always remain a priority.

BORNEOCOBRA Rugby 10s

The core players of the team were assembled from the losing semifinalist of the National Premier Agong Cup 2007 team. The players are mainly from the JLJ, Blackhawks, ORCA and RMR Warrior rugby teams with the supervision of Maj Mohd Azizan Zainal and Muhammad Rat as the Team Manager and Coach respectively. The MAF see this event as crucial to their development efforts as it is a rare opportunity to pit their skills against experienced players from established rugby playing nation.

Achievements

MAF had won the Premier Agong’s Cup 11 times, including 5 years running (1992 – 1996). As for 2007, MAF had emerged champs in the MRU Cup and MRU League Cup and were a losing semifinalist in the Agong’s Cup. 5 players were selected to don national colors and 1 player shortlisted for the National 7s team.

Team Profile 12 : Labuan Rugby Club

LRC was formed in 2000 by rugby enthusiasts whom mostly professionals working in the various industries in Labuan. As a sporting organisation, LRC is actively participating in rugby tournaments especially around Sabah, Brunei & Labuan itself. As part of our contribution to the community, LRC also committed in the development of rugby from the grass root in Labuan. We have been continuously assisting the Labuan Sports Council in preparation and training for Labuan rugby team and Labuan School Sports Council in providing coaching and technical assistance to the schools involved in rugby

Team Profile 11: SRC Borneo Eagles

The Borneo Eagles are from Sandakan Rugby Club Sabah, a young club that was registered less 3 years ago. However, within that short space of time they have made an impact at almost every tournament that they have participated in, prompting invitations from organizers of some of the most prestigious tournaments in the region and even as far away as Dubai.

Among their more memorable achievements are: Alor Star City International 7s (Champions 2005), 58th Singapore Cricket Club International 7s (Plate Champions 2005), Manila SEA Games International 7s (Gold medallists 2005), Malaysian Rugby Union’s National Inter-Club Championships (Champions 2006), Negeri Sembilan Royal 7s (Champions 2006) and the 37th HSBC-COBRA 10s (Plate champions 2006). Many of their players were in the Sabah Team that recently won the 25th Agong’s Cup 2007.

The Borneo Eagles are determined make amends for their disappointment last year when they lost to Davetalevu of Fiji in the Cup Final through a try in the dying minutes of the match.

The Borneo Eagles are an exciting combination of several former and current national players complemented by several experienced Fiji imports.

With home turf advantage, the Borneo Eagles are out to maul the opposition!

Team Profile 10: Combined Old Boys' Rugby Association (COBRA)

The Combined Old Boys' Rugby Association (COBRA) was formed on 8th June 1967 with the objective of catering to ex-school rugby players who had few opportunities to continue playing unless they were members of teams of institutions of higher learning or of the uniformed forces at the time.COBRA is the current champion of the Selangor Rugby Union Premier Division & Division 1 League.

Team Profile 9 : The Philippine Typhoons

The Philippine Typhoons is a mix of expat and Filipino players coming from Manila and Cebu, the two centers of rugby in the Philippines . Rugby in the Philippines is growing and we now have many more Filipinos playing both touch and contact. We look forward to reciprocating the visit of Borneo to Manila in 2005 and seeing the sites of Kota Kinabalu and establishing a tradition of attending the Borneo Cobra Tens.

Published in the Daily Express on Oct 11th, 2007

Page 36, Written by IRWATY MELLISA of the DAILY EXPRESS

Published in The Borneo Post on Oct 11th, 2007

Page 32,

Writen by LESTER J BINGKASAN from THE BORNEO POST

Published in the New Sabah Times on October 11th,2007

Mouthwatering Matches in Store (page 32)

Article (continue to page 30)
"It has in fact attracted a good number of foreign teams along with the cream of rugby fraternity in Sabah and Malaysia ini general. This has led to fans enjoying a very high standard of play from top stars both local and foreign alike". Velayuthan said.

Hosts Sabah will be represented by the Borneo Eagles from Sandakan Rugby Club, while the top Malaysian teams the COBRA Club, Negeri Sembilan Wanderers, Combined Armed Forces team to name a few will also be in the fray.

In addition, Sabah will use this opportunity to expose the young and up-and-coming players who van learn from the much experienced and well known professionals.

The standard of play during this event will definitely soar the unprecendented heights and this can be an added boost for the juniors especially those under the academy.

Written by FRED LEONG of the NEW SABAH TIMES

Discover The Wonders of Sabah, Borneo

Came across the Sabah Malaysian Borneo (SMB) recently, and thought it would be useful to have some of the info posted here. SMB is a monthly publication focused on promoting tourism in the State to both international and domestic visitors. The bulletin is the official publication of Sabah Tourism Board and was 1st introduced in March 2001.

Team Profile 8 : Marist Saint Joseph's-Samoa

-Champions of the COBRA 10s in 1996, 2004 and 2005
-One of the leading club in Samoa with members in the both Manu Samoa 7s & 15 sides.
- Uale Mai – IRB Sevens player of the Series in 2006 is also a member of the Marist and will be part of the team again this year alongside with Alapasa COrdtz and other xv sides.

Team Profile 7 : Penguins International RFC

The Penguins were formed in 1959 by the late Tony Mason and Alan Wright with the principal objective of fostering by coaching, training, traveling and playing the growth, goodwill and camaraderie of Rugby Football Union throughout the world. The club is recognized as one of the most widely travel-ed sports clubs in the world having played in or against teams from 58 countries and been represented by players from 30 nations.

The Penguins are once again looking forward to their trip to Malaysia, having first played in the COBRA 10s in 1993.This tour brings the first visit to the Borneo 10s and the club is delighted to be visiting Sabah. This year’s team has three players from last year’s successful COBRA 10s team (Mesake Davu, Willy Hafu and Marc Camburn) whilst the majority of the rest of the team are representing the Penguins for the first time including Maori All Blacks Tony Penn, Scott Waldrom and James Rodley, New Zealand 7s representatives Scott Waldrom, Marc Camburn and Matua Parkinson and Fiji and Fiji 7s players Mesake Davu and Vereniki Goneva. John McKittrick will coach the team again whilst Craig Brown will be the manager. The Coaching Academy effort will be undertaken by Craig Brown, Jamie Baron and Abby Wills with support from the players.

Team Profile 6 : Aotearoa Maori Rugby

The Aotearoa Maori Rugby team had their first taste of international rugby last year at the Cobra 10s. Hungry for more we have selected maori from throughout the land to represent all maori in our quest to perform to a higher level. Whilst inexperienced at this level this tournament allows our people to play on the international stage and against quality opposition.

Team Profile 5 : Singapore Barbarians

The Singapore Barbarians were formed in March 2003 with the objective of drawing from the pool of playing talent, both Singaporean and Expatriate to form an invitational team to play during invitational teams visiting Singapore and to compete in regional tournaments.

In this way, we truly represent the best of Singapore rugby community.

Singapore is in the position to draw upon a large pool of talent that has played the game to a very high level, many having played the game professionally.

All of the team are truly looking forward to another trip to the Borneo 10s to try and better the Plate Victory from 2006.

Team Profile 4 : Mendi Menjals (PNG)

The small township of Mendi is the capital of the Southern Highlands Province and is wedged between impressive limestone peaks.
This cool alpine setting is the home of the Mendi Menjals a team made up of local boys from “TENTE” in the rugged mountains of Papua New Guinea.

Tente is a small street in Mendi town flanked by small colonial houses built in the early days of the “kiaps” before independence. However, like most places in the Southern Highlands they have a strong and intricate social system little affected by change.

It is one of the few places where the traditional way of life can be seen in everyday living. Ceremonial rituals are strongly observed. Men and women can still be seen wearing traditional dress, tending their gardens and building their bush material huts.

The sport of Rugby Union is a newly introduced code into the Province and one which is not appreciated as much as Rugby League, our country’s national sport.

However, the Menjals have found early success, winning the 2006 PNG National MRDC 7s Cup. The team went through the competition undefeated, defeating Saint Joeys Old Boys from Sydney, Australia in the Cup finals.

Team Profile 3 : Arabian Pot Bellies RFC

The Arabian Potbellies [Club mottos carpe noctem & video et taceo ]

The Arabian Potbellies are the younger brothers of the world famous Hong Kong Potbellied Pigs. As is the way of expatriate rugby players we don’t tend to stay in one place too long and as we are all motivated by the ‘next big job’, it is no surprise that a number of Hong Kong Piggies ended up living and working in the Middle East (mostly in the UAE).

So we all have much in common, a love of playing rugby, large waistlines and a sincere aversion to rugby training. These things don’t necessarily go together, especially when the local rugby clubs that you may wish to join insist on regular attendance at rugby training sessions.

The only thing to do was to form our own club and seek out other rugby players of a similar frame of mind (& body) to join us.

So the Arabian Potbellies were born (it was not pretty) in the Autumn of 2006 when we found out that a team had dropped out of the Dubai International Veterans 10s competition, only a few weeks before the event and we jumped at the chance to enter. We lost, bravely, all of our games that weekend and played against some very good teams in the process … but we had a great time doing so.

The Potbellies are now officially formed and an Associate Member of the Arabian Gulf RFU. The Borneo 10s will be our first tour as club, but certainly not our last.

Watch out for the fattest wingers in the entire competition.

Team Profile 2 : Taipei Baboons

The Taipei Baboons are a eclectic group of backpackers and businessmen. The number of members swells and deflates annually and the parade of flags and rugby lore is colourful to say the least. As hard as it is to manage a team as fluid as the Baboons, it is even harder for the competition to predict what kind of team will show up. One week it’s a back line of ex-high school gridiron playing Texans and the next week its former Australia NRL prodigies. It all works to solidify our club as truly international and formidable. We proudly wear Guinness on our chests and have conditioned ourselves to enjoying the sweetest of Irish libations in the sweltering Taiwanese heat. We call the Brass Monkey home, our member owned pub that proudly displays the teams history in pictures, brushes with greatness and relationships with the most recognized and motley of rugby crews in south east Asia. A few months ago, a still-active 65 year old Baboon veteran was introduced to a 22 year old rookie, and the old man explained to the grasshopper what the “Haka” was and why it is a scary, wonderful thing. With major upsets and Simian personality our legacy, any place we go will get to see the “Nicest Rugby Club in Taipei” (an approach to the ever-increasing reluctance of local teams to play us….we yell too much and “What is raking?”). Larger than life ruggers like Japie, Max, Pete C., Doug, Uncle Dirty, Anders, Jack, Trash, Lil’ Justin, Roger, Ben.com, Ben.hall, and Rory will be pleased to meet you and then …throw faeces (metaphorically speaking).

Team Profile 1 : Davetalevu

Davetalevu : Our Returning Champs!
We participated in mainly rugby sevens tournament in SEA over the past fifteen years. The team is usually made up of mainly up and coming players from the Club who usually progress to represent the Fijian national side in both fifteens and sevens. A close club relationship with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces team has seen predominantly military personnel represent the club in recent years. Last year was the first time we participated in the Borneo Cobra 10s and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Is has been an incentive to players to return this year. Apart from the challenge of winning the tournament again, we look forward to the opportunity of meeting up with friends made last year. We would like to thank the organisers for inviting us again and their professionalism which made the tournament such a success.

I'm Back !

Its been quite some time since I updated this blog, sorry guys, I know I promised a weekly update. But I have been extremely busy, and as I mentioned in all my mails, I am now half sane & half crazy ! But the good news, we are almost there.. and the countdown begins NOW !

To all the women teams, our apology as we are left with no choice but to call off the women category this year, as many teams were having difficulties with flights arrangements. We will bring back the category next year, and we would like to thank all the teams who have given us your confirmation for next year's event. We THANK YOU ladies for all the support, we REALLY DO appreciate it. Hopefully, the Airlines will do us a huge favor next year, and dont surprise us with any last minute cancellations... we'll pray for that.. :)

By the way, before I forget, check out our new tournament logo... yes.. on the upper left hand side.. , let us know your thoughts.. we've been looking at so many colour samples, that I am seriously thinking I could be colour blind now.. ...

What we'll do this week onwards, we will publish the profiles & photos of all participating teams this year. So, dont forget to check us out weekly for updates.

To my friend Daniel in Singapore, I know you think the music sucks.. so I will try to find time and update that as well.

Cheers !!!!!!!