Army won the first Inter-department Rugby Tournament in an exciting and close final here at the DHA’s Rugby Stadium on Sunday.
Army beat WAPDA team in probably the most exciting match of the tournament. Both the team played a great game with the Army achieving 19-12 margin with only a converted try difference in the end. Mohammad Ashraf was the man of the match and the tournament. He led from the front by scoring twice in the final.
The chief guest for the final was President of Punjab Rugby Maj General Ashraf Chaudhary who was happy to see the level of rugby in the departments. Director Sports DHA Col Naz Khokhar was also among them as a special guest.
The tournament was set up to give experience to the department in 15s rugby, a much more demanding game then the 7-a-side version which the Pakistan rugby uses to develop the game.
The final also served as a talent hunt event for the national team. The tournament was timed so that the players with talent go from here right into the national camp which will now take place every weekend till the national team leaves for Indonesia in June.
Police won the third place match beating Navy. Police with experience of Shaharyar prevailed but Navy played extremely well and were able to put 12 points on the board. The Police won the match 30-12 tries. Lt Commander Mafooz Ali Khan who came for Karachi with the Navy team said that he was happy to see the boys get a taste of 15s rugby. It was more importance for the team to participate and get exposure. And even though they lost all there games this will be a building block for the future of rugby, he added.
