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.