SCC Bali Memorial Service 36

We were all in great spirits that night as we finished dinner and went for some well-deserved refreshment. We were in great form and there was a real sense of belief that we could win the tournament.

The history books record the events that happened that night. Events that would shake our club to the core and result in the 2002 season being suspended. Yet the spirit of a rugby club can still be found in some dark humour that followed those terrible events. I recall arriving in the hospital and being tracked down by Douglas “DB” Van der Wiel. I had a piece of metal pipe in my arm which needed to be removed but the hospital had run out of anesthetic. The medical staff had to resort to using vodka that some people were bringing in from nearby establishments and the doctor was passed a bottle to start disinfecting the wound. I remember DB standing behind me saying, “Don’t use that, he’ll drink it”. Neil Bowler, Chris Kays and Charlie Vanrenen were all new to the SCC that season and were formidable rugby players who had greatly strengthened our playing depth. Such was the strength of the touring squad that Peter Record and Tim Arnold were the only two tourists who weren’t in the 1st XV that season. Peter had just joined us from the Hong Kong Football Club. He would go on to become a great friend and close team-mate on the numerous social matches we would play against visiting naval ships in the off-season. Tim, who was the senior statesman of the Club who played before the advent of a vets team, was somewhat of a father figure to the younger players. In a cruel twist of fate, after he passed away that night, he would never learn that his girlfriend subsequently found out she was pregnant. Chris Redman was a good friend and former British Army officer who had recently suffered a horrendous knee injury which had kept him from playing rugby prior to the tour. His wife was under the mistaken impression that that meant he wouldn’t be going on tour, but not to be undone, as only he could, he appointed himself tour manager and team cameraman just so he wouldn’t be left out. Many of the pictures of that tour that exist today, were taken by him. Chris Bradford and Dave Kent were, and still are, legends of this Club. Like many expats, I arrived in Singapore naively assuming that I had retired from playing rugby – but after a long night with Chris, he seemed to have detailed knowledge of a fictitious conversation where I had agreed to play again. Chris was the captain of the SCC 1st XV, an uncompromising wing forward and an even better captain to play under - in three seasons of playing rugby with him as skipper, we had only lost two games. Dave Kent was almost a legend in his own lifetime and a truly larger than life character. He was from the North of England yet had honed his skills in Australia, playing for Randwick alongside Australian World-Cup winners such as David Campese and Nick Farr-Jones. Dave’s colorful language was often heard on the touchlines, with his unique style of critiquing questionable refereeing decisions with almost every expletive in the English language…. and a few that weren’t. These were guys who you could imagine conversing with over a beer after a hard day’s rugby talking through the usual post-match analysis we all do. It could have been any of us in their company. But on 12 October 2002, it was me. And for some reason I can never fathom, that conversation, like the lives on that table, was cut short. And whilst today will always be a day of sadness where we reflect on those that were lost, I’d like to think they left this world doing what they enjoyed most – being in the company of their mates with beer in hand as part of this great Rugby Club. And whilst bitterly sad and mournful of their loss from that senseless tragedy, I also count myself as privileged to have known and played with them. One day, the conversation that was cut short that night will continue again and, no doubt knowing Kenty and Bradford, I’ll be fined for being late! I can’t finish without mentioning two other friends and former teammates – Ariel Youknovsky and Shaun Keating, who both volunteered for the awful job of visiting the mortuaries of Bali to inspect the remains of the fatalities to help identify our lost team members. A truly harrowing and awful job that they took it upon themselves to do. Today is a reminder that everything we hold dear can be gone in the blink of an eye. I’d like to leave you with an abridged extract from the Rugby Section article that I wrote in the Padang Magazine. The article was written approximately three months after the bombing, and was the first thing I wrote when the burns on my hands had healed enough for me to type. “As SCC rugby players, we all have a responsibility to honour our lost teammates. Not just for their memory but for what they stood for – the bond of friendship and camaraderie that exists only in Rugby Union Football and especially in this great Club. We have played together, drank together, toured together but sadly, today, we grieve together. We honour them every time we pull on that black and gold jersey, every time we run onto the field and every time we are together as a Section. Chris Kays, Tim Arnold, Neil Bowler, Chris Bradford, Dave Kent, Peter Record, Chris Redman, Charlie Vanrenen. To live in the hearts of those who carry your memory is not to die. Sleep in peace, boys.”

From top: Saptak Santra and Murray Wylie.

Saptak Santra