Sports
From the sidelines, Harry Hodge sizes up Vietnam’s month in sports
Digest
The Saigon Geckos For more than 20 years, the Saigon Geckos have ensured rugby is part of the sporting landscape in Ho Chi Minh City. Harry Hodge learns more
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n a city that changes as quickly as Saigon, who knew that one of the few constants over the last two decades in this city would be… its rugby club? The Saigon Geckos Rugby Club was formed in 1992 by a group of expats keen to welcome visiting teams and tour the region participating in regular tournaments. As the only rugby club in Saigon, the Geckos welcome men and women of all ages and nationalities. Over the years they have been involved in
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tournaments throughout Asia including the Angkor 10s, Super 4 Cambodian League, Indochine Cup and Manila 10s. The membership ranges from New Zealanders, South Africans, Aussies, French, English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian to Peruvian, Argentinian, Japanese, American and Russian. There are also a number of Vietnamese members, most of whom play touch rugby, with a few contact players here and there. “The Saigon Rugby Football Club is a very welcoming club
for all types of sportsmen and sports lovers,” says club captain Simon Robson. “We have a large number of supporters who travel with the teams to coach, manage and support the team.” Some of the annual stops for the Geckos include the SEA Cup, with competition against the Manila Nomads, Bangkok Bangers, Jakarta Komodos and Kuala Lumpur squads, as well as frequent tours to Cambodia. The club’s touch rugby section holds two Jon Elwood Touch Tournaments per year in April and November, usually with 10