Borneo Eagles fly high to down Cobra in final

Borneo Eagles William Douglas run with a ball as stopped by Cobra's Matt Jones and Ben Miller during the Cup final in the 46th Cobra 10s .-- M. Azhar Arif/The Star 13 Nov 2016

PETALING JAYA: The Borneo Eagles were simply too good for Cobra.

The Sabah team, powered by players from New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa, powered their way to a 19-0 win in the rain-shortened final of the Cobra 10s rugby tournament at Padang Utara on Sunday.

The final was abandoned just four minutes into the second half due to lightning.

This is the Eagles’ third title as they also emerged champions in 2009 and 2013.

It was drizzling when the final began, but that didn’t stop the Eagles from playing an aggressive game.

It didn’t take them long to break the deadlock, with Rocky Nishtar Khan slicing through the Cobra defence for a fourth-minute try, which he also converted to put the Eagles 7-0 up.

Four minutes later, they doubled the score with a try by Matt Thomas McGahan, which Rocky easily converted.

Although it began to rain heavily when the second half began, the Eagles were unfazed and scored a third touchdown through Richard Philip Judd in the 19th minute.

Before Rocky could execute the conversion, referee Matheaus Heraldman stopped play due to lightning – with 11 minutes left to play.

“The tournament’s rules state that if a game is abandoned after the completion of the first half, the result stands. So, Borneo Eagles have been declared champions with a score of 19-0,” said tournament director Francis Chew.

Borneo Eagles coach Edwin Cocker was thrilled with his players’ performance in the final.

“It was really good to beat defending champions Penguin International 10-0 in the semi-finals (Penguin did not concede a single point in their three group matches and the quarter-finals),” said the Kiwi coach.

“In the final, we changed our tactics and still took a comfortable lead before the match was abandoned due to bad weather.”

Cobra coach Duncan Robertson admitted that the final was a one-side affair.

“The Eagles were just too strong ... they had all foreign players,” said Robertson, whose Cobra team beat NNK Northlink of South Africa 7-5 in the semi-finals.

In the women’s exhibition match, Cobra Venom defeated Kuala Lumpur Tigers 14-7.