Jakarta Komodos Rugby Club Win Jakarta XVs Rugby Series 2025

On Saturday 15th February 2025, the Jakarta Komodos Rugby Club (JKRC) avenged their final loss a year ago by beating fierce rivals DKI Spartans in the Indonesian capital to claim the Jakarta XVs Rugby Series 2025 in a fiery and contentious game which saw multiple cards, high tensions and a dramatic last-minute 27-24 win – in our view all of the ingredients that show that local derby rugby is alive and well in the region.

In the earlier game of the day at the GBK Senayan Rugby field in Jakarta, the Jakarta Japan Rugby Gila (JJRG) held off a late comeback from the Jakarta Banteng to hold on to a slender 44-38 win to claim third in the Series.

Jakarta Japan Rugby Gila (JJRG) held off a late comeback from the Jakarya Banteng to secure a slender 44-38 win.

For the final, both teams came into the game having met each other in the final round-robin match of the league, which the JKRC had won but it was the DKI Spartans who comprised of many Indonesian national 7s teams players that were the defending champions after they upset the Komodos in the 2024 final.

The match itself was fierce and the referee red-carded a Komodos player – which was later rescinded on video review – but the end result was that the player advantage enabled the Spartans to claw back a 15-0 deficit and just trail the Komodos at half time. The defending champions took control of the third quarter in a match which saw several interruptions and more yellow and red cards as tensions boiled over.

With time running out, the Komodos scored a vital try late in the game to be within a try of overturning the lead. With less than a minute on the clock, it was their 17-year-old wing, a young Indonesian player, Feri -who had come through the JKRC youth development program, that received the ball out wide to run in the winning try which was converted, and just about sealed a seesaw game of high drama – for a final, it could not have been scripted better.

There was still time for a kickoff but the Komodos safely received the ball, held on until time ran out, and kicked it out for the final whistle leading to the players running over, embracing, and hoisting the match-winning wing in the air.

On the opposite side of the field, the Spartans were in despair, knowing they had come so close to turning the game around and defending their title – they were excellent in defence, scored some great tries, and surprisingly won the scrum battle.

What The Winners Said – Jakarta Komodos Rugby Club 2025 Champions

JKRC Player-Coach Max Stobbs is on the far right and the captain Oliver Baudler holding the trophy in the middle. The match-winning try scorer Feri is second from left.

JKRC Player-Coach Max Stobbs was delighted with the win telling Rugby Asia 247 of the campaign: “It is fantastic we won the League for our 15s season. Our season consists of 4 games, with 3 in a round-robin against the other clubs in Jakarta and then the final today. The Spartans are a very good team who have been only getting better over the past few years, and they won it last year but we won it this year,” he said with an ear-to-ear grin.

Stobbs added, “It was outstanding to have the winning try scored by young Feri – he is maybe 17 years old and has come through our Junior Komodos pathway. They start playing when they are pretty young and occasionally we are lucky enough to get a few of the guys when they progress.

 

This season we have had 4-5 players and it has been great for development – you can see them at training getting better and wanting the ball more; the improvement and the desire from these young guys to get better and play rugby is something that is great to see.”

Komodos Captain Oliver Baudler, who plays at flyhalf said, “The final against the Spartans meant we had to beat the best local side here, our team is a mix of expats and locals – but it was a real thriller of a game. They had turned the game around and we were four points down with time running out and with the last action of the game, we scored that try out wide and slotted the conversion – it was fantastic.”

He added of the tension of the game, “Some moments in that game got nasty but it was a derby and tensions got high. We trusted our system but we knew we lost too many balls in the rucks so we had to work hard. I love this game.”

Max Stobbs explained what it meant to win, “The boys were outstanding today and they really had to dig deep. The red card which was a mistake meant for 20 minutes we were down to 14 players when we didn’t need to be and there were some other situations with cards which meant at one point we were down to 13 – so the lads had to dig deep in this hot Southeast Asian weather. We had old boys, young boys and experienced lads pull together and to have a young outstanding last-minute play to win – coming from a young Indonesian player like Feri – it can’t get much better than that.”

Baudler was happy the development work had been paying off. “Our program in terms of developing players has been ongoing for ten years and it’s a big thing for them to be involved. The match-winner made his debut for us this season and he has been exceptional. He has a good rugby IQ and has had to be patient to make it into the senior squad.”

On Why You Should Join The Jakarta Komodos Rugby Club

On why any players in Jakarta looking to play rugby should join the Jakarta Komodos Rugby Club, Max Stobbs said, “You have a great base with us here. I was lucky enough to play in Beijing and Shanghai before I came here, and every time I moved to a new city I joined the rugby team. If you join a rugby team, you get like-minded individuals and get to have friends and it’s a great start to being in any new city, especially if you are an expat and you don’t know anyone. If you come to Jakarta – message us on Instagram and we will take it from there.”

Oliver Baudler added, “Come on down as we are open to everyone joining and we are very inclusive and we train at good facilities – we are always happy to grow the game. I arrived during the pandemic and previously played in the German first division, in France while at University, and in London at Uni. The first thing I do in a new city is look for a rugby club because there is always a great community and to network.”

Indonesian Rugby – National Team Looking To Play and Tour

Max Stobbs added that rugby in Indonesia is growing and the club hosts the Jakarta 10s in May again in 2025. “We invite all the teams from across Indonesia to take part and every year each team is getting better across the country which is great to see and it’s moving forward.”

Baudler added of the 15s progress in Jakarta, “This season was assessed by the soon-to-be coaches of the Indonesia 15s national side, and they will try to select a team from eligible players and try to tour around Southeast Asia. The national team has not been playing international rugby but they want to. This season has shown the levels and commitment of the local boys and even maybe some of our long-term expats can play with the five-year eligibility rule.  It’s been so good to see the game growing.”

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