Exclusive: Amos Siow

The season comes to a close and team captain, Amos Siow, hangs up his boots after 4 long years. It is the end of an illustrious career - of not just achievements, but establishment, and much of what SMU Rugby is today owes it to what he did for the club. Of course, very few know what he has done so just for your viewing pleasure and as a tribute to our captain, we have compiled a list of what he has done (at least according to what we know).

1. Amos runs the blog which now has 58,000 visits.
   
2. Amos kick-started the Tri-Universities (now known as the 4-Unis) and won it for 2 consecutive years.
3. He pushed for the first ever IRAUG tournament - with SMU coming in a credible 5th. He also scored against Curtin University, securing SMU's first overseas win in Perth.
4. He helped push SMU Rugby into Sports Excellence
   
5. Took part in the Blacks Midnight 10s in 2007 and emerged as Bowl Champions
6. Was part of the team that romped NTU 49-0 in the NUS 7s finals

The SMU Rugby executive committee would like to express sincere gratitude to Amos for his unrivaled contributions to the club and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

SMU 49 - SIM 15

SMU's 4-Unis season came to a close on Tuesday night with a 49-15 win over tournament debutants, SIM. The game got off to a quick start with club president, Derek Chan, scoring a quick try within minutes of the kick off. The SMU side put on a credible performance putting in tries all round, including a try coming off a cross-field kick. Scorers for the night include Derek Chan (2), Amos Siow (2), Wong Kah Wai, Ruzaini Sani, Melvin Teo and Eugene Wee.

The win, however, was less than satisfactory. Clearly there are disciplinary problems in the SMU camp, this time round with senior player, Chong Wei Nurn, sin-binned for allegedly causing excessive hurt to his opposition number. The game marks the end of a disappointing season and the City Boys must look to turn their fortunes around in the 2010 Singapore University Games in September/October. With the departure of several key players including captain, Amos Siow, the City Boys must be looking at the transfer market to bring in several big names to fill some big shoes. When queried about the possibility of signing more big names in the summer, team manager - Andrew Tam refused to rule out that possibility.

On behalf of the SMU Rugby team, we would like to thank all fans and readers for your unwavering support over the last 2009/10 season.

SMU knocked out of 4-Unis Finals

In Game 2 of the 4-Unis, defending champions SMU were beaten 25-20 in a close encounter with NUS. In a game that was crucial to SMU's title hopes, the City Boys never looked like the dominant force they were supposed to be - going down by one try in the early minutes of the game. The half ended 5-3, with team captain, Amos Siow, slotting one between the posts.

And much was expected from the City Boys, especially when they clawed their way back into the game, even at one point leading the game by 20-5 - courtesy of tries from in-centre, Wang En Jian, and second row, Nicolas Hwang. But in the most dramatic of fashions which included flanker, Ryan Tan, getting sent off, the City Boys threw away their lead eventually falling behind 25-20. The game was set for a dramatic end when winger, Josiah Goh came off the bench and looked to have scored a last gasp try - capitalizing on an NUS error in letting the ball bounce in their try area. The 'try', however, was not given - and when the final whistle sounded, the City Boys were dumped out of the finals.

The City Boys can only groan about a series of 'could-haves' and the loss marks a disappointing season for SMU Rugby - especially after a disastrous showing at SUNIG. The City Boys also have much to think about in terms of discipline, chalking up their 2nd consecutive red card in as many games. SMU plays their final group stage game this Thursday against new tournament entrants - SIM.

Bryan Ng gets 38 weeks

SMU's vice president, Bryan Ng, has been slapped with a 38 week ban for his vulgar outburst at the SMU-NTU match. The former national SEA games winger was previously on probation for his 'eye-gouging' incident at SUNIG 2008, and was faulted for committing an offence while on probation.

The vulgar outburst (consisting of 4 words) came from the winger as a result of a controversial decision by the referee late in the game. Experts on the matter have cited the decision as 'harsh' and many are sympathetic with the young lad. SMU's head coach, Hairul Naim, has kept mum on the matter, instead choosing to focus on SMU's crucial match against NUS on Thursday.

The winger, however, seemed to have moved on quickly, putting the incident behind him by clinching the title of Mr Waikiki 2010 - in the process pouring beer down the chest of his fellow pageant partner and lapping it all up at her belly button.