14th time lucky

Bombay Gymkhana thrashed usual winners Army Red to win prestigious rugby championship  after 10 years. This was their 14^th win.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Bombay Gymkhana started the final match of the All India & South Asia Rugby Championship at a crackling pace. And they never let the pace dip, not once. Starting aggressively was the key, and it yielded a wonderful result – Bombay Gymkhana thumped title favourites Army Red 7-0, thus ensuring victory for the first time since 2002.

The match was played at the CCFC Ground, Kolkata, on September 16. The victory was Bombay Gymkhana’s 14^th. Army Red have won the Championship five times.

It was set to be a tightly-contested match, and both teams did not disappoint. Bombay Gymkhana hooker Altaf Shaikh scored the first try in the first 15 minutes of the game and built pressure on his opponents, while Rohaan Sethna successfully booted the conversion. At the end of the first half, the score read: Bombay Gym – 7, Army Red – 0.

In the second half, both teams took their game up a notch, but with their tight defence, Bombay Gymkhana was able to hold off the Reds until the 80th minute. At the end of the game, the score had remained  unchanged at 7-0.

Bombay Gymkhana captain Nasser Hussain said, “We played Army Red in the final last year and the year before that, and in the semis in the year before that. We knew what we were up against, and Army Red left no stone unturned to show why they have been champions all these years. We were under tremendous pressure, but it was each team player’s commitment that saw us through.” He added, “This time we had worked very hard for the title, and our ‘attack by backs and defence by forwards’ strategy worked very well. Our forwards did a commendable job in holding the Army’s heavy forward pack for the entire 80 minutes.”