Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The 'Total Package' has arrived

After much media attention of the absence of "Total Package" Nasir. The man they now call Biceps Nasir, decided to step forward to unveil his guns at the training ground. Fans present at the underground training ground @ SMU concourse were seen to be totally in awe of his huge 'guns' that it caused some of his fellow team-mates to feel jealous and embarassed about their own.

Speaking to the media, Sherman the Shermanator (picture right)said in disbelief

"I havent seen him (Nasir) around for the past 6months and now he strolls on to the training ground with GUNS as big as my TRUNKS! (thighs) Its total maddness!"

While the "Total Package" insist he is clean from any supplement taking and that his GUNS are nothing but nnnAtural. He leaves us with a quote to be remembered on his first training in 6 months,

"I may not have been around for months, I may not have touched an oval ball for months, but one thing is for sure....(Nasir tilts his nose into the air and takes a deep breath, raising his biceps in full flexed position)These Guns really don't lie."

Indeed.

Skipper Amos Siow could not be reached for further comments.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

9 players on the flight to Perth

With the Mid-term exams and presentation filling up the busy schedules of our SMU rugby players, the press has had a difficult time providing you with the latest scoops. The City Boys were given a week to spend time with their families and friends after suffering a shocking defeat to NUS in the Cup Semi-finals in the ringEmail 7s, and have ever since resumed training last week.

Players returned back to training looking sharper and more focus during training. Coach Harry Mason(picture right) spoke to the press this morning after announcing the confirmed 9 players who will be going up to Perth in December to compete in the India-Rim Asia University Games (IRAUG), “All the boys have been working hard this whole season - the attitude and spirit of the team is good, and the boys are looking ready to jump straight into it to prepare for the coming IRAUG 7s.”

The 9 selected players are as follows:

1. Lionel “ robber” Poh (C)
2. Chong Wei Nurn
3. Lim Wei Ming
4. Sherman Yeo aka Shermantor
5. Tafadzwa Lakka Marasha
6. Alex Ong
7. Lorenzo Escano “it wasn’t me” Shaggy Lim
8. Lionel Kong
9. Chew Yin Xiang aka The Mouth

The team will look to be sending a total of 12 players, with 3 more players to be added to the squad in November. The squad will be lead by the Vice President of SMU rugby, Lionel Poh(picture left) who will be looking to spur the side to achieving their first victory away from home ground.







City Boys in search for their lost sheep, Nasir
With the size of the current SMU rugby squad standing at 30, the competition for places for this tour has been fiercely contested by almost every one, but a few. It’s been reported that some players have been missing in action for an unknown and overdue period of time. One such player is noticeably star inside-centre Muhammad Nasiruddin Bin Malek who has been reported to have been on a secret agenda to pump up the size of his biceps to 25 inches before he takes to the field to toss the oval ball, which he has not done so since his debut for the City Boys.

Nasir, made his debut for the City boys back against NTU last year in the Tri-Uni and was proven to be a ‘surprise package’ to the Boon Lay Warriors. During the match, NTU were seen struggling to deal with the ferocity of his hits and presence and were constantly bewildered by this seemingly unknown talent that SMU possessed.

The “Total Package” Nasir first started off his rugby career in Raffles Institution (RI), proving to be an efficient and safe fullback in his heydays. However, the “Total Package” went missing when he went over to Raffles Junior College choosing to leave the rugby scene for the next 4 years. Rumor was that the “Total Package” had spend those 4 years in isolation, reflecting on what it takes to get his ‘guns’(biceps) firing away on the rugby field.

Having been out for 4 years, the purchase of the “Total Package” struck pundits as more of a gamble by Coach Harry Mason. However, during an interview with Coach Mason, he expressed that he had been following Nasir’s every progress since the age of 16 and has every faith that the “Total Package” will deliver when the Tri-Unis come. (Harry Mason turns to whisper and ask Mouth: Who is he!? Has he even come down for any trainings?)

The fans having been questioning of the whereabouts of the “Total Package” and have expressed with signboards outside Farrer Park, that they would like to see him down at the training ground along side his team mates. An undisclosed source revealed Nasir to be found at a corner of the SMU gym every day at 3pm, doing his 24 sets of biceps curls. No photos could be provided of him in action – for as soon as the man noticed the paparazzi, he was reported to be quick to toss the 20kg dumbbells and dash for cover.

When interviewed by the press about the MIA of the “Total Package” Nasir, Skipper Amos Siow(right) revealed,




“ Nasir made a condition with me. He told me he will only come back to training when the size of his biceps is bigger than mine. So I guess the fans and the boys (of SMUrugby) will just have to wait patiently for his return – because… (Amos raises his arm to take a look at his non-existent watch while flexing his non-existent biceps)… it doesn’t look like its going to happen any time soon."



Player Profile: Muhammad Nasiruddin Bin Malek "Total Package" (above)
Age: 22
Former club: Raffles Instituition
Position: Inside Centre/Winger
Others: Nasir, was also the captain of the Raffles soccer team and is a first team player in the SMU soccer team.

Favourite Quote: "These Guns don't lie"


Sunday, October 21, 2007

stirring shit

Rumour has it that SMU rugby heartthrob DMC (he has the killer looks as Mok can attest to that) has been to several blind dates in an wild and radical attempt to spice up his nonexistant sex life.

Fellow team mate "The Darkness" has this to say:

"What?! DMC and blind dates? I thought he gets loads of sex. I'm the one who needs to get laid! I want girls!! Where's my mummy!!!"

However, DMC's latest take on sexuality was recently discovered after friday's intense training session.

"None of you went to SSU sports night! I had to go with Mok"

Ooops perhaps?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Editor's note: Sorry Mok!

Spirit, Pride, Passion

Last night after SMUgging the night away I turned on the tv expecting to watch France walk all over Argentina and send them packing.

Then Argentina scored not one but two tries unanswered (the first converted with NON SKILL from the VERY EASY spot of the far corner of the field) and I found myself unconsciously shifting my loyalties in their favour. Its pointless to even try to put in words the complete doggedness of the Argentinian side in every respect of the game from keeping the ball alive and in play to their flawless running counterattacks, skillful offloading and determined support in the face of a desperate French defence. By the time they had scored their third try to pull out of reach of the floundering French, the French supporters had gone deathly quiet.

It was all about Spirit as they held the French to the longest stoppage time I'd ever seen, 5 metres from the Argentinian try line and unable to score for what must have been for the Argentinian forwards an eternity in hell; until the French Captain himself got sent off in frustration and halftime was called.
It was all about Pride as I watch Chabal, The Caveman, French Hero and Icon get tossed like a flimsy piece of paper to land on his back and roll around clutching his shoulder the very FIRST time he even touched the ball.
It was all about Passion as Los Pumas laid the smackdown on the team that sent the All Blacks packing, host country for the Rugby World Cup 2007 to finish 3rd. The glory of which they had utterly earned by their raw unerring hunger to win.

Argentina 34, France 10.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Rugby Players by Day, Models by Night!!

A recent tabloid report by SMU Rugby News Daily has uncovered the shocking yet sexy news that 2 members of the City boys are actually models with immense experience in modelling. Other then having zhng skills in sidestepping and laying the smack down on opponents, they can also induce some degree of wetness in the crowd with their 'catwalking skills'. And they are no other than Amos "Mai Siao Siao" Siow and "The Animal" Shen



Come Wednesday, 17th of October, these 2 fine, young men will be strutting their stuff on the catwalks of (no not Milan) SMU Sports Hall. Yup, for the Sports Award Night. Urgent bulletins by the authorities from OSL has suggested that the audience prepare sufficient amount of tissue paper to relieve the "wetness". Also, raincoats are advisable as the temperature might get so hot that the sprinklers may have to be turned on.

An interview with a certain member of the City boys went as followed:

"Everytime i see these 2 hot guys, i just quiver and get so wet, with perspiration though. For Amos, i feel that he exudes such charm and authority. He has this boy-next-door look that simply melts my heart everytime i see him. As for Sijie, its a total ball game altogether. He gives me a sense of adventure and danger. I feel that life will be so much more exciting with this "Animal" around"

(DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT AN INTERVIEW WITH MOK)

To catch these 2 exciting young men in action, please be at the Sports Awards Night on Wednesday. Be there or risk not getting wet!

Mok out for the season

It seems like every Rugby team has one or more such ‘strange’ members. The man who has worked tirelessly for the SMUrugby team has had to face up to many off-field critics of his questionable lifestyle.


Mok Wai Hon, who is the SMUrugby team’s honorary and hardworking secretary, has been one of the executive committee members who have made the SMU squad to be such a well organized and formidable side today. Recently, Mok was noted for his valuable contribution to the ringEmail 7s where he helped ensure that the tournament ran according to schedule and that everything else ran smoothly.

However much of the good deeds that Mok has done have been tainted by the media’s attention on his life off the rugby pitch. Insider sources reveals that he has been known to ogle over his own team-mates in the changing room and was once heard to be admiring fellow team-mate Daniel Marc, when he saw the latter parading in his boxers on a Malaysia tour. On that same Malaysia tour, Mok was rumored to have contracted deadly sore-eyes which spread to his entire team, causing the team to withdraw from the tournament on the 2nd day of the tournament. While the case is still under investigation of how Mok contracted the sore-eyes, the case has been strangely associated with then on tour NUS flanker aka NewUrban Male Champion Elisha Chng, who apparently exchange strong eye contact with Mok, causing the onslaught of the rest of the SMU rugby team.

While the man has constantly refused to submit to such ridiculous claims, that he is … , he has yet to come forward to make any clarification in public either. The pressure and attention from the paparazzi has certainly taken its toil on the team’s secretary who also plays winger or scrumhalf for the City boys. Issuing a statement to the media through his agent, “Mok would like to take time off from the season to reflect upon some personal issues and will take no further part in this year’s competitions”

The distressed Mok was last seen escaping the paparazzi as he was leaving the training grounds in his Red Suzuki Swift declining to answer any questions, but a close-male-friend revealed,

“Lately Mok, is under tremendous amount of pressure. He has had to prove himself on the field as a scrumhalf and off the field. It’s very tough and frustrating for him…”

Mok, has come to an agreement with the club, to allow him to have some time off as he is looking to not only sort out some personal issues, but also nurse that pair of eyes that did his team in, in Malaysia. In rectifying the problem, Mok was last reported to have undergone a Lasik surgery earlier this season, to prevent such an episode from happening again.

Meanwhile while the Man is out of physical contact during training with the boys for now, which could be a safer thing for our SMU boys, he is certainly not out of sight.

Player Profile: Mok Wai Hon aka Mok
Age: 23
Former Club: Chinese High
Position: Winger/Scrumhalf
Others: The lad, is the SMUrugby’s secretary and is a Dean’s Lister with a GPA of approximately 3.8. He is also in the running to receiving the SSU Achiever’s Award at the SSU Sports Night award.

Monday, October 15, 2007

SHERMANATED

This is the picture the whole of Zouk+SMU+Sg Rugby Community have been waiting for the past 5 days.

After a great run at the ringEmail SMU Rugby 7s, star prop turned up at Zouk's Mambo Night semi high, on dunno what also. He stressed to virtually every single one that his cap is the most valuable thing, but as u can see, the 'valuable' cap was kind of MIA l8r the evening.
The night started rather innocently and as the most sober party in this whole event i shall testify with absolute neutrality. It was a case of "SOMMMEEBODY gonna get hurt" but no one knew who the target was gonna be. Ben Teong was so scared that he kept saying, "Vick, i stay in BLK 48 #08-05, send me home" like a gazillion times. (Just need to rope u in la...)

When Shermanator reached Zouk, you could sense something was a miss when he was boasting about how he was the greatest player in SMU A. Especially when he went up to Justin Lum and proclaimed,"Justin, i am the SMU A superstar."

Then there was the insane game of 5-10 between the perpetually high Jed and the on the verge Shermantor. The highly intense game was watched by all those gathered in the far corner of Velvet and as the tension piled, the two kids' tempers were simmering.

Sherman: Yayy, 2 times already, i win...
Jed: Eh u say nobody can hear...
Sherman: Okay okay, again, i start first.
Jed: How many times you start first...unfair.

Then Jed wasnt happy with Sherman cos he said '5' too loudly.

So after loosing a round too many, Jed and Sherman deceided enough was enough, The game was about to come to an end for our pseudo super star. Right before he reached nirvanna he spewed some classics:

Sherman: I am not drunk, this is ben teong (pointing to ben), this is valmiki(pointing to me), this is amos(pointing to amos), this is jed (pointing to jed), this is valmiki (pointing to valmiki). Ehh!!

Soon after Shermantor decided to 'take a break' from his hectic day after downing a couple of glasses of water and fell asleep on the bar. Coincidently, Sherman puked as some cha bor went to the bar to buy drinks, creating some very interesting modern art on her already fancy shoes. Our Psuedo Star wasnt done yet. He lost balance on the bar stool and performed further theatrics sliding across the bar as his arms and head were still resting on it, smearing his fragrant aftermath everywhere. The helpful Jed grabbed him and he flipped backwards and fell flat on his back. All this while he was sound asleep.

On hindsight, "I should never drink champagne la, my body just cannot take it". Sherman reportedly 'fall in' at his house the next morning when his grandma opened the door.

The Darkness speaks to SMUrugby News

This week SMUrugby News presents to you…


He was one of the men behind the scenes of the successful SMU ringEmail 7s, but has been struggling to secure a place in the regular line up with the City boys. However, that has not caused too much unrest with the man they call The Darkness aka Vignesh. When spotted by the SMUrugby press at Zouk, he replied with a bottle of whiskey in his hand,

“It’s no problem that I do not get to start, but at least! Give me a chance to do my ‘razzle dazzle’ - give me the bloody ball and I’ll side step a few motherf*ckers, give a big palm off and I’ll finish off the move with a no-look pass…(to nobody)”

Vignesh Louis Naidu was talent spotted at the school’s regular hangout; “Pick n Bite” at the not so tender age of 22, but ever since then the ‘super dark-star’ has not looked back. When interviewed about The Darkness’s on-field attributes, team-mate Daniel Marc Chow was more than willing to share his honest opinion,

“He(Darkness) has come a long way. He has certainly improved by leaps and bounds! He is the kind of player who doesn’t have to do much on the field; his presence alone engulfs his opponents with his presence, forcing them to make the errors! We certainly could have a player of his unique talent on our side.”


The Darkness is rumored to be undergoing intensive strength conditioning for the pre-season Tri Uni 15s Championship and is speculated to be in the re-negotiation for a new contract with the City Campus – apparently asking for a pay cut from the club. Strange, but it’s true.



Player Profile: The Darkness, aka Vignesh Louis Naidu
Age: 23
Former Clubs: Saint Andrews
Position: Flanker
Others: Outside of rugby, the Darkness is a semi-professional high stakes poker player and is often caught drunk along side fellow team-mate and socialite Alex Chew.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Low Down on the 2007 SMU ringEmail 7s

The much awaited ringEmail SMU 7s kicked off on a solemn note, as fans and players gathered to observe a moment of silence as we mourned for yet another All Blacks defeat in the World Cup. Some took more extreme measures such as quitting from the tournament or possibly quitting from playing rugby altogether, such as Wolfpacks – but that’s another story for another time.

The tournament promised to bring the very best 7s rugby in the nation and it certainly didn’t disappoint. With a full capacity crowd at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium, the crowd woke up to witness a depleted NUS side versus SRC Young Guns. NUS was reported to have had 3 players five minutes before the game and was considering giving a walk-over to SRC Young Guns before two more players arrived - late from the mourning of the All Black’s defeat. Despite the obvious numerical disadvantage, the ‘5 a-side’ NUS squad got the crowd going wild when they still managed to outdo the SRC Young Guns to come away with a narrow victory, sending a stern warning to other contenders that they were a force to be reckoned with throughout the tournament.

Pool A


In pool A, which was also known to be the ‘Group of Death’, the crowd saw both tournament favorites NUS and Red dot Rebels (aka as Jonty’s mystery team) dominate and carve out their opponents like a hot knife cutting through butter, displaying some very fine skill and pace to score some very brilliant tries. When the two sides faced off, it was nothing other than a close affair, with both teams hoping to come away with a win to finish top of the Pool, both hoping to avoid Pool B’s expected winners – SMU A. Eventually, the Red dot Rebels which boasted an uncountable number of National players bagged the victory when one of NUS 4 loaned players shot a ‘bullet pass’ into his teammate’s face, allowing the Red dot Rebels to pick up and score the easy try under the post to book their place in the Cup Semi-finals. Apart from the fine display of 7s the Red dot Rebels provided us, much attention surrounded the questionable ‘man-on-man’ tendency that the team showed off the field. The Pool A winners were spotted having to spend more time and energy helping each other put on and take off their jerseys than warming up – which apparently brought much to the delight of some male spectators and certainly their player-manager, Jonty. (Yes, it’s strange, but it’s true.)




'Happy' male spectators looking on



Pool B

In the other pool, teams featured included Republic Poly(RP), Temasak Poly(TP), NTU, SRC old farts and SMU A. The tournament witnessed its first upset when 2006 IVP 7s finalist suffered a costly defeat in the hands of the SRC old farts, which left NTU needing nothing less than a win against SMU A to secure a berth in the Cup Semi-finals. But it was not to be for the Boon Lay Warriors, as SMU A was in a less than empathetic mood, and put them to the sword scoring 4 tries to 2, forcing NTU down to the Bowl Competition and further emphasizing to the rest of the teams that SMU A meant business. However despite the ferocious encounter between the two sides, who shared much history of rivalry it was great for the fans to watch as the two teams formed up a tunnel and exchanged handshakes and jerseys after the match, displaying the true spirit of the game.


No love lost between old AC team-mates





The tournament had to endure random moments of CAT 1 status (heavy rain/lighting/thunder) causing stoppages between matches, but that certainly did not dampen the spirit of the competition, as the crowd started to turn their eyes to the beer girls walking around and getting nothing more than lousy pick up lines. Rumor has it, the only beers that the ladies sold were to the SMU team, and for all that it is worth, the grapevine speculates that the City boys got their own fair-share of ‘special benefits’ from the beer girls later that day.

After a grueling morning of competition, the tournament pool standing finished as shown below,



Pool A

1st SMU A
2nd SRC Old Farts
3rd NTU
4th Temasak Poly (TP)
5th Republic Poly (RP)

Pool B

1st Red dot Rebels

2nd NUS

3rd Tamoko Lions

4th SMU B

5th SRC Young Guns

Bowl Competition

In the Bowl Competition, we saw another SMU team lock horns with NTU once again. This time SMU B took on NTU in the first Semi-Finals and put up a brave performance. Brilliant tries from SMU’s multi-talented winger Lionel Kong and SMU’s only foreign import from Zimbabwe, Tafadzwa L Marasha caused much panic in the hearts of the Boon Lay Warriors. However, it was not to be for the City boys, as missed conversions from in front of the post by Lionel Kong and Josiah Goh from the side proved to be the deciding factor on the score board as NTU won by the slightest of margins to advance to the Bowl finals with a score of 12-10.


In the Bowl Finals, NTU easily brushed off Tamoko Lions 24-0 to emerge as Bowl Champions. After their victory at the press conference, player/manager Qing only had kind words of praises for his Boon Lay Warriors, attributing their success to the good team spirit they showed throughout the tournament and felt they could have done a lot better if not for the absence of key players like Adam Mat Solo who sustained a knee injury a week before the tournament, and Emery Ong who could not be present for the tournament as he was speculated to be busy endorsing a new sponsorship with Subaru over the weekend.

The Big talking point


Cup Semi Finals brought the crowd to their feet as one of the biggest matches of the day took place in the late afternoon, when NUS took on SMU A in the first Semi Finals. The two teams were heard to be very uneasy competing against each other for various reasons. It was well-established that the two teams were made up of very close friends, but this match did not hold back any punches. SMU A drew first blood when a well worked move by Daniel Marc Chow saw him putting skipper Amos Siow into space to score in the corner. A minute later, Vice Captain Lionel “robber’ Poh extended the City Boys’ lead to 10-0 when he sped past a series of defenders running 40metres to score. Amos added the conversion to bring the score to 12-0. At this point, the City boys looked comfortable of booking their place in the Cup finals, but NUS had other ideas.

The NUS boys came back in the second half putting the SMU’s defense to the test. Eventually it paid off when loaned-player Josiah Peh(SAFSA) brushed off two tackles to score a crucial try for them. The conversion was good and brought the score to 7-12.

The SMU boys were not about to panic and hit back with answers of their own, putting NUS on all sorts of defensive pressure. Then in the 10th minute all hell broke loose. A beautiful worked move saw a series of passes and offloads interchanged between the SMU backline, putting Justin “Project Superstar’ Lum over the try line, for the five-pointer. However, the try was not awarded as the referee took a long look at it and ruled that the Project Superstar had not grounded the ball to score the try and had stepped out of the try-zone onto the dead ball line.

Try or no try?



With that decision being made, the referee, in a moment of frenzy, allowed play to carry on, as NUS playmaker Mohd Raihan grabbed the ball off J.Lum ,who was still lying in the try area and began to run past a very bewildered SMU team who were expecting for either a 5 meter scrum or 22-dropout – the unexpected ruling resulted in an unopposed try scored by NUS. The conversion was good and brought the score to 14-12, causing a desperate SMU A to dig deep to try to undo the damage.

In the dying minutes of the game, the City Boys threw all they had at the NUS defense, countless line breaks were made, but moments of desperate defense by the NUS boys always saw the SMU’s attack stop short at the very last second. In the end, as the final whistle was blown, a very dejected SMU team fell to their knees and pondered what could have been, as the Yio Chu Kang crowd witnessed one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.


During the post-match conference, NUS skipper Shafiq Zulazmi(below) commented about the controversial referee decision,

“Whether it was try by him (Justin) or not, I am not sure. But the referee made a fundamental error and we profited from it. I thought it was supposed to be a 5-metre scrum or a 22-drop out to us, but when I saw Raihan running with the ball and the referee waving play on, I just went with the flow...”

When asked about whether he felt it was a fair result for NUS, the skipper was empathetic and humble in victory,

“Well it certainly was a surprising result, we never thought we would come here to put one over SMU, so it was an upset, though marred with controversy…no one likes to see these things happen in games, especially in a Semi-finals. However, we’re lucky it happened to our benefit and I’m proud of how the boys came back to come away with the win.”

This upset saw NUS progress to the Cup finals to face the Red dot Rebels and SMU A to face SRC old farts in the Plate finals.

Plate Competition

In the plate competition, SRC old farts, who were made up of many former national players came into the tournament sending out strong messages to the other teams - that despite spotting some receding hairlines and questionable bellies, they were players with a wealth of experience on their side and still had an engine function-able of keeping up with the younger boys in the tournament. This was especially evident in their Group stages when they created an upset against NTU and made SMU A work for their victory. However, in this repeated clash against SMU A, the fatigue started to show in the SRC side as they took on a dejected SMU A who was still trying to pick up the pieces from the unexpected early exit of the Cup tournament earlier that day.

However, the SMU boys showed much character and got off to a flying start with Alex Ong bagging two individual tries in the first half to put the City boys in a comfortable lead. In the end, SMU proved to be the stronger and fitter side between the two and ran away easily with the victory against SRC old farts to bag a piece of silverware for the City Campus.

When approached by SMUrugby News reporter, skipper Amos Siow still could not hide his disappointment from the dramatic exit they suffered in the Cup Semi-finals,

“Winning the plate competition is good, but it certainly wasn’t what we had planned for. We came here to win (the cup competition) and finish undefeated, but some times some things are beyond our control…Nevertheless, I am proud of the effort shown by the boys and the unbelievable support we got from our fans.”

Cup Competition

After a long day of tournament, the crown was to be battled between Red dot Rebels and NUS who squared off earlier that day in the group stages, with Red dot Rebels coming away with the victory.

The action was fast and furious from start to finish, as the crowd was entertained by the supreme skill and defense shown by both teams. The score line swung to the Red dot Rebels when their speedy winger raced past NUS to score easily in the corner. With Suhami aka Tsunami slotting it home from 35metres out, to give the side a 7-0 lead.

NUS were not to be outdone, when inspirational skipper Shafiq Zulazmi scored a very “Shafiq-like” try running from 5 meters out and dummying his 4 players who were in support out wide to touch down. The conversion was good and brought the score leveled to 7-7.

But with everything to play for, Red dot Rebels struck yet again through their winger to put the score into perspective with Suhami dissecting the posts yet again, stretching the score to 14-7.

NUS led by their Blonde haired and mercurial captain, who had bright boots to match the hair, proved why they are the top rugby university in Singapore as they turned on the style, with Captain Shafiq scoring two quick tries in the dying minutes of the game to bring the score to 17-14.

However, with seconds to go and with the victory almost in the bag for NUS, a dubious decision by the referee penalized NUS for ‘playing the ball on the ground’, when the tackler was seen to be contesting for the ball on his feet. Red dot Rebels wasted no time and seize their opportunity in unleashing one last attack, putting their speedy winger into space once again to race past NUS’s defense to score the match winning try – the final score was 19-17 with the Red dot Rebels crowned the 2007 SMU ringEmail 7s Cup Champions.

SMU RingEmail 7s Kicks Off With a Bang

We've seen a weekend of upsets as a suspiciously forward pass missed by the referee sent the All Blacks packing.

On Sunday the SMU A team played a good tournament of skillful rugby to come up in the semi finals against NUS. It was a wonderful match-up that pitted old friends and ex-teammates against each other and comraderie on both sides was strong. Unfortunately a blatant refereeing error turned the tables on SMU when Justin "Project Superstar" Lum grounded the ball in the NUS try area just as he appeared to have stepped out of play. The referee however, neither gave SMU the try nor called for a 22-dropout(which should have been the right call HAD the ball indeed gone out of play in the NUS try area). Instead he called for play to continue and while half the world was confused about what in Leonidas' name was going on, NUS took the ball all the way upfield to score and take the lead. NUS went on to win the semi's and go up against eventual cup winners Jonty's Red Rebels in the Cup finals. Poor negligent refereeing aside, respect to NUS for putting up a good show both against SMU and against the Jonty's in the Cup finals.

SMU A on the other hand kept a cool and level head under the leadership of Captain Amos Siow and went on to play the SRC Old Farts in the Plate Finals. After a classy game of well executed rugby the A team effortlessly took the Plate champions title with their heads held high. Special mention was made of flair-prop Sherman Yeo whom SMU Coach Harry Mason felt had played an exceptional tournament.

Recognition must also be given to the SMU B team. Made up mostly of SMU's up and coming freshmen the B team played with courage, confidence and a whole lot of heart. They held the Jonty's to a respectable scoreline that was the lowest in the tournament, dominated against the SRC young guns, and put up a solid fight against NTU, losing by a narrow margin of only 2 points. SMU B's vice captain Mouth Chew scored a stunning 40m try in which he stepped, dummied and burned 4 of SRC's Young Guns to bring the ball confidently into the try area. SMU B was all heart with players like Zaini making hard hitting, solid tackles despite a fractured hand, Leonidas Lee playing with a slight groin injury(wonder how he got it), and Tafadzwa L Marasha who courageously played on despite being bruised and badly knocked and who scored a crucial try from a kickoff.

On the whole, the SMU RingEmail 7s was a huge success with every team having something to take away from the tournament be it a trophy, medal or a memorable experience and we all hope to see a repeat of this year's success in the years to follow. Photos, cais, and more updates to follow.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

NOOOOO!!!!

All Blacks lost! WTF! NOOOO!!!!

Friday, October 5, 2007

ringEmail SMU Rugby 7s - You in?

With the tournament round the corner, the anticipation and excitement is growing steadily as teams gear up for a whole long day of intense competition. The tournament is set to show a very high level of play with many of the top polytechnic and university teams coming down in full strength. Teams like Tri Uni Champions, NUS will be down to in full force, while NTU will look to come out from their obscure Boon Lay camp to show case the talent that is left after the retirement of their old guards.

Some sweet display of 7s should emerge from the tournament with mystery team that wishes only to be known as "Jonty's team' and is said to be picked by the bookmakers to have a 1-1 odds of winning. Some insider source disclosed that the team has been casually littered with many potential SEA games hopefuls with the player-manager himself, Jonty being the only non-national player.

The day of competition will start as early as 8am, when we see half-drunk and sleep deprived players (from the France vs All blacks game) battle it out at Yio Chu Kang this Sunday. So do come down to watch Singapore's most promising young talents impose themselves on the local rugby scene this Sunday. Beer and food will be sold at the stadium by our proud sponsors, Ice Cold Beer.

So do come down, there might be more than just a game of rugby

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Welcome to SMURugby News

Welcome to one and all,

The Singapore Management University (SMU) Rugby Team was formed in 2005. It started off as a social touch rugby team, welcoming people who were inspired to have a small taste of the hectic life of being a “rugby player”.

In that very same year, the team from the City Campus decided to compete for higher honors in the inaugural Inter-Varsity Rugby Championships, which is better known now as the Tri-Uni Rugby Championships, after the polytechnic teams pulled out from the competition.


In previous years, the team has risen in standings and labeled as the infamous ‘Second-runners up’ of the Tri-Uni Championships, playing second-fiddle to the two traditional rugby powerhouses, NUS and NTU. Legendary NTU utility back, Daniel “Potato’ Thiam(left), once mentioned to the press, “The Tri-Unis needed at least 3 teams...and we needed a team to whoop and SMU was it.”


In response to the critics of being the weeping boys, in 2006, SMU dug into their finances and got busy in the summer, signing players across the country. Signings include former Rafflesian Flanker, Shen Sijie aka The Animal/Wolverine(left) who was rumored to be purchased on a Free Transfer. While former AC fullback Alex Ong was said to turn down the offer from NUS to join the City Campus for an undisclosed fee. Controversies mainly surrounded the late summer purchase of AC winger Amos Siow (aka Amos ‘The man who snubbed NTU’ Siow), when he was said to be ‘illegally poached’ by the City Campus from NTU. “The Snubber” was all set to sign for the Boon Lay Warriors after having gone through medical check up. But an unexpected change of heart and a lucrative contract offer by SMU proved too much for the winger to refuse, seeing the “Snubber” move to SMU signing a lucrative 4 year contract.

With the new signings and the mix of existing talented senior players, such as superstar Desmond “I’m Fucked up” Wee, former RJC Captain Daniel Marc Chow and socialite Alex Chew “CanIHelpchew”, it was not before long before the team brought in some silverware.



In October 2006, the City boys went ‘ballistic’ in the NUS 7s raping every single team including the host themselves to book a showdown in the Cup Finals against NTU. The finals was set to be a spectacle, but turned out to be a complete whitewash, as the City Boys cleared the Boon Lay Warriors 49-0 in the finals, to be crowned the Inter Varsity 7s Champions.


It didn’t take long for the two sides to clash again, earlier this year NTU faced off with SMU in the Tri-Unis and got their sweet revenge with a relatively narrow victory over the City Boys in the 15 a-side game. Despite the defeat, the signs are evident - that SMU may soon be a force to be reckoned with.

In an interview with NUS dynamic inside-centre who by the way carries royal blood and is Prince in the village of Tanglin Halt, Muhammad A'srie Bin Che Ali IV was quick to praise the City Boys, “SMU looks very strong this coming season, Got you, you and you! Next year NUS and NTU can Balik kampong la mak kau punya laki xia!” While its been claimed that NTU has been keeping a watchful eye over SMU ever since the side achieved success in last year’s NUS 7s go to (http://www.nturugbynews.blogspot.com/) to find out more.

This summer, SMU once again got busy in the transfer market signing a handful of Rafflesian and AC boys. Rumor has it, the city campus got them on a special deal, “buy one get one free” . The deal includes buy Alvin Tan (RJ back), get Josiah Goh (RJ back) free and buy Chew Yin Xiang aka The Mouth (AC back), get Daniel “King Leoniadas” Lee (AC forward) free.

A worthy observation was the significant boost of forwards purchased this season. Bulking up the pack, SMU bought former RJC captain Sherman Yeo – the Sherminator and former National shot putt champion Vickneswaran S/o Sellathurai (RJC) – they too, came in the special one for one deal.

However, controversy loomed again in the transfer market when complications arose over the signing of Project Superstar, scrumhalf Justin Lum(right). The City Campus had long shown keen interest in signing him, before he got himself into various kinds of troubles early in the year, which delayed the transfer.

“Yes, we know who we are dealing with and we know he is hard to handle, but Justin Lum is HOW GOOOD!” said a SMU Rugby spokesperson. To date, the signing has been missing in action from training and has assured the fans that despite his no-show in training he is happy to stay at SMU and has no intention of leaving the City campus any time soon.


With an influx of such quality players and finally with quantity to make up a full squad with a full set of reserves on the bench, SMU is certainly looking promising. Their first real test and a chance to display the new depth in the team will come this 7th October @ Yio Chu Kang Stadium as they go out to compete in the ‘SMU ringEmail 7s’.

Watch out for them and stay tuned as the squads will be announced soon.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

ringEmail SMU 7s Preview

Its finally here. The long awaited SMU 7s with super zhng rugby, hot cai-s, handsome men and elephant loads of booze! After many months of planning and consumption of alcohol along the way (Darkness, this refers to you), 11 teams will be looking forward to tear each other apart, with the favourites of course being SMU A.

Dominating the competition with their lightning quick backline and slick ball handling led by Captain Amos "I'll burn you" Siow

and further complimented by the likes of Alex Ong and Alex chew, they look to decimate any opposition they come across. But the real unleashing of power will come from 7s laojiao or otherwise known as veterans Justin Lum and Desmond Wee. When you see them play, sure to nosebleed cockstand and then die from heart seizure. Captain Amos "I'll burn you" Siow can now back up his infamous words "WE ARE THE THING" and blow the pants off NTU.

Complementing the backline will be the monsterly aggressive forward pack. Lead by Hairyman DMC and assisted by The Animal Shijie and Sherminator. This tourament will showcase Sherminator's prowess in 7s rugby where he will be looking forward to destroying scrums with his solid propping and also for the whole world to see his nifty sidestep!



I dont think anyone in their right mind would want to go up against the Sherminator. Well, except for the The Animal, who would go up against anyone.





Not to be outdone, SMU B will also be pulling out all their guns. Led by the inspirational Weiming and vice-capted by Mouth Chew, they will be looking forward to ending SMU A's glory. However, in order to achieve this and specially for this event, they will be unleashing their most secret weapon...



King Leonidas, aka Daniel Beyonce Leonidas Balakrishnan Slayer Virgin Killer Sex141 Lee (given by vice-capt Mouth).

This tournament will be King Leonidas's coming out of the closet. He has expressed his desire to emulate his previous success, leading his men on to crush his mighty opponents.





Alas, one can only watch this glorious bloody showdown as it unfolds this coming Sunday, 7 Oct at YCK Stadium! Bring lots of friends and remember to enjoy the view, and get mightily drunk with the continuous flood of beer!

p.s King Leonidas's second army of Cai-s will be there, further supported by Ben Teong's third army of Cai-s. Good VIEW!