The Maxidrill NewZ-INDO Sports Day

The first week of February brought bad flooding to much of Jakarta, and the much awaited early morning fixture between the NZexpats XI vs Nusantara Invitation XI at the Nusantara Polo Club was abandoned without a ball being bowled after morning rains made the track a bog on February 3.

By 9 AM the weather had cleared and the junior rugby players from the Komodo’s enjoyed the slip and slide through the remaining puddles. The Junior competitions got off in earnest around 10 AM. Some keenly fought contests in the girls under 16’s competition saw the Komodo Blues defeat the Komodo Reds in the final. In the boys’ under 16’s Darunnajah came up a tad short against a fired up JIS, with the JIS lads claiming the silverware.

General Prabowo and friends turned up to watch the Pencak Silat demonstration by Satria Muda Indonesia. The crowd was spell bound by the exhibition and announcement that this group of Pencak Silat fighters is looking to bring home eight golds at the coming Asian Games in Jakarta in August.

While distinguished guests Australian Charge D’Affairs, Allester Cox, Persatuan Cricket Indonesia GM, Pak Abiram and Kiwi mogul, Graham Lawrence tucked into their lunches Indonesia’s newest rugby teams from the Nusantara Cricket and Rugby Academy put on a fine display of running rugby. Nusantara Macan Ist XV finished on top with a 15 zip victory.

At 2:30 PM, the big boys came out to play and the 600 strong crowd was treated to some hard running solid defense 15 a side rugby. The Nusantara Invitation XV got the better of the early exchanges against the NZexpats Invitation XV and with 20 minutes gone, both teams had crossed for an unconverted try a piece. Late in the first half, the NZexpats ran in two tries to go to the long break 17 – 5. A red card for a high tackle midway through the second half proved very costly for the Nusantara Invitation XV. The kiwi’s larger squad used the extra man and bench well to out run and score the opposition. The kiwi’s running in 6 unanswered tries.

General Prabowo and Allester Cox presented the winning trophy. It was a great day for all - except the cricketers. Many thanks for Maxidrill for sponsoring the day and a massive thanks to Jess at the Komodo’s for organizing all the junior rugby.