Singapore Combined Unis win Silver & Bronze

The Singapore Combined Universities Rugby 7s Squad finally arrived back in Singapore last Saturday, after enduring an 8 hour long train ride from KL.

The team who went up to KL to compete in the 3 day long tournament did well to secure a silver medal in the league competition and a bronze medal in the cup competition.

In the league competition, the Singapore side beat Laos (22-0) and Thailand (12-7), and only losing out to Malaysia (0-17), which denied them the gold.

In the cup competition, Singapore faced Thailand in the semi-finals and had to swallow a disappointing defeat of 7-14. After the defeat to the Thais, the squad showed character and blew Laos away with 39-0 scoreline, pleasing the crowd with 7 clinical tries.

The team will like to thank all the well wishes from all who supported us in one way or the other. We will also like to thank our sponsors, 6 Drunk Men and BQ bar, who played a huge part of making this tournament a success for us.

In many ways this tournament has shown that there is much talent and potential in Singapore rugby, especially among our local boys and that Singapore is no pushover in our Asean region.

Results of League Matches
Singapore v Laos (22-0)
Tries by: Lionel Poh, Daniel Thiam, Mohd Raihan (2)
Singapore v Malaysia (0-17)
Singapore v Thailand (12-7)
Tries by: Mohd Raihan and Daniel Thiam

Results of Cup Matches
Singapore v Thailand (7-14)
Try by: Amos Siow
Singapore v Laos (39-0)
Tries by: Alex Chew, Alex Ong, Daniel Marc(3), Derek Chan and Xu Renhan

Singapore Combined Universities set to leave on the 14th Dec

After 3 months of intensive training, the Singapore Combined Universities Rugby 7s squad is set to depart for KL this Sunday at 8.30am. The team coached under Lincoln Tan and Singapore's most capped rugby player, Rong JingXiang, will be set to face off with ASEAN's very best rugby university students.

Teams to look out for will be host nation, Malaysia and rugby 7s power house, Thailand. Both teams have been rumored to have a couple of National players who participated in the Rugby World Cup Qualifiers 7s (held in HongKong) a few months back. However, not to be out-done, the Singapore team will also feature a couple of National players of their own with Captain Daniel Marc Chow and Vice-Captain Derek Chan leading the team.

Former National 7s player, Justin Lum will also be making his first competitive appearance since his major knee surgery (in Dec 2007), replacing the injured Muhd A'srie, who coincidentally was forced out of the squad after sustaining an identical injury - torn ACL.

On paper, this Singapore side is looking impressive, with many of the boys having represented the state either at age-group level or at test level. The team is certainly filled with plenty of talent and potential....(and local blood TOO!) but the important thing is how far can the boys go in this tournament? and whether they can compete with the very best in ASEAN.

Only time will tell...

We wish the Singapore Combined Universities Squad the very best of luck.

SMU exam fever

To all SMU rugby boys..., "Study hard and good luck for the exams."

To those staying in the library till late, please be advised not to snore, drool or be caught with your mouth wide open while taking a nap in the library.

Rumor has it, that Alex Ong was almost thrown out by the library security guard on Thursday, for exceeding the acceptable noise level with his unforgiving snore on Level 3 while taking an afternoon nap.

The fullback was eventually let off the hook, after he negotiated with the security guard to give him a second chance in-exchange for 2 cigarettes.

SMUrugby Launches New Kit With the 08/09 Executive Committee

A giant image of the team in the new Spikee-produced kit adorns the Lee Ka Shing Library window at the City Campus. The players have already donned the kit for the first time during the Blacks Midnight 10s tournament back in August. And it seems that the new kit could be the team's lucky charm - having brought in the Midnight 10s Bowl as well as the SUNIG 7s title when the team wore it this season.

It has been made using Spikee Dri-FIT fabric which helps transport moisture away from the skin to the fabric’s surface for rapid evaporation, keeping the players comfortable for longer. It is already a popular design with the squad and they believe the fans will be equally impressed.

"It’s very important to feel comfortable when you’re playing and hopefully this kit will be a good one for us in all types of weather conditions," former national team prop Matthias Lim told SMUrugbynews.

"It’s quite simple and traditional which is the way I like the kits to be," added skipper Daniel Marc Chow. "I’m sure the fans will like it."

SMU's in house fashionista thesmurtorialist (who have graced events like the Annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show) gave his/her 2 cents worth: "Developing a series of kits to rival last year’s phenomenally successful Kukri set was never going to be easy for this year's ex-co. We at the fashion house feel that this season's kit will provide the squad with latest and necessary kit technology to compete at the highest levels and also capture the essence of the City Boys brand - to look sexy and being really really ridiculously good looking"

Fans can look forward to buying the new kit once the Official SMUrugby Store opens at the Concourse.

ARFU 2008 - Can Singapore do it again?

Yesterday, Singapore announced the squad that will be traveling up to Taiwan for this year's Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) tournament.

Looking at the squad, much has to be said of the shocking exclusion of so many brilliant local players and the stripping of captaincy from Singapore’s most capped rugby player, Rong JingXiang. It is really a sad sight to see what is becoming of a team which was so affectionately known as our "Anchor Reds", and who donned the sheer pride and joy of the Singapore flag. One must truly fear the day that the Singapore team transforms into a faint resemblance of a "Hong Kong" team is drawing nearer than we might have once anticipated.

Its not that I am prejudice against our expatriates who have flown to our shores and embraced our country, but I believe that much more must be done to support the very talents that Singapore has developed - so many have shown so much potential and talent, but have sadly been forgotten by the ever changing selectors. There was a time when Singapore stood strong as a local side, and had a lot more heart and camaraderie than there probably is today. The closest thing that probably resembled that kind of team dynamics was probably last year’s SEA games team, where all 12 players were purely local. I believe in the eyes of many supporters, we were proud of our boys when they won the bronze medal, not only because they did well, but because we knew that each one of them had put in a great deal of effort to be there...and in some ways represented many of us local boys in more ways than one.

Today, our National rugby scene has been clouded with politics off the field. In fact, it has probably come to a point where it has loss the focus on the talent and skills that actually is at Singapore’s disposal. And with every changing man that comes in to steer a change, more great local talent seem to be lost. From my memory the last man that actually came in and influence a positive change to Singapore rugby was, Matt ‘Bubba’ Ryan, who led the Singapore team to victory in the Division 2 ARFU Champions in 2004. So kudos to you, and to the many great local players that have came through the ranks.

Let’s hope the day will come when order will be restored in Singapore Rugby.

Interesting Fact 1: Rong Jingxiang is the most capped Singapore player with 43 International Caps and represented Singapore when he was 16.

Interesting Fact 2: There are 8 expatriate players in this year's ARFU squad, while 4 years ago in the last ARFU we had 6.

Interesting Fact 3: There has never been an expatriate Singapore captain in history, Chris Gilbert will be the first, and has 4 International Caps for Singapore

Interesting Fact 4: Not a single expatriate player who represented Singapore in the last ARFU is representing Singapore in this year's ARFU

Interesting Fact 5: The last time Singapore had a local Head Coach/Technical Director was in 2001 under Sam Chan.

AUG updates

Tomorrow, the Singapore Combined Uni Squad, also now known as the AUG squad, will be taking part in a Mini friendly tournament at ACJC. Teams participating have yet to be confirmed.

The main purpose of the tournament will be to give both ACJC and AUG teams some game time under their belts. ACJC will be looking to take this opportunity to prepare for the upcoming SCC 7s Schools tournament, while the Combined Uni side will be looking to gel together more as a team to prepare for the upcoming Asean Universitiy Games in December.

The AUG squad has also issued an open invitation to players across the 4 Universities, to come down to have a game with the current AUG squad. This is to take a closer look for a possible replacement for the still-injured centre, Muhd A'srie.

Formally, the following players have been invited to turn up for tomorrow's game to represent the AUG side

1. Justin Lum (SMU)

2. Vicknesh Sellathurai (SMU)

3. Sidney Kumar (NTU)

4. Firas (NUS)
5. Elisha Chng (NUS)

6. Alex Chua (SIM)

*The previously approached David Lee from NUS, turned down the offer of being part of the AUG setup, due to personal commitments during the period which the AUG tournament will be held.

SCC Rugby 7s: Its back!!!

Its back and it tomorrow. Unfortunately, its not free anymore but i bet tickets are still available. Come down, let your hair down, drink some beers and watch great rugby. The fixtures are as below. For more info:http://www.sccrugbysevens.com

Match	Pool	Start Time	Team 1	Team 2
1	A	08:18	COTTESLOS	SINGAPORE BARBARIANS
2	B	08:36	ORIENTAL RONGOTAI	CASUARINA COUGARS
3	B	08:54	PALMYRA	GOVE
4	C	09:12	PONSONBY	KURUMI
5	C	09:30	RANDWICK	THAI BARBARIANS
6	D	09:48	SCOTTISH THISTLES	RED DOT REBELS
7	D	10:06	ARABIAN GULF RFU	TAMARIVA
8	E	10:24	SA VIPERS	INDONESIA BARBARIANS
9	E	10:42	IMPALA	SINGAPORE CRICKET CLUB
10	A	11:00	DAVETALEVU	SINGAPORE BARBARIANS
	A	11:18
11	B	11:36	ORIENTAL RONGOTAI	GOVE
12	B	11:54	PALMYRA	CASUARINA COUGARS
13	C	12:12	PONSONBY	THAI BARBARIANS
14	C	12:30	RANDWICK	KURUMI
15	D	12:48	SCOTTISH THISTLES	TAMARIVA
16	D	13:06	ARABIAN GULF RFU	RED DOT REBELS
17	E	13:24	SA VIPERS	SINGAPORE CRICKET CLUB
18	E	13:42	IMPALA	INDONESIA BARBARIANS
	A	14:00
19	B	14:18	GOVE	CASUARINA COUGARS
20	C	14:36	THAI BARBARIANS	KURUMI
21	D	14:54	TAMARIVA	RED DOT REBELS
22	E	15:12	SINGAPORE CRICKET CLUB	INDONESIA BARBARIANS
23	A	15:30	DAVETALEVU	COTTESLOS
24	B	15:48	ORIENTAL RONGOTAI	PALMYRA
25	C	16:06	PONSONBY	RANDWICK
26	D	16:24	SCOTTISH THISTLES	ARABIAN GULF RFU
27	E	16:42	SA VIPERS	IMPALA

Injury to AUG's A'srie

An ACL and MCL tear sustained during last week's Singapore Cup finals between Bedok Kings and SCC, might put National and AUG 7s centre, Muhd A'srie out of action for quite a long while. The player was present during yesterday's Triangular 7s friendly tournament between ACJC, SMU and the AUG squad, and was visibly disappointed by the news and told us,

"I am bit shocked by the news, because I am not in a great deal of pain and I am walking around fine..."

The player will be undergoing intensive physiotherapy to regain as much stability and strength, and will hope to play through the AUG 7s with extensive tapping and precautionary measures. However, the player has asked for the team to give him some time to assess how he feels over the next few weeks, before he makes a final decision to whether he will play any further part as a player in the squad.

Meanwhile, the AUG squad will be keeping their eyes open for any possible replacements and have indicated their interest in inviting NUS' fullback David Lee to join the set up. The player has yet to respond to the invitation.

On behalf of the writers at SMUrugby news and the AUG squad, we wish A'srie a speedy recovery.

Misrepresented

These days, everyone has something to say. The best part is when they have something to say and miraculously, you have said it and you have no recollection of it. Welcome to new age Blogging...its no longer the ethical business of the recent past.

If you scroll down to "Vices gone Wild", you would see a lomo shot of me, and the post says sth along the line that i am going to cut down smoking cos its not good for me and i need to make it to Bucks 1st IV. Now, this is what really happened: Matt bought a lomo and we were at shisha and Matt was basically playing with his camera. When he developed the film, it turned out generally quite bad except for that one with me blowing smoke. So he wrote his own story.

Except from the part that it is bad for me, i am definately not contesting that, its been clinically proven, there was no truth in that sentence. I dont intend to cut down smoking and i think i did repeatedly make the team and will continue to do so given i train hard and play well without being judged by how much i smoke.

Then there is the Justin Lum part. Do you really think i give a damn about the unhappiness amongst our non-existent fans?

I think the greatest issue with us is, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Some people read this page cos they love or hate us, some people just refresh, some fat people call other people fat on the tag board. However, we must realise, the sooner the better, that the activities of this team is neither closely watched no makes a great impact on anything in particular. So i plead to my fellow writers and editors: Drop the fancy rubbish and get on with facts!

Friendly 7s Tournament

SMU will be participating in a Friendly 7s Quadrangular Tournament this coming Friday together with the AUG 7s squad, ACS (I) and ACJC. The aim of the tournament is to allow the AUG squad to work on their game in preparation for the Asean University Games which will take place in Kuala Lumpur in December. The AUG squad has been training intensively under "The Boss" Lincoln Tan since the end of SUNIG 7s and will be looking to get used to playing as a team and getting their plays right. On the other hand, SMU will be without many of their key players as they are committed to the AUG squad. SMU will be looking to put up a good performance with their new batch of year 1 players such as Nicholas Hwang and Melvin Teo, who have already showed immense promise after making their debut appearances during SUNIG 7s as well as the old guards like Vickneswaran Sellathurai and Matthias Lim.

In addition, ex-National 7s starlet Justin Lum is rumoured to be making his big comeback for SMU at this tournament after suffering from a near career-ending knee injury exactly one year ago. At press time, SMUrugby's treasurer Vickneswaran Sellathurai commented, "Having only made one appearance for SMU so far,the fans are disgruntled with Justin. We need to justify to our fans the amount of money we paid for Justin in the transfer market last year. He has been working hard in the gym and looks ready to play. He has told me personally he will show up for the game. I have faith in him."

Quadrangular 7s Tournament
Featuring AUG Squad, SMU, ACJC & ACS (I)
24th October 2008, Friday
Kick off @ Anglo-Chinese Junior College (Time to be confirmed)

SMU Boys are to either meet at Pick & Bite at 3.30pm or make their own way to ACJC

Who's in and who's out?

The disciplinary hearing conducted by an internal SMU panel regarding the foul play incident that occured during the SUNiG 7s finals, has announced a tournament (for AUG) ban on winger, Bryan Ng. The player who pleaded guilty to the charges of foul play on all 3 counts, admitted that he got a bit carried away during the SUNiG finals against NUS, and knows that he has to be responsible for his actions and will serve the ban effectively by being removed from the initially selected AUG squad.

Said SMU Sports officer, Andrew Aaron Tam,

"We are glad that he (Bryan) has understood the consequence of his actions. Yes, although we(SMUrugby) want to win...winning doesn't come at such a price or rather such a manner. We hope that all who are in the rugby fraternity will know that, Bryan is being reprimanded and punished for his actions, and not simply to maintain the bilateral ties with NUS and us. As a school, we simply do not condone his actions and we want to make clear of that."

Updates on the AUG 7s (Singapore Combined Unis Squad)

NUS' flyhalf Pravin, who was initially picked for the AUG 7s, has withdrawn from the squad. After a no-show from the first 6 trainings, the NUS medicine student, called in to say that he will not be able to commit to the squad because of his heavy workload, hence leaving the squad short of a player.

Without Pravin, the squad was in need of a playmaker and possibly a player who is comfortable to run the game at flyhalf. After much debate amongst the coaching panel, the selectors decided to give a surprise call to former AC boy, Xu Ren Han, who is currently now in NTU-NIE doing his diploma in teaching.

For those who do not know who Renhan is, thats a shame. But we will try to tell you more about him.

Renhan(on the extreme left of the picture above), a former ACsian was hailed as one of the most talented players of his time. Till today people who have followed school rugby in the 90s, will remember the kind of magic Renhan could weave just with a little show of the ball. The latter, completed his degree at NUS and after exploring some career options with ESPN and the deep blue sea (he is a dive master), he decided he will pursue a career in teaching, hence NTU-NIE.

Having said all that, the addition of Xu RenHan to the AUG squad will certainly boost the morale and confidence of the team . The only problem that remains to be seen is whether Renhan the legendary wizard still has his touch of magic? and just how UNFIT is he?!

For the next few weeks till the AUG, SMUrugby news will also be covering news from the AUG squad

vice gone wild

With escalating cost and the players severely hit by inflation and the failing economy, many of the SMU boys have given up their favorite pastime, sitting by pick&bite and smoking the day and awaiting the sight of the elusive Miss J.

Hardcore veteran Jed Ong has this to say "no kick anymore. I need to find something that can contain me and sit me down. I'm beyond that, plus now can save money too!"

The team's resident ankle destroyer, Vickneswaran, adds "I've gotta cut down on the smoking la. Its not good for me at all. I need to make the Bucks first XV!"

True to his words, the ankle destroyer has left us with his personalized anti-smoking campaign poster.

AUG 7s squad announced

The Asean Universities Games (AUG) Rugby 7s training squad has been announced. It was officially announced last Wednesday, after AUG coach, Lincoln Tan confirmed his selection of 14 players to train for the upcoming AUG tournament, set to take place at the end of the year in Malaysia.

The selectors had a tough choice picking from the players who played during the recently concluded SUNIG 7s, but eventually narrowed it down by picking the 14 players. The first training session was held last Friday at SMU, but turn out was generally poor, due to the absence of 4 National Players, who were up in Hong Kong competing in the World Cup 7s. Nevertheless, "the boss" wasted no time and got straight into action, putting the players through the paces.

The AUG squad will be training thrice a week during the month of October and will look to taper down during the month of November, as players will be in need of time and rest to prepare for exams. Finally, in December, 2 weeks before the AUG 7s, the team will then "up" training to as many as 4 times a week.

While the squad might be facing a constraint of time for preparation, the selected players have put pen to paper and indicated their interest and commitment in participating in this set-up. and have pledged to give nothing less than their best to represent the Singapore Combined Universities in this year's Asean Universities Games.

The AUG 7s Squad

1. Alex Chew (SMU)
2. Alex Ong (SMU)
3. Amos Siow (SMU)
4. Chong Wei Nurn (SMU)
5. Daniel Marc Chow (SMU)
6. Daniel Thiam (NTU-NIE)
7. Derek Chan (SMU)
8. Lionel Poh (SMU)
9. Muhammad A'srie (NUS)
10. Mohammad Raihan (NUS)
11. Pravin (NUS)
12. Shafiq Zulazmi (NUS)

Unavailable players:
1. Keith Oh (due to personal commitments)
2. Bryan Ng (withdrawn by SMU from the squad)

SMUrugby-News.com turns 1

Today marks a special occasion for SMUrugby, as we commemorate SMU-rugbynew.blogspot.com's 1st anniversary. Exactly, 1 year ago, the idea to follow suit NTU's (then popular) trend of blogging about their team's news and spills was finally materialise.

Ever since our very first post on the 30th Sept 2007, the blog has recorded 135 posts and has received a good return of slightly over 25,000 views. Although in terms of viewership, we're still behind the NTU's rugby blog, SMUrugby News has received many great feedback from fellow readers and will like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your great support.

Please continue to hit the refresh button every day, and to check out for the latest news with SMUrugby. We hope to continue providing you a steady flow of bullshit, with flashes of serious reports in between, random gossips and what have you.

Here's your faithful crew:

Main Operator: Chew Yin Xiang (Mouth)

Writer ams: Amos Siow

Writer ben teong: Benjamin Teong

Writer vicky: Vicknesh Sellathurai

Writer matty: Matthias Lim [warning: for lack of posts]

Writer weiming: Lim Weiming [warning: for lack of posts, but excused for the moment]

Soon to be terminated Writer zhi: Gay Zhi Cong

SMUrugby News is currently looking for any interested candidates to contribute to the blog

Requirements: Committed and willing to cover stories on the SMUrugby team. Applicants will be given a trial before being officially appointed.

The Weezer shares some Wisdom

As we attempt to steer away from all the "not so pleasant" issues that SMUrugby has had to endure for the past week or so. This week we kick off with an unlikely source, Desmond Wee. The National 7s Player, who is currently away in Spain for exchange, came forward to share his words of wisdom and witt, mailing the rest of the team, after actually requesting to be removed from the mailing list, as he was experiencing numerous nonsensical, "waste of space" spams from various players.

On the part of SMUrugby, it was good to hear the player not only keeping in touch with the current affairs of the team, but also pledging to see out his career with the City Boys. His mail came at a timely moment and we hope that perhaps some of 'us' could learn a thing or two from the man they call "the Weezer".

Hola from Madrid,

I guess there has been somewhat of a radio silence from the guys on exchange, but on behalf of everyone, Lionel Kong, Weiming and the Ah Neh(sorry if i left anyone out), congratulations on the win in the SUNIG 7's and keep up the good work. Also, hope everyone recovers from their injuries soon, especially Sherman, Justin Lum and Ben Teong (yes, i saw the interview).

Please listen to your president/captain (Sherman and DMC) and give him some respect and try to achieve at least a decent level of attendance. And the new guys, be nice and patient with uncle Weinurn. He's a bit stubborn and hard of hearing but he is really a sweetheart.

Also just wanna let you guys know that i'm still alive and that i miss training/playing hard with you guys in Singapore. Though the excessing smoking/drinking/(no sex yet) has taken its toll on my weary body of late, i promise that(with some work) i will be back to complete my academic and rugby career in SMU come January.

I've been following the events unfolding back home in Singapore and it is a shame that it has to come to this(i frankly don't know what it has come to, i'm just saying it). But in these times of upheaval and uncertainty, i leave you with this quote:

'There's more to life than being really really, ridiculously good looking. Like helping people...like children who can't read good and want to learn how to do other stuff good too'

Derek Zoolander, 2001

Now...You GOT to love this guy. Thanks Dezzo, we hope that your wise words will not fall on deaf ears. Hola-ing back from us here in Singapore.

Actions to be taken over foul-play

In light of the recent infamous incident during the SUNIG 7s Finals, both NUS and SMU's respective sports officers and Rugby Captains met on Tuesday to discuss the necessary and appropriate actions to be taken against the player. It is understood that a letter meant to be addressed to SRU, regarding the incident has already been sent. And perhaps a disciplinary hearing is set to be in place.

The latest news to date is the player has been dropped from the Singapore 7s squad, which is set to travel up to Hong Kong next week for the World Cup 7s qualifier. Whether the drop is due to the incident, or due solely to the national coach’s selection criteria, is unknown. Whatever the case, the player is paying for his actions one way or the other.

On the university level, the incident is still under investigation and SMU is likely to follow up closely with the player and to take the appropriate actions. However, both parties have at the moment left the case in the hands of the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU), and will wait for them to make the first line of recommendation for discipline.



In an interview with Sports Officer of SMUrugby, Andrew Tam, “We are torn…cause he is our player and we want to strike a balance of educating him of his mistakes and taking a firm hand with the consequences he has to face…we hope he understands the position he has put us in and that whatever disciplinary action taken against him, he will have to accept it.”



Also expressing his view was senior SMUrugby player, Amos Siow who said, “Whatever it is we hope this episode will be resolve quickly and smoothly, and that he will learn and grow from this…As a national player, he is expected to be a role model for others, and he has to learn to do that. As good as he might be, it is important to keep a level head on his shoulders…this is something we feel should apply not just to him alone, but to all of our players.”

SMUrugby President Sherman Speaks

As the President of SMU Rugby, I will first like to thank all the participating universities for making SUNIG 2008 such a huge success. SMU is honored to organize this inaugural tournament and we hope to see SUNIG 7s continue to be an annual event where all Singapore universities can come together and play fun and competitive rugby 7s.

I will also like to extent my gratitude to the following groups of people:

· Office of Student Life for providing us the financial funding and support for this event

· Our convener, Andrew Aaron Tam for personally coming onboard the organizing committee to oversee the planning and execution of SUNIG 2008
· Sporting conveners and captains of all four participating universities

· NUS for graciously letting us use their field for SUNIG 2008

· Supporters who came down to support all the participating teams

· Anybody who has helped us in one way or another

With regards to the incident involving foul play by one of my players, Bryan Ng, I will like to assure all parties involved that I will pursue this matter to the fullest of my capacity. Rugby is meant to be played in good spirit and sportsmanship and I and the school authorities will embark on a full investigation to find the truth behind this matter.

My school authorities and I have already told NUS that we will give them our fullest assistance and cooperation with regards to this incident we seek to find a resolution to this incident. On behalf of the SMU team, I sincerely apologized to the NUS team for whatever has happened out there in that fateful final and I hope that this incident will not strain the excellent relationship between both universities. To Raihan, David and Shafiq, I personally promise three of you I WILL NOT rest on my laurels with regards to this incident. I wish all of you a speedy recovery.

I hope that all of us can move on from this incident as the next event on the rugby calendar is the Asian University Games which will see the Combined Singapore Universities go up to Malaysia and pit themselves against the region’s best. Furthermore, the 15s season will kick off in February next year with Tri Unis and I eagerly look forward to all your support and participation in these two events.

A brief report on the SUNIG Finals

On Sunday, SMU was crowned the 1st ever SUNIG Rugby 7s champions. After overcoming a narrow nail-biting finals against NUS. The team came away with a 7-0 victory in the finals, courtesy of a solo try by winger Bryan Ng.

The SMU A squad did well to overcome some nerves after it suffered a defeat to the NUS team in the round robin match, 7-19. However, the City Boys dug deep against a very well prepared and spirited NUS side and did just about enough to win them by a single try in the finals, giving SMU its first ever official University School title.

The finals was intense and surprisingly relatively well-refereed, with the referee allowing the game to flow as much as possible. The finals eventually lived up to the hype, as supporters witnessed two very spirited teams battling it out with everything they've got. Although there was an obvious lack of tries, but that was certainly made up with numerous fierce display of great defense from both sides.

Despite all that, the great display in the finals by both teams was eventually marred by incidents of foul play, that is currently under investigations. SMU's winger Bryan Ng is allegedly responsible for 3 cases of foul play during the finals, gouging the eyes of three NUS players on three separate occasions during the finals. All 3 players, Shafiq Zulazmi, David Lee and Muhd Raihan have since, been in need of an eye specialist, to treat to their respective injuries.

The case has been taken seriously by both NUS and SMU, and it is understood that NUS will be filing a report to SRU to have actions taken against the player. Said former SMUrugby President, Amos Siow,

"On behalf of the SMU team, we sincerely apologize to the NUS boys, for whatever happened out there.He(Bryan) will have to definitely take full responsibility of his actions and we want to reassure NUS that we do not condone such acts of foul play.I hope that the matter can be resolve eventually...as both school are very much friends to one another."

The conclusion of the tournament also marks the end of the rugby calendar for the universities for this year, but also marks the start of an exciting period, as a Combined Singapore Uni team is set to be formed by the end of this week. The squad of 14-18 players picked from across all 4 universities, will be announced and the team will prepare for the Asean University Games (AUG) 7s held in Malaysia in December this year.

The AUG 7s squad and coach will be announced some time this week or the next.

Other Results:

Cup Champions: SMU A

Cup runner ups: NUS A

3rd: NTU A

4th: SIM A

Bowl Champions: NTU B

Bowl runner ups: SMU B

3rd: NUS B

Lastly, thanks to all who came down to support and participate in the first ever SUNIG Rugby 7s. See you next year.

Stay tuned for my detailed reports on the SUNIG 7s

SUNIG 7s - Be there or be square

Whether you are from SMU, NUS, NTU, SIM or even! if you are not from any of the schools and simply just a rugby fan looking for some good local action. THIS! is one tournament worth making the trip down for. The tournament promises to showcase Singapore's very best youth talents. You will get to see current young National players, former secondary school legends and maybe aspiring players waiting to burst into the National Rugby scene. So come on down and be treated to some good 7s rugby on a Sunday.

Singapore University Games Rugby 7s

Could history repeat itself?

Singapore University Games 7s

Date: 21st September 2008

Time: 9am - 6 pm

Venue: NUS Rugby Field

The stage is all set and the players are all ready to go. Singapore will witness its first ever Singapore University Games 7s Rugby tournament on Sunday. With all 4 universities coming together to compete this year, this tournament promises to be one that you will not want to miss.

With SMU pitted as one of the favorites for the tournament, many are casting their doubts if the City Boys can actually secured this title. The last time the City Boys won a 7s tournament, was back in 2006 in the NUS Invitational 7s, on the very same ground. However, players and coaches are taking a cautious approach to the SUNIG 7s, as many can still taste the bitterness of defeat that they suffered to NUS in last year's SMU ringEmail 7s Semi Finals, where NUS knocked them out of the Cup tournament.

"We are very aware of the talents and the strength of each team, NTU and NUS are not to be estimated and in a game of 7s, its really any body's game. One lapse of concentration we might find ourselves 14-0 down...our boys will really have to stay focus and not get ahead of ourselves this Sunday." said vice-president Chew Yin Xiang.

NTU will be boosted with former ACS(I) sensation Xue Ren Han, a player who is well known for his bag of tricks and his flair-ish plays, the fly-half will certainly be an integral part of the team which the Boon Lay Warriors will be relying heavily on. Adding to the wealth of experience will also be Daniel 'Potato' Thiam, who will definitely be trying to get even with the City Boys after being part of the Bedok Kings team that lost to SMU in the Blacks Midnight 10s.

NUS will certainly be well-drilled once again. Having extended the contracts of Mr Adrian Chong and Jock, the team has been taking this tournament very seriously, training rigorously 3 times a week and even having a Mini 7s tournament last week. The team will certainly look to National 7s star, Muhd A'srie to make the breaks and Mohd Raihan to weave his magic.

SIM will be featuring in the school rugby scene for the first time, but while the team is raw and unheard of, many are keeping a watchful eye over the team that is coached by SCC's coach, Damien Pierera. One man to watch out for will be Alex Chua, who has shown great form and talent over the years.

Lastly, SMU will be going all out to win this tournament, fielding nothing less than their best team. While this year's Tri-Uni Champions are missing players like National 7s player, Desmond Wee and clinical finisher, Lorenzo Escano, the team will be hoping to put in a good performance . The City Boys have been struggling over the past few weeks in their preparation for the tournament, and the lack of a proper training ground has shown to be quite a big hurdle that the team has had to deal with.(not to mention Vicknesh going round breaking everyone's ankles) However, the City Boys will definitely be giving it their best shot and look forward to putting their hands on the first official Singapore University Rugby title.

SMUrugby resorts to signing of indemnity forms!

In the effort to address the recent unrest within the SMUrugby team, SMUrugby President Sherman Yeo has issued all SMU players to fill in an indemnity form before taking to training tomorrow. The form is said to be used to inform all SMU players that they are to take full responsibility of their own safety and well being whenever they take to the field with fellow team-mate destroyer, Vicknesh Sellathurai.

One of the paragraphs in the form issued to the player reads,

"I hereby irrevocably undertake that I shall not, to the fullest extent permitted by the laws of Singapore, hold Vickneswaran S/O Sellathurai, SMU, its staff, officers, faculty, or any of its authorised agents responsible for any damage to Ankles in particular, or loss of property or any injury or loss of life which may be sustained by me during the activity or arising from any cause in connection with the activity where such damage to or loss of property or any injury or loss of life is not caused by the negligence of SMU, its staff, officers, faculty, or any of its authorised agent"

When Vicknesh Sellathurai was interviewed earlier today, the once evil-eyed forward looked tearful and spoke to SMUrugby News, "I don't know why I have been made a scapegoat, you can't blame me for being so strong and powerful. I mean....I mean I always give my 110% in all trainings and games. I didn't mean to kill...I mean hurt my own friends and team-mates.Really!"

An emotional Vicknesh also questioned the decision and actions of SMUrugby President, Sherman Yeo's call to action, questioning if the signing of indemnity forms was really necessary and said that ever since the breaking(no pun intended) news of the injuries that he dished out to both Sherman and Ben Teong, he has been left pretty much stranded alone in school. School mates/friends/team-mates/club mates that once used to hang out with him, have all seem to be keeping some distance from him ever since the two incidents.

Interestingly enough, RUMOUR HAS IT, that the latter has been spotted having a late night supper with some NUS boys last night at Arab Street. The SMU boy was reported to be seen high 5-ing former NUS Captain Shafiq Zulazmi and NUS star centre Muhd A'srie upon arriving at Arab Street and was reported to be all smiles and laughs with his 'new found friends', a sight that is quite a contrast to what was portrayed to us during our interview today.

This has sparked speculation that recent injuries to both Sherman and Ben, (both of which sustained ankle injuries, BOTH of which suffered in the hands of the same predator...) was not as simple as a mere coincidence.

Injury woes for SMU

With less than 2 weeks to the Singapore University Games 7s (SUNIG) that is set to take place on the 21st September, the City Boys have been looking a tad bit depleted ever since successfully defending their Bowl in the recently concluded Blacks Midnight 10s.

The team has been seeing many of their players walking wounded, from slings to clutches and god forbid if anyone should start coming to school in wheelchairs! But injuries are injuries...and while the City Boys have been rumored to be pitted as favorites to win the SUNIG 7s, injuries to a number of players are starting to cause some doubts and worries in the City camp. With current President Sherman Yeo already hobbling around in clutches due to a broken ankle, which was sustained in a National Under 23 club game, (of which for those of you who are new to the blog or have not read our previous posts, the injury was dished out personally by own SMU team mate Vicknesh Sellathurai...yea that mama.He was playing for the opposing team at that time of the match, Bucks.) injuries to both last season's president and vice president Amos Siow and Lionel Poh have since added to the injury list, both sustaining injuries in the Midnight 10s. And if that was not enough, on Wednesday night a call from Bucks team representative called in to report of a mishap to SMU's flanker, who is currently taking lessons on learning how to run straight in a rugby game, Benjamin "Slayer" Teong.

Apparently, the injury was sustained during Ben's club training, when a training game of rugby league turned out to be more of an opportunity for more SMU boys to get injured. Reports told us, the Slayer was running with the ball (apparently he was still running sideways - but never mind that for now), when an unknown Dark Force came over him and smack the living daylights out of him. To finish that off, apparently this Big Dark Force decided to take the chance to jump and sit on Ben's trembling ankle and proceeded to do a Ken Shamlock submission ankle lock!! But, if that was bad news, knowing who was responsible and is this Big Dark Force made it worst. This Black Dark Force was none other than the person who takes great pride in proclaiming that he is the one that put current SMU president Sherman out of action for the season, Vicknesh Sellathurai.

Ever since hearing the news, the SMUrugby board of discipline is seriously considering on taking action before this onslaught within the SMU team gets out of hand. To remove the threat of any further injuries, rumor has it! that Vicknesh is going to be slapped with a 2 weeks' wage fine and to issue yet another pubic apology.

Meanwhile, last night, SMUrugby decided to pay a visit to the wounded Slayer and asked him what he thought of club and school teammate Vicknesh and if he held any hard feelings, Ben replied, "I do not think he(Vicknesh) has a personal vendetta, but I do think that people should start signing indemnity forms before they stepped into the field with him".

Lastly, we leave with clips from our exclusive interview with the Slayer...

SMUrugby Crowned Blacks Midnight 10s Bowl Champions!

After two grueling days of intense competition, SMUrugby News is proud to announce that SMUrugby emerged as the Blacks Midnight 10s Bowl Champions. It was two days full of sweat, blood and the bonds of comraderie forged by the fires of competitive pressure.


Day 1

SMU were thrown straight into the deep end with their first game against local rugby giants Singapore Cricket Club . Having had only a handful of trainings together, the boys looked uncertain and jittery on field. However firm leadership and maturity of character saw the team quickly pull together tightly to stand strong against the challenge. With the smaller SMU line up having to face up to the physically larger and more domineering Caucasians from SCC, it was only through a fierce and dogged defence that our boys kept the scoreline respectable. Despite the odds being harsh against them, SMU made a quick break to see National Winger and local pretty boy Bryan Ng dashing down the wing and across the line for a notable score against the club. Final Score: SCC 10 – SMU 5

After a long 2 hour break between matches and having had a chance to get their nerves together and leave the jitters behind, SMU quickly rose to the challenge in time to face the hosts of the tournament and bitter rivals from the previous Midnight 10s, Blacks RFC. The match up was an interesting one with both teams carrying baggage from the previous tournament into the game. Blacks had previously been the team that had relegated SMU to the Bowl grouping in an unfortunate turn of events exactly one year ago. SMU skipper Daniel Marc Chow was seen taking the team aside and prepping them for what would be a turning point in the tournament for the City Boys. When interviewed, SMUrugby's Vice-President Mouth Chew was determined: “We came all the way last year and we lost to these mofos. This is NOT going to be a repeat state of affairs. We have come a long way since then.” Having set the scene, SMU took the stage by storm, and despite having an absolute DISGRACE of a referee (George “One Year Later I’m Still A Moron” Danapal) who disallowed many of our OBVIOUS tries, SMU dominated the match to come away a clear winner with 2 tries by Bryan Ng. Final Score: SMU 10 – Blacks 0

At this point in the tournament, SMU faced much controversy as our final match of the day saw as facing the Tequila Mockingbirds, a touring side from Hong Kong who had had their fill of hard rugby for the day and had intended to give SMU a walkover. However organizers Blacks RFC kicked up a fuss over tournament rules in a bid to deny SMU an advantage in points and rankings over them. Vice-Captain Alex Chew (who was also seen to be persuading several Fijians to sign on to SMUrugby) was heard to spend the 2 hours between the matches on his phone where he contacted his personal lawyers from Bangkok, ordering them to email him copies of the tournament rulebook immediately. Fortunately however, Tequila Mockingbirds showed good sporting spirit to wait out the dreary hours to face SMU in an unprecedented 2.30 am match. Routinely our City Boys put them out of their misery and sent them home. Of note were respectable performances by our new French duo Sylvain and Alex as well as ex local swimming legend Jed Ong who made a 10m break in the second half of the match. Final Score: SMU 15 – Tequila Mockingbirds 0

This saw our boys pull safely through the first day of competition and into the deciding day of knock-out matches. SMU had achieved a respectable ranking of 5th out of a total of 16 teams by the end of the first day of matches with only NS Wanderers and Cobras (both Fijian teams), SCC and Bucks ahead of them. This effectively set SMU as the leading local team in the tournament going into the knock-out stages.

Day 2

After just a few hours of sleep, our City Boys were set to face the Singapore Cricket Club Tankards (the SCC’s 2nd team) in the first match of the knock-out stages. Despite the lack of sleep due to the punishing schedule, SMU stepped up in this match, knowing that defeat will send them packing home. Possession of the ball was mainly SMU's and the City Boys made multiple breaks, constantly putting the SCC side on the back foot. The game was finally sealed by the City boys, when Muhammad Ruzaini powered through for a try after a well-worked play between new boys Derek Chan and Wang En Jian, ensuring SMU a place in the Cup Quarterfinals. SMU romped home winners in this match by putting up 5 tries against SCC Tankards. With that, SMU advanced into the Cup Quarterfinal. Final Score: SMU 31 - SCC Tankards 0

However, the joys from the high scoring game against SCC Tankards was short-lived when the City boys faced their Day 1 opponent Singapore Cricket Club again next in the Cup Quarterfinal. With several key players returning to the side for them, SCC played to their strengths of adopting a more direct style of play, attempting to out muscle the evidently smaller SMU boys. SMU refused to back down and put in ferocious tackles to make SCC work hard for their break through. Eventually the bigger and stronger opponents from SCC managed to squeeze in 2 tries to win the game. While the City boys left the field clearly disappointed, they take heart that they lost to a much better team. The defeat set SMU up for an exciting mouth-watering clash in the Bowl Semi-final against their long time arch rival from Boon Lay - NTU. Final Score: SCC 10 - SMU 0

The heavy downpour delayed the Bowl Semi-final for nearly an hour. The lack of sleep and effects of the punishing schedule started to kick into the players. By the time the semi-final kicked out, SMU looked visibly tired. NTU were quick to capitalized on the sluggish looking SMU side and put pressure on them by camping in the City Boys' half for a large part of the match. With the clock ticking down, the prospect of playing in sudden death extra time loomed. Up till the the end of normal time, the City Boys just couldn't make any break through. With fatigue setting in for both teams, the SMU side were forced to dig deep into their reserves and they threw all they had at the Boon Lay Warriors in sudden death extra time. A weak clearance from NTU saw the ball land into the path of Alex Chew and he made a blistering run down the left hand side of the field to score the winning try. With that, SMU advanced into the Bowl Final. Final Score: SMU 5 - NTU 0

In what seemed to be a repeat of last year's Bowl Finals, SMU had to pit their strengths against top local rugby club Bedok Kings. Bedok Kings boasted a few National team players and the odds were stacked against SMU to retain their Bowl title. Brilliant work by the forwards to turnover the ball off kickoff allowed the backs to swing the ball out to winger Bryan Ng to score his 5th try of the tournament in as many games. With the City Boys putting up the score on the board early in the game, it was left to Bedok Kings to pile the pressure on SMU. But SMU stood their ground and defended well against their opponents. In the second half, Bedok Kings came out firing all cylinders and made numerous breaks, only to be stopped by last ditch tackles from the SMU backline, who were determined to stop Bedok Kings from scoring. It was in one of these last ditch tackles that saw our top scorer Bryan Ng earned the Toyata Play of the Day. Bryan was seen to be screaming along the lines of 'Let's destroy and f*c*king rape them!' after tackling a Bedok player out of the field. However, in his moment of fury, his chin hit one of his own team-mate Sylvain Buale and he fell down to the floor clutching his face in pain. The Malaysian referee stood there and admired Bryan's performance before proceeding to send off an innocent Bedok player who was standing nearby. In the dying minutes, Bedok did not show signs of backing down and continued to pile on the pressure. But it all provided too little too late, as the game ended with Derek Chan making a brilliant cover tackle to push Daniel Thiam out of the field in the last play of the day. With the whistle signaling the end of the game, the SMU team jumped for joy as they retained their Bowl title after a fiery encounter with Bedok Kings. Final Score: SMU 5 - Bedok Kings 0

When interviewed after the prize presentation, SMU skipper for the tournament, Daniel Marc Chow said, 'This is a perfect ending to the tournament. Credit must go to the entire team especially the new boys for rising up to the challenge. To be able to come to this tournament and beat some of the best teams in the country isn't an easy feat. This is a fantastic start to the season and we'll continue to work hard for the upcoming SUNIG 7s!'

Hang in there

The dedicated team at SMUrugby News thanks you for your faithful readership. We've been busy but keep coming back. We promise we will have something concrete for you soon. In the meantime, we leave you with a taste of things to come.

The (really really single) Handsome New Face of SMU:

"Leonidas Ng"

Recently voted Mr SMU at the Ibiza pageant, SMUrugby's "Fastest Man on the Field" Bryan Ng has officially removed his shirt at the most number of events ever recorded in the Guinness Book of Records (including convocation). Estimates have it that basically NO ONE in SMU has not seen him topless. His rack is the stuff of legends. In an exclusive interview with SMUrugby News, Bryan flipped his wispy hair as he told us "I'm so fast that chasing skirts is no kick to me." Has SMUrugby's next generation of slayer arrived?

Squad for Blacks Midnight 10s announced

The City Boys were given a long 4 month break after an intensive season that saw them crowned the Tri-Universities Champions, and they have since resumed pre-season training at their training grounds at Gotham City.

With less than 2 days to go to the Blacks Midnight 10s, the selection for the Midnight 10s squad was announced at Yio Chu Kang Stadium. With a turn out of almost 20 over players, the squad was announced by Coach Harry Mason together with President Sherman Yeo and Vice President Chew Yin Xiang aka Mouth. The Blacks Midnight 10s looks to raise the curtains for the 2008/09 season. It will not be easy for them as they are grouped with SCC, Blacks RFC and an unknown Hong Kong side by the name of Tequila Mockingbirds in the preliminary round.The City Boys who were last year's Bowl Champions (beating Bedok Kings 7-0 in an thrilling encounter) will be hoping to either defend their Bowl or perhaps better their performance. Nevertheless, the tournament serves to get as players to get as much game time as possible and for the team to have a chance to play together with some old and new faces coming back into the team.

Veteran and former SMU president Daniel Marc Chow has been named as the skipper for the tournament and will be looking to lead the side out to some victory. In his words, one of the main goals he has for this tournament is to set the record straight with local rugby club, Blacks, who defeated the City Boys last year in the very same tournament, relegating the City Boys to the Bowl tournament. He signed off with SMUrugby News saying, "Although we havent played much together this season, the squad has quite a bit of talent. We're going to go out there and give it our best shot and hopefully we will get the result we're looking for."

The squad will feature the 'golden oldies' of SMUrugby as well their new summer acquisitions with the likes of Bryan Ng and Derek Chan. With the departure of several experienced members of the squad including Lorenzo Anton Escano, Desmond Wee, Lim Wei Ming and Darkness to Europe for a 6 month loan deal, onlookers have questioned whether the current SMU squad will be able cope in their 1st tournament of the season.

When spoken to during an interview after last night's training, Josiah Goh, SMU's current half-back, who played an instrumental role in securing last season's Tri-Uni title, insists that the seniors members of the squad such as DMC, Alex Chew, Lionel Poh and Amos Siow will supply the necessary quality and experience to put up a good show on Friday night. He added, 'At the moment we have new players coming in but we haven't played much yet, we will see what happens. We have quite a couple of quality players and that is going to help us.' Alex Chew, the squad's Vice-Captain for the tournament as well team's socialite, gave his one-liner while rushing off to Zouk for his weekly dose of Mambo Jambo, 'For me, we don't really think about our opponents. It is up to us to work really hard this coming weekend.'

Here is the final squad for Blacks Midnight 10s:

Lionel Poh
Benjamin Teong
Vickneswaran S/o Sellathurai
Daniel Marc Chow (Captain)
Alexandre Louis Jean Hubert Castelnau (debut for SMU/International Exchange student)
Derek Chan (debut for SMU)
Amos Siow
Alex Chew (Vice-Captain)
Alvin Tan
Bryan Ng (debut for SMU)
Daniel Lee
Sylvain Guy Pierre Buale (debut for SMU/International Exchange student)
Wang En Jian (debut for SMU)
Josiah Goh
Muhammad Ruzaini
Jed Ong
Tafadzwa L Marasha
Matthias Lim

We here at SMUrugby News wish them all the best for Blacks Midnight 10s. The tournament will take place from 29th August - 30th August. So come down to the St Andrew Artificial Rugby Turf to catch the Blacks Midnight 10s and watch the City Boys compete. The City Boys first game will be at 7.20pm and will be likely to take on their latest kit for the season.