Last Stand in Paradise: Tokyo Gaijin 2024 Bali Tour

To cap off the 2024 SEA Tour, the Tokyo Gaijins found themselves in familiar territory. Though it was raining in Tokyo, the sun was scorching in Indonesia for the Bali 10s. As a club that prides itself on internationalism, the Tokyo Gaijins were able to field a team of people from around the globe: Japan, China, Singapore, Ireland, Spain, France, Chile, America, and Canada. The fun filled weekend saw a slow start but an overall fun time with the lads.

The team slowly trickled into Bali on Thursday night which saw them eating some spicy crispy pork belly, drinking tons of beers, enjoying the Bali nightlife, and singing happy birthday to our tour captain (Jamal Slaughter). After a good night’s rest, we would be ready for the rugby-filled weekend!

Day 1 saw the Tokyo Gaijins losing both their group stage matches for the day. The first game saw us versus the Bush Pigs. It was close but the enemy capitalized on our mistakes and were able to inch out a win scoring in the dying minutes. The final score being 5-10. The next game saw the Gaijins unable to score versus the Jakarta Komodos with a final score of 0-14.

After a slow start to the tournament, we thought nothing worse could happen but unfortunately we were sorely mistaken. In all the confusion, our beloved mascot had gone missing (no thanks to myself who was in charge of the mascot). After a circle around the pitch asking teams if they had seen our mascot and being told I was screwed for kangaroo court, it turned out he had been kidnapped by our opponents after the second match.

After the long day, the Gaijins went back to their hotel for some relaxation and a fun night out. While the team went out to enjoy a beautiful sunset dinner by the beach, I took a side trip to save our beloved mascot through half the city on the back of a wonderful bike. Once Bowser (クッパ) was saved from enemy lines we were free to enjoy the night!

Day 2 had better results for the Gaijins. They had won their last group stage match against ARKS RUC 19-5 and were riding high into the knockout stages. Following the match, it seemed like the Gaijins wouldn’t make it out of the group stages as there was a bit of confusion with the tournament admin but luckily it was all sorted out and the Gaijins were indeed on their way to the knockout stages for the shield!

The semi-finals were a hard fought ordeal. I saw myself “Batista bombed” and leave the pitch after the opposing player received a yellow card. The Gaijins were able to capitalize and score afterwards. The Gaijins shut out the Bantengs 12-0 to move onto the shield finals against the BOBs.

Due to some confusion with the timekeeping, the Gaijins found themselves playing sooner than expected. The game was hard fought but the BOBs were able to strip the ball and score a try early. They also took advantage of our flat footedness and swung the ball wide to score a two-on-one try and make their conversion. We fought hard and weren’t kept off the score sheet though, scoring one try near the end with a good run from our captain/resident birthday boy Jamal Slaughter for a final score of 7-12.

After a jammed packed weekend of rugby and some jersey swapping the Tokyo Gaijins went back to their hotel for some final rest and relaxation before kangaroo court was in session.

The kangaroo court saw many people drinking till they couldn’t drink no more, regurgitation, and some passed out at the table. Laughs were shared, accusations were made, defenses were given, and verdicts were handed out but at the end of the day everyone had a good time. Though the final wasn’t what we hoped for, the memories we made and the time that we shared will be endearing memories in the wonderful closing chapter of the Tokyo Gaijins’ 2024 SEA Tour.

P.S. We all got home safely and thank you management for organizing!!!

Written by: RJ Guatlo