Sunday, November 15, 2009

Cobra march into quarter finals

Defending champion Combined Old Boys Rugby Association (Cobra) and four other local teams marched into the Cup's quarter-finals of the HSBC-Cobra Rugby 10s Championship at Padang Utara, Petaling Jaya on Saturday.

Capitalising on scintillating moves, Cobra topped group D after thrashing all their opponents in the round robin matches.

The Petaling Jaya team crushed Armed Forces' RMR Warriors 57-0 in the opening encounter before defeating newcomers, Alor Star Blues 54-0 and the Royal Thai Navy 50-0.

"Although we had the advantage of playing at home, there is no doubt that the strong combination and understanding between local and foreign players contributed to the sterling performance," said coach Boon Hoon Chee, who put the team through their paces for the last 19 years.

He said Cobra had the services of three foreign players - Johnny McNicoll and Michael Coman from New Zealand and Sean Morrell from Fiji.

With the new addition, Cobra now have seven foreign players. The other foreign players are Fijians Isoa Turuva, Jone Wesele, Vioniani Tauvoli Korotama and Kini Rasolosolo Tora.

The local players are Nik Safuan Ismade Nik Man, Mohd Faiz Samsukhidir, Mohd Nazeer Mohd Nesharah, Mohd Syahir Asyraf Rosli, Mohd Amin Jamaluddin, Mohd Hafiizah Zainal and K. Dinesvaran.

In the Cup's quarter-final match Sunday, Cobra will take on Swanbourne Nomads of Australia.

The other four local teams that made it to the last eight stage are NS Wanderers, Borneo Eagles, RMR Warriors, and Alumni Sekolah Alam Shah (ASAS).

NS Wanderers topped group B by beating Royal Selangor Rugby Club 40-5, Terengganu Tigers 40-7 and Northlink College of South Africa 12-5.

NS Wanderers, who emerged champion in the Jonah Jonas 7s, NS Royal 7s, Bali 10s, and Borneo 7s, will take on Penguin International of United Kingdom in the quarter-final.

Sandakan based Borneo Eagles led group C after trouncing Indian Invaders 41-5, Armed Forces' Machinery and Electrical Engineering Corps 68-0 and Swanbourne Nomads of Australia 19-0.

Borneo Eagles will play another Armed Forces team, RMR Warriors in the quarter-final.

RMR Warriors, who emerged second behind Cobra in group D, were pummelled 0-40 by Cobra in the opener but made a come back in their second match by beating the Royal Thai Navy 25-12 but drew level 5-5 with Alor Star Blues.

Meanwhile, Putrajaya based ASAS, who had to content with the second place behind Penguin Internationals in Group A beat Borneo Eagles of Sabah 19-17, whitewashed by UK's Penguin International 0-73 and outpaced Kuching Rugby Football Club 70-0.

ASAS will meet Northlink College of South Africa in the quarter-final.

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