Lim Shen Quan (C) in action
during an earlier Brunei
Rugby Football Union
Premiership match. Lim was
named captain for the backs
for the inaugural Sabah
Governors Cup Invitational
Rugby 15s from August 23-25.
Picture: BT file
National rugby coach Ben Bourne has appointed Lim Shen Quan as the captain for the backs and Ali Abdul Aziz Dato Seri Pahlawan Brigadier General (Rtd) Hj Jofri as the captain for the forward pack for the inaugural Sabah Governors Cup Invitational Rugby 15s from August 23-25.
Though the tournament is quickly approaching, the full squad has still yet to be confirmed as some players had to turn down the opportunity due to work commitments.
Bourne is expecting to bring 26 national players over for the competition.
Their vice-captains will be Muhd Ali Nurul Saffuan Muhd Ali in the back line and Md Redha Hj Adinin for the forwards.
Bourne has gone with this choice as a backup system in case any of the captains get taken out of the game from injuries.
The four teams that have been confirmed to take part in the tournament are Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak and the Philippines development squad.
To add more excitement to the tournament, organisers have placed no restrictions on the amount of foreigners or 'imports' playing for the teams.
This may prove to be a tough test for Brunei as Brunei Rugby Football Union Director of International Relations Ainol Razman Mohd Ghazaly believes that Sabah and Sarawak will be fielding professional Pacific Islanders.
Back's captain Lim told The Brunei Times, "This will definitely be a bigger test for us compared to Cambodia because most of the players are semi-professionals."
"Of all the teams in the tournament, we've played against Sabah at the 7s tour in Kota Kinabalu back in 2010 and they are a combination of islanders from New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga," he said.
"However it will be good exposure for us as some of our backs have less than five international caps.
"It's an honour to be one of the captains to lead Brunei and it is a big shoe to fill, playing as fly half, as I don't have any international caps in that position yet.
"I have played all the back positions from number 9 to 15 in both international and local leagues and this will be my biggest challenge," he added.
All countries participating have been offered free accommodation, meals (breakfast and dinner) and transport by the organisers, Sabah Rugby Union and Sabah's Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Brunei's recent trip to Cambodia for the Asian 5 Nations saw them fall 38-0 on July 5 and 28-0 on July 7 to the hosts.
A disappointing result considering they beat Cambodia 19-15 from a second half comeback in Phnom Penh last year.
