The Phnom Penh Social Rugby club’s men’s Shining Rahus are setting off to Saigon for tomorrow’s elite 10s event featuring 16 teams.

The Rahus were part of the inaugural event last year, which was hailed as a great success, and are keen to soak up the experience again.

“The club attended the Saigon 10s last year but we did not take the best possible squad due to player commitments. The results were thus not great, but it turned out to be a fantastic week-end,” PPSRC secretary Steve Noble told the Post yesterday.

“This pre-season we have been putting in the hard work with our new coaches Moses O’Connor and Fabien Dutasta, and have seen new faces join the men’s team,” he said.

“We are optimistic of a better performance with the new-look side. At the same time, we will also bid farewell to some great players who have been committed to rugby over the past few seasons,” the PPSRC secretary said.

The Saigon 10s this year will be a much bigger affair than the eight-team event of last year, with the field almost doubling.

Teams from Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore Thailand, China, Myanmar, will be in the fray this year, with the Rahus being the sole Cambodian representatives.

The event itself is a one-day affair but a festive atmosphere surrounds the weekend with a rugby development workshop for local youth being one of the highlights.

The PPSRC is particularly proud that it is taking one of the largest touring parties since the club’s formation roughly two years ago, with 18 players being joined by a dozen or so family members, friends and fans joining in.

Meanwhile, looking beyond this trip, the club has confirmed that the Rahus will take part in the men’s “old boys” and women’s events at the Cambodia 10s, which is scheduled for the last weekend of October.

The Rahus men’s team lost a touch-and-go final in last year’s edition.