The filth of a monsoon morning led into a cool and pleasant afternoon at the CCFC Grounds as both teams buzzied themselves with preparations. At 4.30pm precisely Referee Guneet called the teams together to observe a minute’s silence, in memory of Santosh a Khelo Rugby boy of just 12 years who had died the day before following two days of fever. This was the second consecutive Saturday where the teams paid their respects to a lost member of the rugby family, with respects paid to Manoj a great rugby supporter and CCFC stalwart just the week before.

Out of the blocks like a pig seeing a cattle rod, a sublime crossfield kick from Crows No.10 Curt, with the outside of his boot ala Michelak (if you remember the semi v New Zealand in Cardiff you’ll understand this!) Pratap in his first outing as Centre chased through, picked up and grounded the ball. 5-0 to the Crows! And no kick was too much for Curt on this day, right hand touchline through the posts and 7-0 and not 4 minutes played.

Big hits had started from the off with both teams trying to show their dominance, Jaganth won all the prizes though and left some Police heads fuzzy!

But it was the Crime Busters who made the next move with a defensive lapse punished under the posts and with the conversion 7-7. The next ten minutes saw the match level out with the Crows generally under pressure from the heavier pack of the Police which eventually yielded a penalty 10-7 to the Cops.

Never down the Jungle Crows dug in and Pervez, nimble and tough on the wing suddenly had an opening and though he hesitated for a moment he gathered himself quickly enough to seize theopportunity and scored in the corner, Curt’s conversion a formality – 14-10. With the half coming to a close Curt stepped right to send the closing defender the wrong way and popped over a drop goal from his favoured left boot: 17-10 at half time.

And into the second half the Crows were ahead but struggling to control the might of the Police Scrum and with new lads on the field likely to make small but significant errors. The fight was on, with neither team ready to be sent down. Less than a minute gone though, Crows win a penalty and over it goes 20-10, some daylight. Three minutes gone, Crows backline combo Tudu and Tiger slice open the defence, Tudu try and of course the conversion 27-10. And then the sucker punch that left the opposition plodding to keep up, bouncing messy ball on the Police line and French import Sylvain is there to seal the deal (conversion attempt hits the post!!) 32-10. Crows in lock down, Police pile on the pressure but nothing doing….though perhaps a penalty try was luckily avoided as the Crows scrum came under terrible pressure on the line.

Final whistle…..Crows celebrate….and the Police were left to pack away the sweets and biryani they had brought to celebrate victory…..Fire on Babylon indeed!!

So, my good friends Tudu, Zaffar and Paul will be in attendance – the Rugby Uncle 7s will be playing as will Zafar’s Afghan team …. Spitfire beer etc etc. The sun has also been guaranteed and that means the RAF may even turn up!

As a bonus, Paul Walsh intends arriving in style on a Hero Cycle all the way from India.  Don’t worry he’s not completely mad, he’s only going to ride it from Cardiff.  His Ride for Khelo will start on 24 May from Zaffar’s Cardiff Metropolitan University.  Day 1 will take them to Gloucester where they join up with Tudu at Hartpury College.  Day 2 is Gloucester to Oxford and then they have the sevens.

If you would like to join him on the ride and take a turn on the Hero you would be very welcome.  We want this to be about raising awareness for the ‘Right to Play’ as enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention:

That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

That member governments shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.

We’ll also look to raise some funds for our Khelo Rugby project through Rugby Uncle and to this end we have a JustGiving Page HERE - please share this with friends and family and please really do think about taking part, 2 days that you’ll remember for a long time….especially when you see Paul trying to get up a hill!

To see some more details and to stay up to date with the ride, please join the Ride for Khelo Group on Facebook.

Khelo Khelo….

In the News

Two Jungle Crows have appeared in the news this last week – Zaffar and Tudu.  Zaffar returned from Afghanistan on 24 December where he had spent 2 weeks coaching and organising the first ever Kabul 7s.  Zaffar is now the Coach of the Afghanistan Rugby team and was this week featured in the Cardiff Metropolitan University Students Union Newspaper.

Tudu was part of the January Sports Illustrated India cover story “50 Stories of Hope That Show India Matters”, please see the attached scan of the article.

Khelo Rugby

Our Khelo Rugby programme is growing from strength to strength.  We now take rugby into 8 slum communities in Kolkata and 8 communities in Chennai with our team of community coaches.  We have Khelo programmes in 3 schools in West Bengal’s Junglemahal and we are filling the Jharkhand town of Dumka with rugby.  Next week we begin training in 8 schools in Jamshedpur and will hold the first rugby festival there in February.  We have also partnered with the Irish NGO Goal to take rugby into the communities they support in the city dumps of Kolkata.  The RAF Spitfires 7s now play with a Khelo logo on their shirts and we are working on more locations and partnerships for 2012.

Women’s Rugby

Our Girls were runners up in both the National Senior 7s in 2011 and the National U16s and we are determined to improve this in 2012.  We also want to get many more girls playing rugby and keep working to make Kolkata the leading centre for the game in India.

Crows Academy

The Crows Academy has been formalised for 2012 with the main training session to take place on a Saturday morning. We have been approached by a couple of companies wanting to be associated with the Academy and we would hope to be able to announce a partner early on in 2012.  As always much of our work is held back by the lack of funding opportunities for non-cricket or football and we continue to work hard to break down these barriers!

Maidan Hazards at Callaghan Cup

The Maidan Hazards will travel to Bhubaneswar on 22 January to play in the years first major tournament the Callaghan Cup – India’s Division 2 15-a-side tournament.  The boys have been training hard over Xmas and we’re sure they will have success on the fields of Odisha!

Corporate Touch

Our 6th Corporate Touch Rugby will be held on 18 February on the Maidan – please be in touch if you would like to take part!

Thanks to all our supporters and sponsors in 2011 – both corporates and individuals – and we look forward to continuing to work together in 2012 to grow rugby and give youngsters across the country the chance to play and be part of our community! 

Cheers!!! 

I always hate to hear tales of unhelpful web designers but at the same time, it always provides an opportunity for RuckinRugby to come to the rescue. I chose wordpress for this site build as it was the best way I could find to address the ‘hurdle’ of having to allow content in both Finnish and English – not to mention the functionality to allow news stories to be added in either languuage and automatically sent off by email to interpreters for translation … neat.

So – that’s where we started and after a couple of weeks I got some fantastic images, a beautiful logo … and we were really off and running. I love this site and I do hope that we can keep working together and making it work for the guys over in Finland, maybe put their domestic rugby fixtures, results and league tables etc on the site … food for thought.

See the live site here: www.rugby.fi

A year or so later Rob contacted me and asked about a website for the newly formed UAE Rugby Referees’ Society and here we are. Although the UAERRS are not using the classic RuckinRugby CMS (I have chosen to use WordPress on this occasion to mix it up) – our core values are still very apparent in the design and the attention to detail.

I am confident that this website will continue to grow as the society add more and more content for the public to see and in the ‘secure’ area for their members to use. As the dust settles in the Middle East and the rugby community start to get to grips with ‘Gulf Rugby’, the ARU, the UAERA and all the other bits and bobs that are flying around at the moment, I hope that the UAERRS will remain at the very core of it all. After all, they have a saying down at my club about referees: “You can’t have a game without one!”

See the live site here: www.UAERRS.com

Have a great season.

The boys put in a lot of hard work before the tournament commiting plenty of early mornings to the Maidan. We were drawn in a tough group with Maharastra State Police and home team Delhi Hurricanes. Game one saw the boys comfortably move past the Police boys, but in game two we took a bit of a drubbing against the Hurricanes – who had 5 national players in their team and had clearly been very focussed on this tournament. Day Two came round and we faced a crucial quarter final against the top Army outfit ‘Army Red’. And what a game, the Crows were really fired up and came out fighting, perhaps giving up more than 25kgs per man and certainly 3-4 inches in height but on Sunday morning it made no difference. 12-12 at full time the game went into sudden death extra time, hugely exciting for the crowd and the Crows….but just when we were nearest a bad knock on scrum half Arun’s knee left him hobbling and opened a gap in the defence which the Army went through to score, 17-12 the final score.

So into the plate and first up, Tamil Nadu Police. Two quick scores saw the Crows leading 14-0 but a try on the stroke of half time, saw the Police back into it. A very poor second half saw the Crows scrap home 14-12, but the injuries were mounting up and we now had just one reserve, but at least only a final to go. Bangalore RFC stood between the Jungle Crows and the Plate, but this time the boys were on top form, knowing this was a chance to show our best side as we had done against the Army. Final score 34-5….with Tiger scampering through for a hat-trick of tries. The Plate was ours!

2011 Champions, Delhi Hurricanes beat Army Red 26-12. The Hurricanes now have their own rugby pitch in Delhi, full time coaches and have imported a Head Coach and Development Manager from France……as their theme tune says….”there’s a Hurricane blowing through….”

Thanks to all our supporters, all your wishes and thoughts keep us going……Cheers….

Jungle Crows supported by
Nalco
BOC Le Coq Sportif Ennore Indismart

Sunday’s Kolkata Telegraph reported that the Jungle Crows retained the Calcutta Cup, with a 10-8 win over Future Hope!

Jungle Crows retain the Calcutta Cup

What a game, if it was boxing the Crows might have been given a standing count in the first half in which they never once managed to get the ball out of their half though having plenty of possession. Future Hope missed 3 long range penalties and scored from one. 3-0 at half time and there were some stern words and a desire to do better.

10 minutes into the second half and the Crows crossed the line after a series of drives from the ruck. It wasn’t always pretty, but was done at a fast enough pace to leave the Future Hope defence exposed and Sidarth pounced across the line for the score. Tudu’s conversion and the Crows were 7-3 up.

Both teams continued to enjoy equal possession but neither was able to break the other down. Half way into the second half and the Crows were defending their own line-out at 5 metres and in a classic mix-up under pressure the throw went straight to the last man in the line out, the Future Hope flanker, who couldn’t believe his luck and quickly crossed the line! No conversion but Future Hope were now up 8-7. Nail biting stuff.

The clock was ticking down and though the Crows were getting into good positions they couldn’t finish. The sidelines were bouncing, especially around the coaching team as two penalties were taken quickly from in front of the posts with no result. Finally sense prevailed and a simple penalty in the middle 10 metres out was slotted home – 10-8. Still close but the Crows were now in control, their fans knew it and soon there were hugs all round. Jungle Crows….Calcutta Cup Champions 2011!

Thanks to everyone that has supported us on this crazy journey!!

CHEERS……..

Paul

Digby Ioane made his Super Rugby debut with the Western Force, playing 20 games in Perth before joining the Reds in 2008. By that time he had graduated to the Test arena with a debut for the Wallabies against Wales, and a debut try, coming in June 2007. Born in Wellington NZ, he was raised in Melbourne before attending school in Brisbane. His Test career has been blighted by injury, including a shoulder reconstruction in 2009 and a dislocation in 2010, but on his day he remains one of the game’s most powerful broken field runners – at wing or outside-centre. Digby, Diggers or Ratt as he is affectionately known to those that know him is a good friend of TOA and it’s an honour to have him as the inaugural TEN-4-TOA interview.

THE FIRST 5

TOA – Digby, thanks for talking to TOA brother. And thanks for being the first TEN-4-TOA interview.
DI – No worries Champ, it’s great to be able to this for all the TOA supporters out there.

Q1
TOA – First thing congratulations to you and the Reds on making the Super Rugby final this weekend. The Reds have definitely been the form team throughout this season’s competition. What do you think is the major factor that has contributed to this?

DI – The team has been really close this season. We operate like and family and I think that has been a massive factor in our success. Also, it helps with so much depth from the young boys in the team.

Q2
TOA – Bro, your own form has been nothing short of sublime and without doubt you are senior player in a potent back division. You’re a prolific try scorer and your runs on the left side normally end up with a try or at worst, a try on the right side. With this in mind, is it hard not to think ahead towards the Rugby World Cup given you are the form Australian winger? That has to be on the radar right?

DI – It is every player’s goal and of course a goal of mine to play for Australia in the 2011 Rugby World Cup however my main focus is on the tasks right in front of me. For now I am putting everything into Reds Rugby and hopefully we will see the rewards after the weekend.

Q3
TOA – You were the first person of Samoan descent to represent the Wallabies at test level, were there any ambitions to represent either New Zealand (country of birth) or Samoa (country of parents birth) or was it always going to be Australia?

DI – Being raised in Melbourne and starting my professional career in Brisbane with the QLD Reds has cemented my loyalty to play for Australia.

Q4
TOA – Quade Cooper has been a revelation this season. It is said that for a team to be successful in Super Rugby they must have a strong 10 hence why the Blues (Stephen Brett) and the Stormers (Peter Grant) were never going to win last week. How much confidence do the boys take out of knowing Quade is there pulling the strings and do you think he has earned the right to oust Dan Carter as the number 1 playmaker in world rugby?

DI – It is definitely helpful to play in a backline where Quade is constantly creating attacking opportunities. Good support players are very important around Quade as Ben Tapuia showed us against the Blues. Carter is a world class player and has led his team to a Super Rugby final yet again so I think his form can’t be denied just yet

Q5
TOA – Like most Samoans you’re big on tattoos but unlike most Samoans you’re tattoos differ to that of the normal tribal/family symbolism. Why is this and what are the meanings behind your tats?
DI – My tattoos are generally based on my own religious beliefs and family.

THE QUICK 5

Blondes or Brunettes? –BRUNETTES PLEASE

Who were your heroes when you were a kid and why? – Michael Jordan (Basketball legend) because he followed his dream regardless of his circumstances. Also Superman.

Any pre match superstitions? – Prayer

Most respected opponent and why? – Blues & All Black winger Joe Rokocoko because he’s a world class player that’s proven himself at the highest level for a long time.

And finally, your thoughts on TOA for next season?

I think if TOA get fitter they will definitely threaten the likes of the Dubai Dragons and the Dubai Hurricanes as from what I understand the boys don’t have an issue scoring tries but at the back end of games tend to let a few in. I like the look of the midfield (Paul Austin & Rama Chand) but again, fitness is the key for any team to complete the full 80.

Show your support for Digby by liking his fan page: Digby’s Fan Page

Or send him a personal friend request

TEN-4-TOA is proudly brought to you by our friends at RuckinRugby – RuckinRugby design, develop and host websites and social media channels for Rugby clubs and federations all over the world, providing professional services for grass roots rugby.

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Bank Details

• Account Name:                          Dubai Exiles RFC
• Account Number:                      020-518403-001
• Bank Name:                                 HSBC
• Branch:                                         Bur Dubai
• Bank code:                                    BBMEAEAD

From the Chairman

Dear Members,

I am writing to brief you on a tragic event that occurred recently when one of our club members, Jonathan Beeton (‘Studente’ to his friends), was critically hurt in an accident. This note is not only to brief you but to ask for your help and support next week.

In short, Jon received his injuries when he fell on a boating trip with some friends. As a consequence of that fall, he suffered severe head and neck injuries and he now lies in hospital in Dubai where he has never regained consciousness since his accident. Expert medical opinion from the UAE and overseas specialists is that Jon will never regain consciousness and that he is expected to pass away peacefully in the next few weeks. This is a tragic accident which has left his young wife Tammy, family, friends, work and rugby colleagues stunned and shocked. Jon is from South Africa and is a stalwart of the Club Men’s Section where he played last season at Centre for the 1st XV. This year he was awarded the Men’s Player of the Year Trophy which he received at our Annual Ball. Some of you may also remember his storming run for the UAE side up the field against Japan from which the team so nearly scored against world class opposition.

The Men’s Section of DERFC, led by Mike Cox-Hill and Dave Vittes, are currently organising an event on Friday 8th July at the Sevens which will consist of a brunch, an auction, a raffle and a rugby match between a ‘Studente XV’ and a ‘UAE XV’. The purpose of this event is to raise funds to help Tammy and Jon’s family cover costs incurred through this incredibly difficult time, to cover future appropriate expenses and also to donate monies to a charity of Tammy’s choosing. The rugby community around the world is known for its cohesiveness, loyalty and generosity in good times and bad. I implore you all to get behind this event and to attend/support wherever and however you can and before we all disappear on summer holidays. Full details of this event will be sent via Club Hub and also via national media soon.

Jon has given his all for our Club and his adopted Country on and off the rugby pitch. It’s now time for us, the members of his Exiles family, to do the same for him and his dependents.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Mike Wolff

Chairman

DERFC

Maidan Hazards: Game 1

The rugby season has now started in Kolkata with the Centenary Cup. The Jungle Crows will begin their defence of the Cup on Saturday but yesterday the Hazards took to the CCFC field in Round 1 of the Cup. For those that don’t know the Hazards are our second team and have really grown in the last couple of years to have their own style and group of players and supporters, this year led by Rajdeep. The Hazards played the Kolkata Police Sergeants Institute in a good game in difficult rainy conditions. 0-0 at half time and the Hazards really had the Sergeant’s under pressure for long periods but in the end the Sergeant’s nudged ahead with a penalty and then closed it of with a try at the end. But 8-0 is showing real improvement and the boys will take heart for their season from this performance!

And it’s not only about the rugby…..

We have given out the first of two scholarships this year to Sunny, who will attend the Scott Hotel Management School in Kolkata and study a BSc in Hospitality Management. We have done this in partnership with the Indismart Group who are based in Kolkata and work in Education and Hospitality. We will also be awarding another scholarship soon for one of our players to begin a BA in Hospitality from IIHM, another well known institute in Kolkata. As usual we are working to support all the boys and girls that train and play with us in furthering their education and development.

KISS and Roshan in the UK

Lots of friends will know Roshan, a great scrum half who grew up with Ashalayam and is now Coach to the KISS (Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences) team. On Sunday 19 June Roshan will travel with an U13 KISS team to play in the Mayor of Manchester’s TourAid Rugby. See this link which tells you more about KISS and the Tour.

Khelo Rugby…..Afghanistan…..Chennai…..Manipur

Zaffar’s Khelo Rugby programme goes from strength to strength in Kolkata. He now manages six rugby coaching locations with his two community coaches of Amirul and Tiger. Khelo takes rugby into some of the poorest parts of Kolkata where we coach tag rugby – giving kids with little organised activity in their lives the chance to play and participate in our festivals and tournaments (and come along and support the Jungle Crows!) In June Zaffar was invited to undertake the first coaching camp for the new Afghan Rugby Federation. He spent two weeks in Kabul and Jalalabad coaching 20-30 boys in each location the basics and fundamentals of the game. While Zaffar was away General Sir Peter Wall, the British Army’s Chief of the General Staff enjoyed an afternoon playing with the kids at the Khelo programme in Brooklyn, one of the most impoverished neighbourhoods in Kolkata. Khelo Rugby is now also in Chennai, where Coach Suresh already has a group of 8 government schools and NGO’s where he is busy each week. And we hope soon to add Manipur to the Khelo family – in May Zaffar and Nanda visited Manipur to begin the process of setting up coaching and we hope soon to appoint a full time coach in Manipur.

Jungle Crows Women’s Team

The Crows women’s team are still the reigning national champions of India, and we are working on a schedule of tours and games for the next few months that should see the team play in Pune, Delhi and Bangalore. To make this happen and push on with the women’s game we really need to find a dedicated sponsor for the team….this really isn’t that expensive….to get your name emblazoned on the front of India’s top rugby team, to benefit from that shared glow of success and to promote the development and promotion of women’s rugby…we are talking about no more than Rs 2.5lac or £3000 (or parts of)!

Work Force (it’s not only about the rugby – Part II)

We now have the Crows Work Force where all the players, supporters and coaches come together to deliver a community project. So far we have focused on clean up projects over a weekend – first was a derelict community hall in Kidderpore which was cleaned, scrubbed and painted to allow the community to once again use the space, second was a school playground that had been turned into a dump by the State Government – three abandoned buses were dug out of the ground and moved and more than 10 truck loads of garbage were removed. Smelly, dirty and very satisfying work!

Sevens – State Games & Howrah

Back in January the Crows won the Gold medal in the Bengal State Games. A great performance from the boys saw them beating Kolkata Police 34-7 in the final, especially satisfying when the team had lost to the Police on Day 1. The boys totally dominated a good Police team and enjoyed a great Kebab and Beer party as a celebration! Jump to May and we organised a one day sevens in a great little venue we have found in Howrah. Very near the station, a perfect pitch with grass and no cricket square in the middle. Very exciting (for us at least!!!) Crows lost in the final to a resurgent Armenian team, Ashalayam Pirate Ants reached the semi finals and the Hazards won the Bowl.

Rugby Uncle – News

It’s great that Rugby Uncle are able to support the work we do in India with fundraising efforts in the UK. I know the Rugby Uncle network is keen to expand so please do get in touch and see how you can be part of the effort! Rugby Uncle now also has its own 7s team RU7 and last month came second in the Caldy 7s. The team was put together by Tudu with boys from Hartpury and Mike with boys from Leeds Uni and was it seems pretty damn good! If you would like to play, coach, organise, manage or generally be involved with this team then please be in touch!

Abhishek and Sunny

Abhishek and Sunny who have both played and trained with the Crows for many years have been missing practice for the last year due to being awarded scholarships to study in the USA. Abhishek was in Miami studying Management and Sunny in Seattle studying Hospitality, both are back now and hoping that a year in the USA can be put to good use in developing their careers. They will however be running rounds of the Maidan for the next month as punishment for missing so much practice!

2011 Corporate Touch Rugby

March was our annual corporate Touch Rugby:
THE RESULTS…..
Cup Final: Jadavpur University beat PWC ‘A’ 10-5
Plate Final: Dos Minute Kella beat BOC 20-10
Bowl Final: HSBC beat Terra Indica 10-5
Tankard Final: Future Hope beat Alstom 20-10

Facebook: Crows, Khelo and Uncle

We have very active Facebook pages for the Crows, Khelo Rugby and Rugby Uncle. All our news is posted on these pages and lots of friends are sharing ideas and plans. If you are not a member then please do consider joining, and if you are please look up these pages and join in!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this update – Thanks All!

Jungle Crows supported by
Nalco
BOC Le Coq Sportif Ennore Indismart
AND YOU?