05/06/04 BACK TO BANGKOK Yes I went back to Bangkok, what can I say it is a great place and a good place to go on a Rugby tour. I took the Singapore and Singapore A teams there on a tour and we played the Thai Navy and Army on Saturday the 15th of May. The Singapore A team narrowly lost to the Thai Army and the Singapore Team narrowly beat Thai Navy. They were both tough games, the Thai Armed Forces guys are fit and disciplined. We played well in patches and myself and the coaching staff thought it was very good preparation for our home Test Match against Hong Kong a week later. Tom Browne my assistant coach certainly had a good time, he is a great bloke and made light of the usual difficulties when touring Thailand such as our bus breaking down on arrival. On our way to the game we were stuck in the usual Bangkok traffic jam (20km journey took 2hrs), Tom kept me amused by trying to spot the blackest and most polluted
Bangkok Taxi drivers are also a highlight, they first try and sell you some horizontal folk dancing by pulling out photos from under the sun visor of local lasses. When you decline they then reach over to the other sun visor and pull out their tailor brochures and try and sell you a suit. When you decline this they then go for their last option which is the souvenir brochures in the glove box. When you decline all products and they tell you “You very bad man”, you then give them a tip at the end I honestly thought Singapore was very well prepared for our Test Match against Hong Kong on May 22nd. We had a great lead up with our tour to Thailand and our lead up matches and we trained very well leading up to the game. We looked set for a big game, what a shame we did not turn up to play. We played well for 8 minutes scored a try and then it was all down hill. Hong Kong belted us 47-14 and it was the fundamentals that really let us down. Our set pieces were poor, with out scrum getting belted particularly. In the backs we made very few linebreaks and could not cover Hong Kong bringing extra players into the line. It was a very bad day at the office and the team and coaching staff certainly put their hands up and took ownership of a really low standard game. We are now preparing for our last Test Match in the Tri-Series against China on June 13th in Shanghai. The Chinese will be very tough, they have big tough forwards and some speed in the backs. We are looking forward to an improved performance after the Hong Kong disaster. Got a phone call from Tom Cama yesterday, I am not sure what Rugby Club on the Central Coast he is playing for this year, he has tried them all. But what ever club it is I am sure he will be totally committed and not miss a training session (Ha Ha). No news from Coff’s Harbour so I can’t update you on Stormin Norman. Email Matt Ryan at bubbaemu@hotmail.com Regards |
Bangkok canal. They are everywhere and they come in shades of black only, if you fell in one you would probably be like falling in the Atlantic Ocean mid-winter, 2 minutes then lights out. 
of the trip and they are all smiles again.