The 69ers represented the Old Boys-University club at the Hong Kong Tens in 2001 after a successful trip in 2000 by the Teddybears. Here's their tour diary.
Pre-Hong Kong
On Sunday we rounded off our Singapore trip with a huge day, playing the Bedot Kings at 10-a-side. The Kings won last seasons Singapore 15's competition so we weren't too sure what to expect. The weather was a stifling 28 degrees with constant rain. By the 4th quarter we'd started playing more to the pattern we're trying to establish.
Good tries were scored by James 'Jaffa' Hawkes (4), Phil 'Harley' Quinney (2), Andrew 'Precious' McKenzie (2), Pete 'Beamus' Scott (2), Chris 'Val' Banks, Andy 'Kamate' Clark. Rounded off with a few conversions despite the mud and a consolation try to stay in good with the hosts, final score was 68-5 to the good guys.
Special mention has to go to Jaffa for his 4 tries. If the premier selectors ignore him on his return they do so at their peril - the boy's got Dwayne Monkley written all over him!
The Kings experienced their first 69er court session in an aftermath that put paid to vast quantities of duty free spirits under the palms outside a beachside bar!
Despite the sore heads and bodies everyone made a 5.50am departure from the hotel to head to Hong Kong. We've settled in here now and experienced the awesome facilities of the Hong Kong Rugby Club. It's hard for a New Zealand rugby player to comprehend the investment these guys have made - six training fields, sauna, massage, rooftop tennis courts, indoor bowling greens, gym ... it's all laid on!
Training ironed out a few issues today. Tonight is a meet and greet for all the teams, then into the serious stuff at 10.40 tomorrow versus the Chinese Agricultural College. Our other pool game in the afternoon is against West Sydney University. Bring it on!
Opening Day
Day one of the Hong Kong 10s saw the OBURFC 69ers play the opening game of the tourney versus the CAU (Chinese Agricultural University). Having seen the size of these farm boys from the north of China at the curry buffet the night before the 69ers were looking forward to a gruelling encounter.
Nevertheless, the pattern we've been practising clicked from the opening moment and a good all-round team display was rewarded with a 41-5 win to the 69ers.
Tries versus CAU were scored by Richard 'Wheels' Henderson (2), Robbo 'Poh' Dewar, Pete 'Beamus' Scott, James 'Jaffa' Hawkes, Richie 'Dick' Amer, and Andy 'Kamate' Clark.
The last game for the 69ers on day one was against a much tougher proposition, Western Sydney University. Boasting several NSW Colts, these guys were big and their aggression upfront was rewarded with a 12-7 lead at halftime to the Aussies. At halftime the 69ers took the proverbial 'good hard look at themselves' (nice cliché use - Editor) and came out firing.
Two unanswered tries to the 69ers with a minute to go had us sitting pretty at 19-12. Unfortunately a last minute try to Western Sydney under the post pinched them a draw.
Now we sit and wait to see the result of their game versus CAU. If Sydney are unable to score more than seven tries it'll be the 69ers in the Cup tomorrow versus the big boys!
Either way, a great first day and the tournament is everything we'd hoped it would be. We'll round the day off with some quiet beers and footy watching and look forward to tomorrow
Day Two
Day two of the Hong Kong 10s saw the local papers full of the OBURFC 69ers. To quote the Hong Kong Mail: 'As expected New Zealand Wasps and New Zealand Rugby legends looked by far the best sides on the field on day one. No one was really surprised that the big Auckland Metropolitan Police team topped their group either. However, the day's big shock was Old Boys - University RFC Soixante Neufs' progression to the cup round. The 69ers, a social team from Wellington affiliated to the Victoria University club, were as surprised as anyone to be in the highest competition.'
So the buzz in our central Hong Kong hotel from other tourists has all been along the lines of 'it's incredible you guys have made the top eight in the worlds best 10s competition.' You're telling us buddy!
Unfortunately the end of the article referred to was also fairly prophetic: 'However, despite their best efforts it will take a miracle for the 69ers to get past the New Zealand Wasps who they have drawn to meet in the quarter finals". We knew the New Zealand Wasps, selected by Gordon Tietjens, would be strong. The whole Wasps squad are linked to NPC teams with most also either in the New Zealand Divisional Team or fringe New Zealand Sevens Squad.
Having lost our 'concrete and steel' halfback Robbie 'Poh' Dewar to injury after day one we were nervous but keen just to have a go at them. In the end we did well to hold them out for the first three minutes of each half, and the rest was tackling practice!
Positives to take away were Phil 'Harley' Quinney running down rising Sevens star Charles Baxter from behind, Don 'Nod' Leuthwaite evading a Sione Kepu tackle for a storming run that had the crowd on their feet, and a big effort by the 69er pack to hold their own ball against much bigger opposition. The final score of 55-nil was given some context by the Wasps then brushing aside New Zealand Legends in the semis to meet and beat the big Auckland Metro Police team 40 - 7 in the cup final.
All in all a great day out with the 69ers thanking a very supportive crowd by leading an afternoon of song and crowd entertainment! Some enthusiastic guitaring from the 69ers manager Paul 'B4' Reiher saw the whole Wasps and New Zealand Legends squads come and join us in the stands for a medley of Kiwi classics to close the tournament. The 10s tournament closed with a tournament dinner, the highlight of which was combined 69ers and New Zealand Legends stirring version of 10 Guitars. The rest of the entertainment was fairly substandard to be kind, apart from Alistair 'Dork' McKee's well received rendition of the old Southern Cross classic 'Hello Growler'.
Tokyo Gaijin received the Team of the Tournament to the surprise of all given they were hardly seen in the stands over the two days - though admittedly they've got a damn funny version of the haka. The embarrassment of the Teams Co-ordinator was evident as he admitted to 69ers that his hands were tied as 'they couldn't give it to the same team two years in a row, no matter how deserving' (the OBURFC Teddy Bears deservedly took the Top Team award in 2000). How very English!
Our own awards session saw Sammy 'Dirty DT' Howard take Top Tourist for a multitude of sins he should never be forgiven for. For on field endeavours Phil 'Harley' Quinney was best back and James 'Jaffa' Hawkes best forward. The next three days are a blur of a thrilling Hong Kong Sevens tournament and nightclubs till the wee hours.
A fun aspect of having played the 10s was the profile it gave our guys when they ran into name players like Eric Rush or David Latta, who we'd let tell us how impressed they'd been as long as they kept buying us beer!
The Hong Kong Club has built an amazing player and resource base off their 10's competition and it would be great to see OBURFC achieve the same in the years to come - certainly all the 69ers will be supporting that 100%.
In closing a special thanks has to go to the Teddybears for allowing us this trip in their stead, and in particular Chairman Stephen Robertson for his time and support. We're pleased to confirm there is an automatic invite for OBURFC to next years tournament due to the 69ers making the top eight this year - if the opportunity comes up for you to get on the trip you'd be crazy not to do it!
website: www.hongkongtens.com
