Simply the best

Negri Sembilan Wanderers, better known as NS Wanderers, already champions this year at the Blacks Midnight Tens, the Bali Tens and the Jonah Jones Sevens lifted the Borneo Sevens trophy last Sunday.

With very little fear of contradiction, I would rate them as the best club sevens side in the region, after they polished off not only local teams, but also top Fijian club Davetalevu in the final.

The group games had seen some very lopsided matches and it was not until the ninth pool match that the losing team got on the score-sheet. Each pool of four teams had two that were just playing an entirely different class of rugby, which would have graced any tournament anywhere in the world.

Wanderers escape from the grasp of Sabah Eagles

Davetalevu had secured the release of two Fijian national sevens players in Rupeni Nasiga and Sailosi Rabo, but they and their team-mates weren’t the only South Sea Island magicians on show. NS Wanderers and COBRA both have a whole slew of Fijians, who have the natural skills to make the seven a-side game look so simple, but are also capable of the most destructive and bone-shaking of tackles. The fourth quality team on show was the 2004 and 2007 champions Borneo Eagles, an eclectic group of quality players, many of whom play their rugby in the Air New Zealand Cup.

On day one Davetalevu and NS Wanderers had both annihilated Old Sabah College Association (OSCA) by the same score 50-0, before meeting each other. On this occasion Davetalevu were to edge the game 17-12.

COBRA and Borneo Eagles also conceded no points in both administering heavy defeats to Sibu RFC and Malaysian Armed Forces. Eagles then surprisingly had little difficulty in winning their third game 21-0 over COBRA.

Predictably the quarter-finals were again completely one way traffic, but then things got interesting. In the bowl semi-finals the local Malaysian teams could finally relax, knowing they were taking on opponents of similar ability and more importantly similar physique. Sibu booked their place in the final with an impressive 33-15 win over OSCA and then came one of the most exciting games of the whole day. What it lacked in sheer class it made up for with tension and when the final whistle blew Sabbah Eagles and Malaysian Armed Forces were locked at 19-19. Extra time was required, but not much of it. The Army boys attacked right from the kick-off and scored the all important golden point try within twenty seconds of the restart.

Davetalevu put in a cruching hit on OSCA.

Armed Forces were unable to repeat their feats in the final, although they did run Sibu close, eventually going down 17-12.

In the cup semi-finals NS Wanderers ended the hopes of the Sandakan funded Borneo Eagles and Davetalevu booked their final berth in an enthralling 29-24 win over COBRA.

These games were not for the faint of heart; the tackles were absolutely brutal and no quarter was given no expected.

Borneo Eagles rallied to take third place before an absolutely classic final. It wasn’t free scoring by any means, but that was due to the level of fitness, commitment and desire on the part of both teams in defense, rather than an inability to create opportunities.

Wanderers led early on and then were overhauled early in the second half, after a mix-up in their back-line and at 7-5 to Davetalevu, the game was theirs to lose. Wanderers however kept up a relentless pace and their efforts were finally rewarded with a second try, which secured the win at 10-7 and the 7,000 US Dollar prize money.

It would have been a very interesting contest indeed, if the four semi-finalists from the international competition had had to play-off against the four club semi-finalists. I wouldn’t have risked any money betting on the outcome.

The competition will be even stiffer this weekend at the SCC Sevens, however it would take a brave man to write off either of these two finalists.

Images courtesy: Benno Ong