Rugby Alive and Well in China,

Guangzhou and Xiamen Tens tournaments.

Guangzhou.
Three refferees from the society, Dawn Willy and Myself for Guangzhou and John, BB and
to Xiamen attended these com!etati"ely contested tournaments which were hosted #y the
Guangzhou $ams and the Xiamen Ty!hoons rug#y clu#s.
Guangzhou, %ust a high s!eed train tri! away was !oorely nominated for and in the end only
Willy and Dawn could ma&e it howe"er as had the wee&end free was a#le to get the
official authorisation from the Mrs and %oined them, catching the 'igh s!eed train from
(henzhen. )ccomodation was !ro"ided for #y the rams and as is usual in *hina we were well
loo&ed after throughout the tournament.
The com!etion was !layed at the +ni"ersity ,lym!ic stadium on an e-cellent grass !itch, in
at times torrential rain, which did not dam!en the s!irits or the com!etiti"eness of the e"ent.
The rug#y consisted ./ games s!lit into a mens tournament with teams from and a smaller
womans !ool com!eting in a standard tens com!etition. Games were ten mins no half time
e-ce!t for finals which were two hal"es of eight minutes.
The Mens standard was !ossi#ly e0ui"elant to 123 and the final was a close match #etween
the $ams and Xiamen , with Xiamen e"entually winning in e-tra time through a dro! goal #y
occasional referee James 4lliot. )ll in all a good e-!erience for all
Xiamen.
Xiamen is always a great tournament with e-cellent organisation and the hosts always go out
of there way to ensure that the refferees are well loo&ed after. 1ormally %ust a short one hour
flight away,howe"er not on 5riday the 6
th
of May, it too& me eight hours due to the #ad
weather in 'ong 7ong, and not e"en a !hone call from the aircraft directly to the )T*
su!er"isor could e-!edite our de!arture. Xiamen is an e-!erience that should not #e missed, it
is now in its 8
th
year it is a tournament that gets #etter and #etter each year, t is !layed on an
e-cellent grass !itch in The 9eo!les (tadium on the sland of Gulangyu , which was a foreign
encla"e after the signing of the 1an&ing Treaty in :;/3, with ouitstanding foreign
archeticture and 0uaint narrow streets and sho!s.
)s for the $ug#y , again the standard gets #etter and #etter e"ery year, and this year was no
e-ce!tion. 5our !ools of three mens teams com!eted for the tro!hy, howe"er after the hotly
contested !ool games had #een com!leted the semi finals for the cu! would #e #etween the
Guangzhou $ams and (wire from 'ong &ong and the Xiamen ty!hoons against (hanghai.
John 5indlay reffed the first semi final and though the Ty!hoons may not ha"e agreed with a
few of his decisions they ended u! #eing eliminated , !romoting (wire to the final. The other
(emi was reffed #y )le- BB and his match was less closely contested with a "ery well
!re!ared and focused (hanghai team coming out "ictorious.
The 9late final reffed and it was won #y (henzhen who is a team that a!ears to ha"e some
new #lood in it and may #e a force to #e reconed with in the future.
)s for the 5inal, )le- BB gained "alua#le e-!erience in what was a tense and !ressured
atmos!here. ) #rawl #rea&ing out in the third minute ended u! in a yellow card and a stern
tal&ing to to the ca!tains, after which the game seemed to settle and !layers focused on the
game. (hanghai was the much more determined team and ended the worthy winners. This
was a match #etween two teams that would not loo& out of !lace at 12: in 'ong &ong and
was a good o!!ortunity for )le- to e-!erience again 5inals rug#y which has a !ressure all of
its own, he must #e congratulated on managing a reffing to a standard that was a!!reciated #y
the !layers and organisers.
)s for the cele#rations afterwards<..well what goes on tour. stays on tour..$ight.