Chiang Mai All Stars have been crowned the Northern TRU Rugby 15s champions after a sensational come from behind victory over the Chiang Mai Cobras, in the Cup final held at the resplendent Chiang Mai University Rugby Fields, on Saturday 16th August 2025.
The road to the final for both sides came from battling through their respective groups. The Chiang Mai Cobras had to overcome the Prince Royals College 19-8 in a game where the PRC fought back from 19-0 down, and with them dominating the last 20 minutes they were unfortunate not to get the win. The Cobras second win was a bit more straight forward beating a resilient Phitsanulok Rugby side 22-6, to top group A.
The All Stars had a tough fight in their first Group B game, to prevail over a physical Lanna Rugby Club 13-0, after it was 0-0 at half time. The All Stars got a try early in the second half to take a stranglehold on the game for a 5-0 lead. That was followed by a penalty to give them some breathing space. Lanna were pushing hard to get a score on the board and find a way back into the match. The game was in the balance down to the last 5 minutes where the All Stars got the decisive score to take it away from Lanna. All Stars then beat a brave TNSU CMI Rugby in their second match, 22-5 to top Group B.
In the fight for the Plate final places, Prince Royals defeated Phitsanulok Rugby 29-15 in a high-quality game to finish second in Group A and Lanna Rugby Club took the honours against the TNSU team, 32-0 for a second-place finish in Group B.
The Plate final between Prince Royals & Lanna was a tight affair with Lanna taking an early 5-0 lead through to half time. With both defenses dominant, try scoring opportunities were few and far between. Early in the second half, Prince fly half, William Chance had the opportunity to slot a penalty from the 10 metre line to narrow the deficit 5-3. A few minutes later another indiscretion at the breakdown by Lanna gave Chance another crack at goal and he duly delivered, to give Prince the lead, which they never relinquished. 6-5. Lanna had their chances in the final minutes to make the game theirs but a combination of ferocious defence and wrong execution, cost them dear. Lannas’ Rufus Witbooi, had a shot at goal in the last minute to win it for Lanna but the attempt, drifted just wide. Prince Royals College held on to win by the slenderest of margins 6-5.
In the Cup Final, the Chiang Mai Cobras came out guns blazing and took a deserved early lead, going over in the corner for 5-0. The All Stars started to gain more ball and a poor kick out of defence gave them the chance to attack and an infringement at the ruck gave them a relatively easy kick to get them on the board 5-3. Cobras’ game plan started to implode as they struggled to clear their lines and the lineout, usually a strong point, fell to pieces. With the All Stars having dominant possession in the second half it was only a matter of time before they scored and they went in for the score that gave them the lead. 8-5. Cobras were still in the game and wrestled back a semblance of control and came close on a couple of occasions but a try by the All Stars in the final quarter, broke the resistance. 13-5. As the Cobras pushed forwards, another try in the corner for the All Stars, put the icing on the cake as they prevailed 18-5, to be crowned the 2025 North TRU Rugby 15s Champions. A well-deserved win.
Nor Zasi of the All Stars said “I am proud to be a part of this All-Stars team. The hard work and dedication they have put in over the last weeks to get us to this place, is humbling. The tournament has been a great success and Northern Rugby is steadily growing and creating some real local talent. We look forward to defending the title in 2026!”
Congratulations to Kiattichai Noptakul chairman of North TRU and all his officials for hosting a quality 15s tournament. Roll on 2026!
