Malaysian Games 2013: Jeffcott Boys win inaugural touch rugby title

TOUCH rugby was added to this year’s Malaysian Games’ roster. Jing Wei Lee was at the event to find out how the competitors took to the new sport.

Photo: Simon Tay

Team Jeffcott Boys bested four other teams at the University of Melbourne hockey pitch last Friday evening to become the first Malaysian Games touch rugby champions.

The inaugural Malaysian Games touch rugby competition was a round-robin event. Team Jeffcott Boys’ first game was against Team KMS who they handily defeated and their subsequent matches against Team Touch ME and Team Happy Sockmore went the same way. Those victories were the product of Team Jeffcott Boys’ captain Afif Norzal’s speed and excellent marshaling of the team.

Photo: Simon Tay

The game that decided the champions was between Team Jeffcott Boys and Team Kita-Kita Aje. Team Jeffcott Boys needed to score at least two points in that match to take the Malaysian Games 2013 touch rugby title, which it comfortably did with a 2 – 0 win.

Team Happy Sockmore came in second despite one of its member playing through the pain of a sprained knee while Team Touch ME was third. Teams Kita-Kita Aje and KMS were equal fourth.

Photo: Simon Tay

The Malaysian Games 2013’s touch rugby coordinator Mohammad Muzzamil said the tournament was held in conjunction with the National Conference Game’s (NCG) first touch rugby event coming up later this year.

“These teams play casually every weekend, but we want to see how they play under pressure,” he said.

Team Jeffcott Boys member Dzafirah Kamaruddin confirmed the team would be heading to this year’s NCG.

“In fact, this competition was meant to encourage girls to play touch rugby so we can form a full girls team,” she said.