CRFC - Chengdu Rugby Football Club

NEWS

Shanghai 7s 2009: Black and Whites Storm Shanghai. September 12th saw a cool grey dawn in Shanghai. For many this would be considered bleak, dreary weather. However, for a small group of intrepid sports enthusiasts, the day was perfect. Click here for the match report.

CRFC vs Chongqing 2: Chengdu made the short trip down to Chongqing on February 28 for the first of what we hope is many matches hosted by the Conquerers. Click here for the match report.

2nd Annual St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Those crazy pandas in Chengdu are at it again! It’s time for the 2nd Annual St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and this year it’ll be on St. Valentine’s Day!!! Click here for more info.

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NEWS

Hong Kong tour - Yellow Sea 10s and Bledisloe Cup

Furry invaders in Hong Kong

By Patches O'houlihan

The inaugural Yellow Sea Cup 10s was held in Hong Kong on October 31 and the Chengdu Pandas were a formidable group.

Thanks to the efforts of several organisers, notably JD and the delectable Ms Root, a primed squad of Chengdu players and supporters arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of October 30. Travelling from Chengdu were Paul, Eoin, Kieran, Megan, Simon, Dan, Robyn, Thierry and Sarah................ Mike West arrived via Wuhan after 2 days of intensive body therapy, Andy came down from Shanghai while Barry (business class), Jussi, Scott and Peter were international arrivals. The team meeting at HQ (Delaney’s pub) around midnight was joyous and that same vibe was maintained throughout.

Friday morning after a breakfast of champions at the Flying Pan, the squad, clad in full body panda suits, made their way to Kings Park for the big day. An unforgiving Astroturf pitch and steamy heat meant that the players would be losing plenty of bark during their three matches ....and.... loving it. For the record the on field heroes were Mike West, Barry Jones, Jussi Keskinen, Scott Kemp, Simon Perrin, Peter Nisbet, Paul Greer, Eoin Flinn, Kieren Fitzgerald and Terry Gestlich. The pandas were also very grateful for the much needed help of Woody (from the Shanghai Hairy Crabs) and Julien (from Guangzhou Rams).

The pandas first match of the day was against the formidable Lemurs. The highlight of this match was undoubtedly the return to the rugby field of Thierry Gestlich after 12 years. As Thierry laced his boots up a very Cheshire smile formed on his face that never left for the remainder of the trip. And as he packed into the first scrum a distinctly gallic moan of pleasure was heard across Kings Park. None of this impressed the Lemurs of course who took advantage of the rusty Chengdu outfit to coast away to a 19 – 0 victory.

The second match against the Babas was clear improvement. Although Chengdu’s attackers were guilty of hanging on to the ball for too long,, the defence was much tighter. After a dangerous Baba attack ended with their winger being monstered by Scott Kemp, the ball ended up in the hands of Eoin Flinn with nobody in front of him and just 80 m out. After a moments hesitation there was no stopping the fleet-footed Irishman and he posted Chengdu’s first try of the tournament. Unfortunately, the Babas had already posted 3 trys at that point and they ran out comfortable winners 19-5.

These two gallant losses had earned Chengdu the right to take on Hangzhou in the final of the Yellow Sea Cup Plate. Like Chengdu, Hangzhou are a young club with plenty of spirit. So much so that two of their players are worth mentioning. Their scrum half was a curvy young nugget of the female persuasion. Hangzhou’s previous match had been watched with great interest as this brave lass battled hard against the lads and even scored a great try. Hangzhou also boasted a man who was clearly the oldest player in the tournament. This bloke made Mike West look like Gary Glitter.

How would the Pandas deal with this new challenge of playing serious rugby against a girl and a very old man? Once the match started instincts took over... Jussi led the way by brutally shunting aside she who invaded his personal space, while Greer similarly offered no mercy by stealing the ball out of her lovely hands and galloping away down the field. A great chargedown by Greer and a smart bit of work by playmaker Fitzgerald led to a try and Chengdu was in the lead 5-0.

The Pandas proceeded to dominate play for the next 10 minutes with Flinn and Nisbett charging at the defence while West’s kicking game kept Hangzhou on the back foot. Perrin was very unfortunate not to have a penalty try awarded after being held back from regathering his deft chip kick. The crowd was now firmly behind Chengdu but the referee decided that the Panda’s unchivalrous tactics needed reigning in. A succession of penalties against Chengdu followed. The Hangzhou tactics at penalties was to give the ball to the old fellow who would trundle it up like the golden oldie he was. Who among the pandas would have the gall to take this bloke in brutal front-on defence. Who else but Barry Jones. His clashes with the old fellow were breathtaking to see and hopefully were video recorded for future analysis.

At the 12 minute mark Chengdu lost Mike West who had been bravely playing while injured. The ref continued with his anti-panda rulings and eventually Chengdu gave up 2 soft tries to bow out 12-5.

With the rugby playing now over, the Pandas settled into enjoying the rugby festival atmosphere with the build up to the Bledisloe match on Saturday afternoon. The photos speak for themselves – the Panda costumes were a big hit and mischief abounded.

One incident that must be mentioned was the appalling behaviour of Scott Kemp. Despite Andy Ritchie being appointed his personal minder, Scott managed to disgrace himself by befriending a young American heiress, and moving out of King’s Hotel and into her Shangrila suite where he admitted to ordering room service with gusto. After he decided to forfeit his Bledisloe ticket a crisis meeting was held among senior Pandas and a plan devised. Late Saturday evening, after being spotted strolling down Lockhart Street, Scott and Ms X were lured into Delaneys and bought drinks. 5 minutes later a retching heiress stormed off in disgust and Scot’s normal status had returned. Thanks Paddy.

And thanks to all who made this trip such a cracker.

Patches

Video links from the tournament courtesy of the 'Alternative Rugby Commentary' guys

Check out the 2:07 minute mark of the third video for some disgraceful footage involving this man.