| Indian Army - No Force For BARA Brute force and size was the key ingredient in British Asian Rugby Association's (BARA) barrelling 37-0 win over Army 'A' in the 72nd Orange All-India South Asia Rugby Tournament at the Priyadarshini Park Ground at Napean Sea Road on Sunday. The score could easily have reached 50 points but due to not having a natural goal kicker BARA only managed to convert one of their seven tries. The Indian Army was outfoxed by the visitors thanks to their huge bulk. This was evident from the fact that army defence could not stop the charging BARA players in spite of a red wall being created in the way of the BARA players. BARA got into the action just minutes into the game with a try and never looked back, scoring 7 times in 60 minutes. BARA spent majority of the time in the Indian Army's half but on a couple of occasions when the Army did break into BARA's half they only managed to reach the try line once. The tries were scored by Juniad Malik(1), Paul Akaidere, Phil Khan(2), Rashid Mehmood(2) & Rehan Mansoor(1). Overall it was a good performance from BARA considering this was the second time they have played together but they still need to improve on a few key areas (goal kicking, rucking and scrummaging) if they are going to the win the tournament. Summing up the win, coach Kevin Westgarth said, "The key difference was power. Our players were physically far superior to our opponents." BARA, who were playing their first major tournament were formed in 2002. Cofounder and of their key players Ikram Butt, of Pakistani origin, stressed: "The Association was formed as a tool for addressing key issues in the UK, like promoting rugby within the Asian Community and also creating development programs for Asian youngsters within the UK. On their opening result, he said, It was a promising start. It was our first match here and we played pretty well considering the heat and the number of times the players have played together. On his opponents, he said "Physically they were tough but lacked physical strength and skill which is required in modern day rugby. In the next round, BARA will be playing the Bombay Police at the Priyadarshini Park Ground on Tuesday 27th September. Kick off 5pm Bombay time.
|
