Knights Rugby Football Club's Ben Bourne (C) is tackled by a Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Sharks player during an earlier game. BT file
The Darussalam Cup and Dr Hj Kamaruddin Cup champions Knights Rugby Football Club have put training on hold during the fasting month of Ramadhan.
The rest is hoped to help the players recuperate following a taxing Brunei Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Premiership, after which many of the players were drafted to play for the national team in the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Asian 5 Nations Division IV tournament.
Knights forward Syaihan Hj Abu Bakar told The Brunei Times that their training sessions will probably resume in August. "InsyaAllah, the team will be back in training probably after the Raya celebrations," said Syaihan.
"As far as future tournaments... we will look into it and consider before sending a team to compete," he said. Syaihan added that he was happy to see the Knights play a large part in the Asian 5 Nations, a source of pride for the team.
The Brunei 7s series, where the Knights placed third last year, will be the next local tournament though dates have yet to be confirmed. The Knights have had a flawless campaign in 2014 so far, lifting two major trophies while remaining unbeaten throughout the BRFU Premiership.
They made a statement in their first game when they rolled over the league's defending champions, Miri Rhinos, 46-29 in their opening match. The Knights then went on to take down the defending Darussalam Cup champions, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Sharks, 30-22.
Their third match of the premiership saw them dominate the Bandar Blacks 51-10, followed by a 35-12 win over the Belait Pythons, landing them the Dr Hj Kamaruddin Cup. The league leaders earned their spot in the semi-finals of the Darussalam Cup against the Miri Rhinos.
The Knights progressed with a 28-10 scoreline. They then went on to face the UBD Sharks once more and came out on top for the second time following a tight 17-15 win.
They however lost the services of their coach and Knights founder Ben Bourne who left Brunei for good last month. Bourne, who also coached the national team, has led the Knights to two double trophy seasons, with the first being in 2010.
