Hottest Rugby News, Results, Girls & Gossips

2012 Executive Committee

2011-11-08T10:27:00.004+08:00

We are proud to introduce the new SMU Rugby Executive Committee for the year 2012. After the first democratic elections for presidency and vice-presidency, Blandon 'the hulk' Tan and Ronald 'the beast' Cher will take over the top two positions in the committee, taking over from incumbents, Stuart 'stooey baby' Ho and Wong 'tough love' Kah Wei.

Blandon 'the hulk' Tan in one of his high psychotic moments

Blandon Tan, one of the bright stars of SMU Rugby has pledged an all out revamp of the club culture and a return to winning ways. During the election campaigning, he promised to garner regular attendance for trainings and to focus the training on the upcoming 15s tournament. Taking heart from the strong showing during the training for 7s and the SUniG 7s tournament, he has pledged his soul to SMU Rugby. However he did emphasise a caveat, "In order to step up and get back to winning ways, we need to have the committment of every player and i mean to lead by example. Everyone must share the same goals and the same vision." We are pleased at having Blandon as the new President and look forward to future silverware.

Ronald 'the beast' Cher

Ronald has been with SMU Rugby for close to a year and has been central to the resurgence of the team. Powerful in his runs and unforgiving in his tackles, Ronald has for some time been part of the leadership group in SMU Rugby. His passion for the team and his refusal to let anything stand in his way has made him a crowd favourite. During his NS days, he still came for trainings and has worked hard and shed blood for the team. We have no doubt that he will be central to the future of SMU Rugby.

SMU Rugby wishes the new Executive Committee well and hopes that they can surpass the efforts and results of the previous exco in bringing the glory days back.

Finally, SMU Rugby also pays tribute to the outgoing exco for their unwavering dedication to the team and the hard work they have put in for the year of 2011. Special thanks to Stuart Ho for leading the team and always being there for the team in every capacity. Special thanks is also reserved for Aldric Chew for being the best Finance Director that SMU Rugby has known and for always going down for trainings.

VOTE NICKLAUS TANG & ANDY EA FOR SSU

2011-09-08T12:59:00.003+08:00

SMU Rugby's top choices in this years SMU Sports Union(SSU) executive committee's elections are Nicklaus Tang and Andy Ea. Without an SMU Rugby representative running for elections to succeed incumbent SSU President Daniel Kong, SMU Rugby are instead endorsing these two candidates.

Nicklaus Tang, an indispensable member of the SMU Water Polo team(Aquatic Sharks), envisions a harmonisation of all the sporting bodies and to spread the love amongst all sports(Rumor has it that Nick Tang is currently dating SMU Rugby superstars Wong Kah Wei & Stuart Ho - but all parties refuse to confirm or deny this). Andy Ea, SMU Floorball's superstar shares in Nick Tang's vision(and we will not speculate what else).

PLEASE DO VOTE FOR THESE CANDIDATES WHO PROMISE A LOVE - AND CANDY - FILLED SSU.

On a side note, SMU Rugby would like to congratulate Daniel Kong on a wonderful job done during his tenure as President of SSU. We wish him success in all his future endeavours.

Stuart tries to outdo Bryan

2011-08-25T12:49:00.004+08:00

Fans will recall that just 3 years ago on this day, former national player (and birthday boy) Bryan Ng took to the SMU stage dressed in a half aladdin wannabe suit. And with the popularity that comes with being a City Boy, it was no surprise then that Bryan 'Leonidas' Ng emerged victorious.

Check out those leggings!

3 years on, current club president - Stuart Ho - in a desperate attempt to make waves for the club has decided to take the leap of faith. Dressed in his shoddy 5 dollar a pop emo boy attire, the leggings clad rugby star has signed up for Bondue Night in his one shot at stardom on the fashion stage. When interviewed, Stuart said "It is about time all of us stopped living in the shadow of Bryan, I will step up to the plate and show the school who's boss." When quizzed about his unique choice of fashion, "The clothes I wear represent who I am deep down inside. I have always wanted to wear make up, leggings and tight latex pants. I'm glad I finally have a chance to show the world my true self." The club wishes Stuart 'Latex' Ho all the best - may you win our first piece of silverware for the year.

Quek warned for drunken antics

2011-08-22T00:15:00.003+08:00

Is Jesse Quek the new bad boy of SMU Rugby?

Summer signing, Jesse Quek, has added more misery to the pile of disciplinary violations from the City Boys. The former Saints player was apparently found piss drunk on a patch of grass with his girlfriend early Monday morning. Initial reports stated that a good samaritan came to the aid of Jesse and his girlfriend, sending them home. An inside source told SMURugby that "Jesse (Quek) was desperately looking for some supper but because his legs couldn't make it to the nearby prata shop, he just decided to graze at the nearby grass patch."

When interviewed, Jesse - still slight shell shocked from the incident - just said, "I'm just glad my ass is still in one piece. It does feel a bit weird but I should be fine" (WTF Jesse?!)

This piece of news comes on the back of former AC superstar, Shah Boo's 'sticky hands' fiasco. With just a month to SUNIG, it is not surprising that head coach, Hairul Naim, was left fuming at this incident. Quek has however found some support in the form of his teammates.

Team president Stuart Ho had this to say, "I think it's perfectly fine. Grazing on different grass patches is absolutely normal. Personally I love the grass patch at ~~Geylang,~~ Kallang but if Jesse loves the ones at Zouk, please don't judge the fella, to each his own." It might also be noteworthy that Ho recently made a personal pledge to bring the sleaze back to SMU Rugby. We await to see what he has up his sleeve.

Shah caught with his pants down

2011-08-18T21:45:00.003+08:00

Shah Boo was issued a stern warning by head coach Hairul Naim on his atrocious misconduct. The sophomore signed in 2010 was said to have been caught by his mum with his pants down and complained on social network site - Facebook - about the unsightly act. The act was quickly picked up and had 7 likes in the space of a couple of minutes.

When asked about the behavior of his players, Naim said - "I expect my players to set a good example and I do not condone such a facebook entry about his personal sexual activity. If he wants to tell the world about it, USE A DAMN BLOG AND ADD SOME DETAILS!"

Transfer Updates

2011-08-17T10:51:00.005+08:00

SMU Rugby has been extremely busy this pre season and we are proud to unveil our players for the future.

BLANDON 'The Hulk' TAN

A gifted player, Blandon has played at Centre and Full Back. He is also well known for his powerful and accurate boot. Standing at a strapping 1.85M, a reserved Blandon refuses to divulge his weight, instead blushing and insisting on playing guessing games. When asked about his views to SMU Rugby's future, Blandon had this to say "I believe in our team's ability and am confident of bringing past glory back to our team but we also need to train even harder."(We will be bringing you an exclusive interview of Blandon as soon as his busy schedule clears up.)

Jesse 'The Belly' Quek

Jesse Quek, signed from Saints, is a player with multiple abilities, able to play at Fly-Half, Centre and Hooker. Known for his sniping runs and stepping, Jesse has become an instant darling with SMU Rugby fans. Also known for his incredible ball handling skills, Jesse caused an uproar during the recent SRU 7s tournament when he was able to catch the ball with his belly. With talent like that SMU Rugby is hard pressed to find excuses. When asked about his first experiences in school, Jesse in his usual eloquent manner commented, "School sucks!". We do hope that Finance Director Aldric Chew will be able to have a positive influence on the youngster.

Ronald 'The Beast' Cher

SMU Rugby is proud to announce that we have managed to acquire this highly sought-after player. Ronald plays as a prop and his thunderous runs and stepping abilities have made him one of the upcoming stars of today. Rumour also has it that Ronald was in the past a centre but after several years of hard work, he has been elevated to the position of Prop. (Ronald refuses to deny or affirm the rumour). Asked what aims he has for the upcoming SUniG 7s Ronald said "We must win this. I will always give my 110% and i expect the sam from every one of my teammates!" Inspirational words from Ronald have time and again lifted the team spirits.

When asked for his expectations of the trio, President Stuart Ho was gushing, "With this players we can build an extremely potent squad and i am confident of our teams abilities. I will nurture them with my own capable 2 hands and mould them into players who can surpass my own abilities!" SMU Rugby thanks Stuart for the hard work he put into acquiring these top notch players.

SMU Undergrads v SMU Alumni

2011-08-10T17:19:00.006+08:00

On the 6th of August, SMU Undergraduates hosted the inaugural Alumni v Undergraduates Tournament at their spiritual home, CCAB Bukit Timah. Having been in the pipeline for several years, this tournament was widely anticipated. After months of close collaboration between the Alumni and the Undergraduates, the tournament was organised.

It was a day of significance in SMU Rugby's history with several legends returning 'home', such as DM(Dniel-Marc Chow), Amos Siow and many others. It was a chance for the Undergraduates to prove their mettle and worth against opponents who had themselves won the University rugby tournaments multiple times. The young team did not disappoint drawing 1 game and winning the remaining 3 to end as the best team.

Further re-inforcing the SMU Rugby family was the post tournament buffet which brought the alumni and undergraduates together in a less abrasive and competitive environment. Capping the whole event, President of SMU Rugby Stuart Ho had this to say, "It was humbling to b in the presence of so many alumni. This day has truly brought us back to our roots and we would like to thank the alumni for setting the platform for SMU Rugby to have reached such heights."

SMU Rugby would like to thank all the alumni for coming down and allowing this important event to gain a foothold. We would also like to reserve special thanks for DM, for taking the time to help plan the tournament, and our team manager Andrew Aaron Tam for facilitating the planning and sponsoring the buffet.

SRU 7s - Results

2011-07-18T11:57:00.003+08:00

After 2 hard days of playing the top club sides of Singapore, SMU Rugby emerged 8th out of 12 Teams with a record of 2 Wins and 4 Losses.

Day 1 ended with 1 Win and 2 Losses. SMU ended the day with a close loss to SCC Gold, losing 19-14 with tries scored by speedsters Stuart Ho and Bryan Ng. SMU also pushed eventual Champions the Police Hurricanes, eventually losing out 31-12 with tries to Bryan.

Day 2 began with a strong victory against the Bedok kings, SMU winning 26-12, 2 tries scored by Bryan and one each to Nicholas Hwang and Jesse Quek. This was followed by 3 close losses.

Captain Wang En Jian was pleased with good showings against quality sides, "We came here today to test our play and we have showed that we can keep to our structure and our defence was satisfactory. However we still have a long way to go as shown by the other results. We must push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion and not hold back anything in reserve."

Coach Hairul was also satisfied by the 2 days' hardwork, "Good Weekend boys. Lets keep up the trainings and improve wherever we are lacking. We did well against quality sides and have one of the better attacks in the tournament. More Gym and Field work needed though!"

SMU Rugby thanks all supporters for coming down and cheering the boys on.

SRU 7s

2011-07-09T08:57:00.002+08:00

SMU Rugby will be taking part in the SRU 7s tournament on the coming weekend of the 16-17th July. President Stuart Ho had a few words to share, "I dont care whether there are Fijians, Samoans, Chinamen or anyone! We are gonna go in there and play our team game, practice our moves and work on our team work!"

Coach Hairul added, "My objective is not to win. It is not to score as many tries s possible. Neither is it to make the most or biggest tackles. This will be a fantastic opportunity to experience the game against the Big Boys and get us the necessary experience for SUNIG 2011."

Please come down to CCAB to support SMU Rugby!

SMU Rugby Exco 2011

2011-05-10T10:15:00.005+08:00

Introducing the new SMU Rugby Exco for 2011

President : Stuart 'Bambi' Ho

A brilliant player on the pitch, Stuart has also made front page news for his modeling exploits in SMU. When asked what he expects from SMU Rugby after taking over, Captain Ho had this to say, "We are looking to win very single tournament possible! Despite the setbacks of the past years we are confident of our future outlook".

Vice - President : Wong Kah Wei

Playing at scrum-half, KW is a highly motivating individual who believes in tough love for the team so as to make them perform better. KW along with Stuart have been with SMU Rugby since the start of 2010.

Secretary : Deya

Finance Director : Aldric Chew

Marketing Director : Gabriel 'Nemo' Ang

4 years on...good times dont need to end.

2011-03-27T20:01:00.002+08:00

I would like to proudly announce that Matthias Lim, graduating prop of SMU Rugby, will make a special appearance at FTB2011 given the org comm acceptance of his humble application as attached.

SMU racks up win against the national side

2010-06-27T11:19:00.005+08:00

How far will the City Boys go under Derek Chan?

After a tumultous season that left the City Boys without any silverware for the first time in years, the fans finally have something to cheer about.

On Friday night, the City Boys took part in a 3 way friendly warm-up tournament (involving the National 7s side, Police and SMU). Despite some early hiccups in Game 1 against the national side, SMU pulled a fast one on the national side when they met for the second time in the tournament, winning the game by a solitary try courtesy of team captain, Derek Chan.

Other notable tries of the evening include tries by former Raffles scrumhalf, Justin Lum and newly appointed president, Daniel Kong, who definitely showed some decent pace. The friendly match also marked former U19 captain, Sherman Yeo's return to the fray. Boasting bigger guns and a better bod - the forward, who underwent a massive fitness and gym stint in Istanbul for 6 months, returned for his first competitive outing since IRAUG.

The City Boys are in a precarious position, being one loss away from being dropped off the prestigious Sports Excellence Scheme. Newly appointed president Daniel Kong told our reporters, "This is a must win season. Either we win or SMU Rugby's closing down." When asked about his plans if the unfortunate happens, Daniel said "I might take up knitting classes".

Will the SMU boys relive the glory days under new leadership, and how will they gel as a team with fresh faces?

One year on...

2010-06-02T21:51:00.003+08:00

Just so you know.

One year on.

We still remember you.

Rest in peace, Elisha.

Is 6 local players in your starting lineup good enough for you?

2010-04-13T17:36:00.006+08:00

Tomorrow marks the start of Singapore's A5N campaign...and as always there are always controversies involved in the National team during every major tournament, and this year isn't short of its own fair share once again.

Newsletter Issue 31, April 2010

SINGAPORE RUGBY LIONS XV

The following players have been selected to represent Singapore.

1 George Rippon (Wanderers)
2 Gaspar Tan (Bedok Kings)
3 Nick Dance (Bucks)
4 Nick Macksey (Wanderers)
5 Andrew Bennett (SCC)
6 Joe Braithwaite (Wanderers)
7 Matt Roberts (Capt, Wanderers)
8 Mohd Ashraf (Blacks)
9 Suhaimi Amran (SCC)
10 Tom Burns (SCC)
11 Desmond Wee (Bedok Kings)
12 Charlie Ryan (Bucks)
13 Matt Taloni (Wanderers)
14 Goh Beng Chuan (Bedok Kings)
15 Muhd Zaki (SCC)

Only 6 local players in the starting line up and a whole string of questionable 'quality' aka expatriate players, who by the way Singapore will probably not see in the next international tournament - Which will also pretty much explain or suggest the amount of continuity we have seen over the last 5 years or so in Singapore's 'development'.

Where's last year's captain, Ben Wheeler? or 2 years ago national team captain too, Chris Gilbert ?!

What i am saying is.... Union! why bother starting rugby in primary schools and all that, if you are not going to start relying on the very talent you grow in your backyard? Young kids pick up rugby hoping to don the National jersey, and then when we grow up and realize that the criteria to being a national player is so different from what we thought of it to be...people just lose faith in the system.

Look at the line up and you see ONLY two stand out local players (Gasper Tan & Desmond Wee) who were immersed early in the system, and with the exposure given to them have now become great players in their own right. (if i am not wrong, combined both their number of caps together, it might total up to be more than the rest of the entire national team players cap put together, now thats jus ridiculous!). If the union does that with more local players, don't you think there might be a high possibility we will grow a solid pool of national players? I mean of course they have to be of quality. But problem i have seen lately, quality is higher subjective!

Damn. i am tired of ranting about the same thing every year...over the last 5 years, Singapore can't say that we have progressed all that much.

http://smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/2008/11/arfu-2008-can-singapore-do-it-again.html
http://smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/2009/11/history-do-you-know-who-are-anchor-reds.html

Exclusive: Amos Siow

2010-03-19T01:44:00.004+08:00

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).

Amos runs the blog which now has 58,000 visits.
Amos kick-started the Tri-Universities (now known as the 4-Unis) and won it for 2 consecutive years.
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.
He helped push SMU Rugby into Sports Excellence
Took part in the Blacks Midnight 10s in 2007 and emerged as Bowl Champions
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

2010-03-19T00:06:00.003+08:00

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

2010-03-07T20:14:00.004+08:00

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

2010-03-02T22:44:00.003+08:00

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.

City Boys taste defeat against Boon Lay Warriors

2010-02-27T23:58:00.005+08:00

In SMU's first game of the 4 unis, the defending champions suffered a defeat to the Boon Lay Warrior by a score of 24-5. The City Boys could only manage a single unconverted try through the club's president, Derek Chan, while vice-president Bryan Ng has been suspended for the next game, after being shown a red-card for swearing at the referee over a controversial decision.

The Boon Lay Warriors were out to prove that last year's victory over the City Boys in the SUniG 7s was no fluke and proved once again too much for the City Boys, and have now shown signs of competing for top honors this season.

For the defending champions, it looks like more work needs to be done and rectified quickly, and there will be no better way than to come away with a victory against tournament favourites, NUS.

Rumor has it, Head Coach Hairul Naim might be possibly facing the axe if he doesn't turn things around for the club that has enjoy rich success over the last 3 years.

SMU takes on NTU in the first match of the 4 unis

2010-02-24T21:54:00.001+08:00

Other news:
- NUS beat SIM with a convincing victory of 75-5, with Mohd Raihan reported to be in top form with the kickimg tee, slotting kicks from every where.

Video clips from friendly match against ACJC

2010-02-24T21:44:00.002+08:00

Below feature some of the video clips taken from SMU's preparation friendly match against ACJC

1. Ben Wai's 90m try

2. If you have to get back 10m when a penalty is awarded, you should always face your opponents, but in this case, you can see how our fullback takes it a bit to the extreme and probably backpedals more than 10m to get into position.

4-Unis Cup Kicks Off Tonight!

2010-02-23T09:12:00.006+08:00

With the 4-Unis cup kicking off its first match today, the defending champions - SMU - have much to prove. In a press conference this morning, Head Coach Hairul Naim set things straight by naming his squad of 30. SMU Rugby has much to prove after a dismal showing at the 2009 Singapore University Games. We now give you a wrapup of some decisions made, the debutants and some surprise call-ups .

1. Shen Sijie, a.k.a. The Animal, returns to the pitch after taking a 2 year break from rugby. Once rated one of the 'dirtiest players ever' (see previous post), the Animal is expected to bolster a forward pack that is sorely missing the services of former executive committee members - Sherman Yeo and Daniel Lee - who are currently partying in Europe.

The Animal picking his prey before the game

2. Former SA vice captain, Eugene Tan, has been named in the squad of 30, despite a prolonged hiatus from rugby. The player was last seen hitting the gym, screaming profanities directed at opposing teams whilst engaging in his workout. Will his quirky ways blend well with the team?

3. With the inclusion of Stuart and Kah Wei to an already impressive backline, team captain, Derek Chan, has hailed his backline as 'one of the best SMU has ever seen'. Much is expected from the talented backline, and in Derek Chan's words - "we can expect to see some champagne rugby".

4. SMU Rugby has finally changed their transfer policy, and have started looking away from this sunny island for talent. Our talent scouts this year have brought two foreign imports to the team - namely Luc (French) and Dunk (Thai). The two impact players are expected to figure in Coach Hairul's plans to retain the 4-Unis Cup.

The City Boys kick off their first match against the Boon Lay Warriors at 8pm on Thursday, 25 February, at the NUS Sports Complex.

Raffles duo sign for SMU

2010-02-07T09:19:00.002+08:00

With the 4-Unis Tournament in just 2 weeks, SMU's newly appointed head coach, Hairul, was quick to make a move in the transfer market - snapping up Wong Kah Wei (who plays scrumhalf) and Stuart Ho (who plays out-centre). The duo, both U-20 players, are expected to start in the upcoming tournament.

At the press conference, Stuart said "I am happy to offer my services to the team. Hopefully, I can add some sting to the backline and SMU Rugby can retain the 4-Unis Cup."

When quizzed about the new signings, team captain - Derek Chan said, "We are more than happy that Stuart and Kah Wei have signed for us. Yes, I am a fan of both players and with these two new signings, we can look forward to returning to our winning ways."

SMU appoint Hairul and DMC for upcoming tournament

2010-01-14T14:55:00.005+08:00

After a dismal performance at the Singapore University Games 2009, SMU's team manager yesterday announced the appointment of two new coaches - Hairul Naim and Daniel Marc Chow - in the build up to the Tri-Universities 2010. There had been constant speculation as to who would assume the role of head coach vacated by Rong over the Christmas break - and it was no surprise that DMC and Hairul emerged as favourites for the position. In fact, in the build up to this appointment, bookmakers had placed Hairul as a 2-1 favourite for the position, with DMC close behind as a 3-1 favourite.

What was surprising was the appointment of two coaches - a move that caught everyone by surprise, the first time SMU has had two coaches concurrently. Will the 2007 SEA Games duo be able to rub their magic on the City Boys and bring back an era of success?

Exclusive Interview: Uncle Wei Nurn

2010-01-03T21:48:00.010+08:00

SMUrugby News will like to start off the new year with our post on SMU-veteran, Chong Wei Nurn, who granted us an exclusive interview on his thoughts on his final season for SMU and sharing with us some of his most memorable moments in the 4.5 years he has been with the City Boys.

Can you share your thoughts about your journey with being part of the SMUrugby team for the past 5 years?
Ah I’ve witnessed how the rugby club has evolved, from rugby being played at a pretty amateur level to us actually winning SUNIGs and traveling overseas for competitions.

I’ve seen how the leaders of the SMU rugby club have changed, and how the values of the club has changed too.
Weipeng – I just want to play rugby so that I have an excuse to walk around school in really short fluorescent green shorts.
Daniel Marc Chow aka DMC – the Pacific Islander lookalike with the “chillax man... Let’s go have a few beers” Pacific Islander attitude
Amos Siow – intense, perfectionistic, “if it’s gotta be done well I’m gonna have to do it myself”
Sherman Yeo – hey guys I’m the president, you betta listen to me or I’ll eat your food and make you clean up
Derek Chan – King of mega-long emails
What has been your most memorable moment as a SMUrugby player?

Hmm it’s probably a tie between my first SUNIG 7s and 15s wins in the 1st and 2nd half of ‘08 respectively. Upon recollection, here’re some of the other memorable moments I have:
Weipeng’s belly pixelated in a SMU Rugby emailer to the entire school by none other than our Mr Dezzo Wee.
Me smashing Ben Teong at Farrer Park in the ruck when he didn’t even see it coming (picture below - moments before Ben Teong got hit by Wei Nurn)
Matty scoring a 40/50-metre try against the drunk Spaniards in France, with the Spaniards cheering for Matty alongside us on the try line.
Hearing Sherman go on and on about how he’s sure that Vicky destroyed his ankle on purpose
Desmond lying at the side of the field in NTU earlier this year shouting at the referee “you’re just as bad (a referee) as your brother”.
Desmond’s email declaring that I was a sweetheart (<3>http://smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html]

What are your thoughts about the future of SMUrugby?

Hmm I think things are in splendid shape. You have regular trips overseas, you have a system that helps pull in good players, an actual pitch to train on for once. Everything seems awesome. Credit to Andrew too for all the hard work and infrastructure he has worked to set up along with the past few committees. Maybe some trips to more exotic places would be nice, like Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Japan, South Korea, etc. Maybe Tafa could lead us on a rugby tour in Zimbabwe or wherever it is he’s from!

As you take on the field for one last time for SMUrugby, is there anyone you want to specially thank?

No not really. But I do have a list of people I would like to award praises to.
Personal Awards
Vicky – Most ‘Innocent’ Player, oh and most certainly the Most Dangerous Player
Matty – Most Maligned Player / Most Sporting Player (for performing the stripteases in France)
Justin Lum – The “if there’s anyone else in his world other than himself, it’s the devil” Award (source of quote: confidential)
Alex Chew – The Undisputed ‘Vice’ Captain
Harry Mason – Most decorated coach of SMU ever (all credit due to him)

Miscellaneous Awards
Best decision ever made: hiring Harry
Worst decision ever made: “firing” Harry

Big Daddy Chow making a return as Head Coach?

2009-12-12T15:22:00.004+08:00

Daniel Marc Chow is the latest target to be linked with SMU Head Coach position

Having spent the last 6 months concentrating on the 7s game, the City Boys will be looking to get down to preparing for the 15s game once the contingent who are up in Perth are back. Due to difficulties in committing to the City Boys' 15s season, last season's Head Coach Rong JingXiang, has stepped down from the position and has agreed to make way for a successor.

For the past few seasons, SMU has yet to have a coach who has stayed longer than a season, and critics are questioning if this could possibly affect the team's performances in any way. With the team, finishing a disappointing 3rd in the recent SUNiG 7s, many are hoping that was the last time that the City Boys had to face defeat. With the club boosted with substantial fundings from the school and sponsors, the team has little excuse not to perform considering all the support they are getting.

With the position of head coach vacant at the moment, speculations of who will take over as Head Coach are growing. With many of the younger boys expressing their liking for current SMU 7s coach, Hairul Naim's coaching methods and style, it will not come as any surprise should the appointment go to him. However, insider sources have said that SMU will be looking to hire someone who is not only able to offer his expertise as a coach, but also one who is passionate and strongly affiliated to the team. This has lead to rumors that manager Andrew Aaron Tam might be looking to hire former SMU skipper, Daniel Marc Chow or EVEN! possibly veteran never-say-die Uncle Chong Wei Nurn.

The decision has yet to be concluded, but till then the speculations will continue for what is said to be one of the most enjoyable and challenging coaching jobs in Singapore rugby school scene.

Indian Rim Asian University Games 2009 - Update 2

2009-12-10T14:49:00.005+08:00

Day 3 of IRAUG 2009 - Deo Silver Rugby 7s

SMU IRAUG 2009 - team handsign

Daniel Lee on a blowout

Sherman & Vick in training

Day 3 of the competition pitted SMU against 2 of the tournament's top sides - University of Papau New Guinea (UPNG) and Curtin University. The SMU side went into Day 3 of the competition brimming with confidence after good training sessions on Tuesday. Starting off the day with a 6am ice-bath, the team turned up at the UWA Sports Park looking fresh and ready to pull an upset over the tournament's bigger boys.

Results:

Game 4: SMU (7) vs University of Papau New Guinea (29)

Tries: Bryan Ng (1)
Conversions: Derek Chan (1)

Game 5: SMU (21) vs Curtin University (33)
Tries: Sherman Yeo (1), Derek Chan (2)
Conversions: Derek Chan (2), Bryan Ng (1)

Of Day 3, notable highlights include:

1. A relatively structured SMU side took on UPNG, which boasted 7 players of nothing but flair. After a few monster handoffs against the smaller Asian boys, the SMU side went down 4 tries to nothing before a kick downfield by flyhalf, Wang Enjian, was chased down by Bryan Ng - who duly scored SMU's only consolation try in that game.

2. SMU's prop Sherman Yeo got the game against Curtin University off to a quick start scoring early in the first half. With the ball stuck in the SMU ruck near the Curtin tryline, Sherman picked the ball up, before displaying some acrobatic skills, leaping over Daniel Lee and the entire ruck, scoring right between the sticks. The acrobatic manouveur, which apparently 'made the sunlight disappear' (Daniel Lee), put the Sherman onto the tournament score sheet for the very first time.

3. SMU scrumhalf, Derek Chan, scored twice in the game against Curtin University. The nifty sweeper made a linebreak in his own half before running the whole length of the pitch to score. The Curtin game looked set to earn SMU the title of 'Upset of the Tournament' after going up 14-0 early in the first half. However, it was not to be as Curtin staged a comeback, levelling the scores at 14-14 at halftime, and eventually marginally winning the game.

Next up, the team plays the first game on Friday morning against International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) - SMU's last match of the tournament's group stages.

Indian Rim Asian University Games 2009 - Update

2009-12-08T14:12:00.005+08:00

Day 1 of IRAUG 2009 - Deo Silver Rugby 7s

SMU in IRAUG 2009

Results:

Game 1: SMU (24) vs NUS (12)
Tries: Bryan Ng (3), Derek Chan (1)
Conversions: Derek Chan (2)

Game 2: SMU (14) vs University of Notre Dame (17)
Tries: Bryan Ng (1), Vickneswaran Sellathurai (1)
Conversions: Derek Chan (2)

Game 3: SMU (0) vs University of Western Australia (47)

Arriving 3 days before the competition, the boys have been training hard under the watchful eye of newly-appointed Coach Hairul. After a disastrous performance at the Singapore University Games, the SMU side had much to prove especially given their talent pool. The side, which fielded a once-again-fit ex-national captain - Derek Chan (whose services were sorely missed at SUNIG 2009) and a team of all homegrown players, brought to the field a brand new structure - the result of being continuously drilled by Coach Hairul.

Of Day 1, the most notable events include:

1. SMU chalking its first win for the tournament over NUS. The SMU side got their early jitters out of the way, after going behind early in the game. A series of good runs and plays by the SMU side ensured that SMU scored 2 tries a piece in either half of the game.

2. SMU's marginal loss to the defending champions, University of Notre Dame, by a mere 3 points ranked as one of the disappointments from the SMU camp. The SMU side, left it all too late after going down 3 tries in the first half. In their fightback in the second half, a more structured and lethal SMU reared its face and from there, it was a battle against the clock and unfortunately, the SMU side came out second best.

The SMU side plays University of Papau New Guinea and Curtin University on Wednesday morning at the UWA Sports Park.

History: Do you know who the Anchor Reds are?

2009-11-27T03:09:00.011+08:00

Sometimes people lose their way in life. And sometimes people don't realize that rugby is a great game, played by great men, amongst great friends and most importantly, played in the right spirit of the game. Over the years, I have seen many different kinds of players, and of late, I believe there has been a worrying change in the kind of talent that Singapore has been developing and the environment that has been set for our players of today to be brought up into.

Don't get me wrong. Its not that the players are not as fast or as strong as the players of the past - because with the modern game of rugby, most players of today's modern game are definitely stronger, faster, (talented? I will not be so sure about that.)

But the problem of today is that something has been SERIOUSLY lost over the years. And I am personally not sure, what it is. Looking at photos of the 90s warms my heart as I ponder of how enjoyable it must have been to be playing rugby in that era, where players were great friends on and off the pitch, who held mutual respect for one another, even if they played for different clubs. These players, who even up till today (after retirement), still remain as good pals and have so much love for the game in every goodness of it all.

Today many Singapore players and rugby fans have moaned of the many changes that Singapore rugby has had to deal with over the last decade, for example the ever changing faces of people in the top management, to people embezzling the Singapore Rugby union's funds, to a surprising resignation of a Technical Director with his bags all packed at the airport, to a local walkout protesting against preferential treatment to expatriate players, to great players being forced to retire or quit the game due to politics, to having a team with more expatriates than the previous year (with every year), to the ever changing expatriate talent that last for one season and are gone the next....Yes...the list really does go on. And in the end the people who or what suffers, is the future of Singapore rugby, where our very own talent that have been nurtured and grown in our backyard are left to wither and die, without ever being noticed or being brought to its fullest potential.

Where are the players who held so much potential in their school days?! Players who I personally witnessed and heard so much about, players like Grant Sani, Steedon Jessup, Ravi Shankar, Anil Singh, Li Rencong, John Pates!, Kenneth Lim, Tobias Ang, Anand Chandran, Tan Mian Yi, ...and this is really just to name a few off the top of my head, (and I am sure I have missed out many others,and you could probably add on). The problem about Singapore rugby, is NOT that we lack talent or even the HEART to play the game, because year after year you can see for yourself young players laying down their body and heart for their respective schools in the Nationals. The problem is we lack a system that will help us hold on to these precious unpolished jewels.

Gone are the days, where young boys in secondary school should aspire to be a national player, cause sadly they do not realize that it isn't so simple just being a National Rugby Player, especially in Singapore. With a National team squad with a 'turnover' rate that could possibly match the ongoing global economic recession, kids grow up not knowing that all these ideas of being a National Player isn't as straightforward as they imagined, nor as professional as they might have envisioned it to be.

Players of today either forget many things or grow up not having the privilege to know many things of the past of Singapore rugby- for instance, that almost more than a decade ago, there was a time

where Singapore U16s thrashed Hongkong's U16 34-5 at Chinese High Secondary School.
where a Singapore Under 23 side, beat a Hongkong Under 23 at Padang.
where Greenridge Secondary School rule the National school rugby scene.
where a school finals had to be decided by sudden death penalty kicks.
where Thailand gave Singapore a walk over during the ARFU division 2 competition because Singapore had 4 expatriate players and refused to withdraw them. (this was after training for 11 months for it)

With all these totally random knowledge of events, it just shows you how rich a history we have of this beautiful game in Singapore. (and it would be a pity if you didn't know). And probably you could try to see how some of these events hold some significance to the development of the game over the years in our country.

Players of today, forget that they play the game for the love of the game, and not for the development of their own ego. Players of today, lack the mentality or the art of stringing a series of passes and celebrating a well-worked team try together.

People forget many things as they evolve as players, but as we move forward to our own ways, as players and as gentlemen of the sport, I urge that we do not forget the long history of players that have come before us, and what they have achieved, and to remember that there was a time where players of this country, played for the love of the game, and represented Singapore for the love of this country.

Hopefully, some day...things will change to what they used to be in those glory 90s.

http://smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/2008/11/arfu-2008-can-singapore-do-it-again.html

Kong following cousin's footsteps?

2009-11-20T08:41:00.011+08:00

It seems that the recent Eugene Wee saga has opened a can of worms, and early this morning, first-team winger Daniel Kong followed in the footsteps of his cousin by posting about his personal life on Facebook. It has since emerged that Kong has found another side to himself - declaring that he has a liking for men.

In an exclusive interview with Kong, who celebrates his 21st birthday today by skipping training, Daniel gave SMU Rugby a breakdown and intricate details of his life off the field even stating that he was 'one up on his cousin' because he 'enjoys the best of both worlds'.

When probed about the fierce intra-family rivalry between himself and Wee, Daniel said "It's a stupid question about who's better and who's not. Look at our last few games and tell me who starts. Look at my facebook profile and tell me who has more hits. Look at us when we strut around school and see who turns more heads, both guys and girls. When you look at every aspect, there is no competition."

However, it has emerged that the news has not sat well with everyone. For one, Eugene Wee was livid upon hearing the news - with our sources telling us that Wee was caught repeatedly screaming the line - "There can only be one poker in the team!!!".

Daniel Kong was signed in the summer of 2009. A former national javelin champion, Kong has since picked up the sport quickly and developed into one of the oustanding young talents of SMU Rugby. Kong has since cemented his position in the 7s first team squad and was recently called up to the IRAUG 2009 squad.

Eugene Wee Comes Clean

2009-11-12T23:31:00.003+08:00

The truth is out!

After months of constant speculation from both fans and teammates, Eugene Wee has finally come out with the truth. In a shocking turn of events, Eugene Wee chose to make the announcement on popular social networking site - Facebook, about his relationship with fellow teammate Alvin Wong.

The last few months have seen the duo grow increasingly close, and whilst the news has shocked many, there is a handful who saw this coming. Fullback Wang Enjian told SMURugbyNews, "I knew it. It was long coming. There were times when I noticed that their tackles on each other were coated with a bit too much of a sexual touch. We all had our suspicions, and all Eugene did was make it official. I wish the duo all the best."

Our sources, who revealed the details on the condition of anonymity, said that the pair was last seen having a romantic meal at The Line, Shangri-La when the speedy winger, who recently got his fair share of media attention, popped the question. And of course, who is Alvin to reject the advances of the SSU President?

Love is in the air!

The duo becomes the first couple ever in SMU Rugby's history, breaking a long-standing tradition of no relationships between fellow players.

Punk'd - Its back to haunt u. Say No to crossdressing

2009-11-11T23:13:00.006+08:00

In previous years, we didn't have too much problems with our players off-field conduct, as majority of our players were known to be more unassuming, humble, shy, role model...(you get the point). But of late, we have seen a growing trend in our players being caught in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. And most of the time, it happens outside of the rugby field - this week's victim is no different.

This week's claim to shame and featuring for a second time on our season of "You're an ABSOLUTE disgrace" we have our very own SMU Prop Matthias Lim.

(L to R) Matty "i am a slut" Lim, Daniel "I know what girls want" Lee. Sherman "I run 100m in 15 seconds" Yeo

Taken during last year's Freshmen Sports Camp, a group of our players were heard to be really enthusiastic about welcoming the new batch of FRESHmeat. But, from what our sources told us, some of them got really carried away. Needless to say, we think the picture tells you who really lost the plot.

Our verdict: "Matty, Matty...what!were you thinking mate!?

Head Coach Releases Autobiography

2009-11-10T10:20:00.004+08:00

SMU Head Coach, Rong Jing Xiang, officially released his very own autobiography entitled Two Rongs Don't Make A Right. The story of Singapore's most capped player has been a highly anticipated event within the rugby community - after the former national captain promised to spill it all.

Our sources tell us that Rong will talk about his love-hate relationship with the Singapore Rugby Union, his excessive indulgence in personal soliloquy on the rugby blog as well as his personal emotions after his heart-breaking loss coaching the City Boys. With a career spanning a gabillion years, Rong talks about the highs and lows of his rugby career.

In a special press interview, Rong told SMURugbyNews - "I've always wanted to be a writer and I knew I had it in me to write fancy prose and charm the socks off my adoring fans. There was a time when it was between being a poet and being a rugby player. But that's history. I am what I am today and now it's time I got back to doing the other things I love."

Two Rongs Don't Make A Right is currently retailed at all major bookstores. Should you wish to get an autographed copy, Rong will be at Borders (Wheelock) for a special autograph signing session.

The Prodigal Son Returns

2009-11-09T09:37:00.002+08:00

Eugene Wee returns home, finally.

Scouted and signed 2 years ago, Eugene Wee is finally paying dividends in the faith and belief that the coaching panel placed in him. The former ACS winger had previously decided to hang up his boots, citing that he has had 'enough rugby to last him for a lifetime'. Back then, the speedster broke the hearts of many of his adoring fans - especially those who were desperately waiting to see him don SMU colours for the senior side - hanging up rugby boots to play handball.(wtf!)

Labelled as a 'bad-boy' and 'want-away' in 2008, Wee announced his return in the summer of 2009 citing a 'desire for some rough manly action'. When probed about the possibility of Wee breaking into the first team, Coach Hairul said, "Yes, it is a possibility. But Eugene spent a year away engulfed in a life of excessive sex, booze and drugs. It will take a while for us to get him back into shape. The lad has loads of talent but we need to work on his fitness issues."

Eugene who featured in SUNIG 2009 still displayed the same wicked speed that tormented sides back in his day - an amazing feat considering being out of training for so long. When probed about the secret to his speed, Eugene said 'A wank a day makes me fly away!'.

Wee was recently called up for the IRAUG 2009 senior side.

Mouth Chew rumoured to hang up his boots

2009-11-08T19:34:00.005+08:00

Yin Xiang axed from the IRAUG squad despite almost a full attendance in trainings

After announcing the squad for this year's India Rim Australia University Games (IRAUG), it has come to the attention of many onlookers of the surprise omission of veteran and dedicated Mouth Chew (real name Yin Xiang). While selectors clearly had a difficult decision in weighing between factors such as commitment in training, playing ability and experience, last year's vice-president had to be on the receiving end of being axe from the squad. Hence, preventing the year 3 student from making his 2nd successive appearance in the IRAUG.

It is rumored that the utility player was clearly disappointed, but accepted with grace that he empathized with the committee's difficult position in terms of selecting the squad for the tournament. However, the player hinted that the recent axe from the squad might be a blow that could lead to the calls of hanging up his boots for good.

In his time in SMUrugby, the lad has clearly contributed his fair share of hard yards for the club and has given nothing less than his best for the team (on and off the field), and certainly will be a loss should he not see out his 4 year contract with the City Boys.

Punk'd - Say no to Drinking ft Bryan Ng

2009-11-05T01:40:00.007+08:00

After a lack of posts from SMUrugby news, and with players occupied with endless deadlines to meet, we figured our readers could do with our friendly season of "bloopers".

(Please refer to: http://smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/2007/11/disgrace-unbelievable-and-shocker.html).

So here it is once again. While in the season of stress, we have decided to dig up and look through our folder of old photos that we found in our closet and publicly disgrace and make an example of some of our players...and who else to start with than our current vice-president, Mr Bryan-I-Need to show the world my abs-Ng.

Taken 2 years back, the photo shows why some rugby players should not drink. And in this example here, well...honestly...you certainly rank up there with the "You're an ABSOLUTE disGRACE!"

Well thats all the time we have for now. But do stay tuned, as we continue to dig up the dirt from our boys. SMU boys you have been warned.

Ryan Jerseys Fly Off Shelves!

2009-11-01T20:48:00.004+08:00

SMURugby's new kid on the block, Ryan 'Cold-sore' Tan, will soon be seeing many other little cold sores running around. The club's retail outlet saw Ryan's jerseys fly off the shelves, with many fans signaling their support for the former Raffles flanker.

Club merchandising officer, Gao Shen, said, "The shelves are empty! We never expected to see so many jerseys disappear, but it seems many people have taken a liking to the new kid. You might be interested to know that ever since we signed Ryan, we have managed to see a surge in "Cold-Sore Stickers (Ryan Tan Edition)" in the same month. Seems like more and more people want to not just play, but also look like him!"

Cold-Sore Stickers (Ryan Tan Edition) - U.P. $8.99

Ryan was signed in the summer of 2009 and made his debut for the senior side in the recent Singapore University Games, and has since been called up for the Indian Rim Asian University Games. The former Raffles Institution vice-captain had been singled out by out for his good work ethic and sterling performances by the coaching panel, with some believing that he will soon play a big part in the upcoming tournaments.

The player, who was recognized by his distinctive butt ugly looking cold-sore in his last competitive outing - earning the nickname 'Cold Sore', was not available for comment at the time of press.

Club captain gets warned for unruly behaviour

2009-10-31T08:07:00.004+08:00

The centre of discussion on Derek's facebook page

SMURugby has issued a statement indicating its disapproval of club captain, Derek Chan's less-than-satisfactory behaviour. The National-7s player was caught discussing sexual positions (specifically 'Angry Pirate') on popular social networking site - facebook, and has since been the centre of unwanted public attention.

Coach Hairul said, "I understand when the boys want to have some fun, but this behaviour is far from acceptable, especially for the captain of my squad. There are many roles to the captain and being a role model was one of them. I expected more from Derek (Chan)."

Derek's unruly ways comes on the back of being named as captain of the IRAUG Squad and while Derek has been outstanding on the field, he has been known for his wild party ways which have occasionally got him into trouble. Derek has since apologized to the squad for his unruly behaviour.

Derek becomes the first captain since DMC to be warned for improper conduct off the field.

IRAUG Squad announced

2009-10-30T12:07:00.003+08:00

This morning, SMU Rugby's newly appointed head coach, Hairul, announced the squad for the Indian-Rim Asian University Games 2009. The club congratulates all players selected.

IRAUG squad to be announced soon

2009-10-22T14:19:00.005+08:00

Still recovering from the disappointing performance by the SMU team last month, the team has ever seen regathered and have been working hard to get back to shape. Finishing 3rd in the SUNIG 7s was clearly unacceptable to the club's standards and President and Captain Derek Chan has vowed to make amends and hopes to successfully defend the 15s title.

However, the club's primary focus for now is to concentrate on a good preparation for the upcoming 7s tournament in Perth this December. The club will be sending a total of about 12 players to compete in the tournament and will hopefully do one better than the previous team that represented SMU 2 years ago, who finished 4th.

the team that represented SMU in 2007 in Perth.
Out of the 12 in the squad, 9 of the players have either left the club or will not be available for selection this year, leaving 3 players from the squad of 2007 who might be making their second appearance in the IRAUG.

The team is currently being coached by newly signed , Hairul Naim, who has said to be pushing the boys through the paces and picking up where former SMU coach Rong left off. The team of 12 that will be representing SMU in Perth will be announced in the coming weeks.

Ben Wai gets slapped with club fine

2009-10-20T10:12:00.003+08:00

Over a month ago Benjamin Wai pledged his life to SMUrugby blog, however, ever since then the former ACJC sprinter has only accounted for 2 posts on the blog and is suspected to be just a "flash in the pan". His lack of posts on the blog has led to the Board of Directors (of the blog and club) calling for a vote of confidence and has caused huge uproar and displeasure among the fans and refreshers of SMUrugby.

The winger, who had his first competitive outing for the City Boys in the SUniG 7s this year has been under intense scrutiny of his performance on the field and on the blog. "He has a lot of potential, but some thing has happened to Ben and he has fallen by the wayside, we need to sort this out and make sure his mind and body is one with SMUrugby!" said one of the directors who declined to be named.

Ben Wai has been slapped with a club fine for a lack of commitment to the blog, however, no one really knows what the penalty is. When asked about the nature of the fine, the disciplinary committee could only reveal, "Ben will have to beware of himself as we take this very seriously."

Ben Wai will not be allowed to appeal against the fine and will be strongly advised to start posting.

Wai, could not be contacted for comment during the time of press release.

NUS wins SuNIG 7s

2009-10-12T03:01:00.003+08:00

Last week in the inaugural SUNIG 7s, the City Boys were in for a shocking 3rd finish, as they crashed out in disastrous fashion. The signs could not be any clearer when the SMU A side lost to NUS B in the group stages, 17-22.

This year, NUS was definitely out for blood and was looking for nothing but sweet revenge after suffering a narrow defeat in last year's SUNIG 7s finals to the City Boys. And in the end, when the two A teams met in the semi finals, it was like a deja vu of what happened in 2007 when the two teams met in the SMU ringEmail 7s semi-finals. SMU were off to a confident and flying start scoring two tries in the first half and leading by a score of 10-0 against NUS, which have lately been coined to be known as the Clementi Pretenders. However, NUS had other ideas and staged an impressive comeback and sealed their place in the finals by establishing yet another successful come back (but this time with no controversies, like we had 2 years ago), winning by a score of 12-10 and denying SMU any hopes of defending their 7s title.

The Clementi Pretenders went on to meet the exciting and impressive underdogs, NTU. And the finals turned out to be yet another comeback story, with NUS having to dig deep and come back from behind to win the tournament 26-14.

The tournament has shown how closely matched the 3 universities are, and probably there might be a slight hint that this season might see the "fall" of the Golden Era for SMU. The team has been in nothing but a shell-shock state and will be looking to pick up the pieces. This tournament paints a very interesting story for next year when the teams meet for the 3rd Tri-Univerisities 15 a side Rugby Championships.

Meanwhile, the SMU team has wasted no time to mourn and has been reported to be back in the training camp and looking forward to sort out the problems within the team and prepare themselves for the next challenge, the India Rim Australia University Games in Australia this December.

Come on down to support us

2009-10-02T12:18:00.003+08:00

"Cause if you ain't first, you're last."

Ricky Bobby

SUNIG 7s preview

2009-10-01T12:26:00.007+08:00

Tomorrow is marked as the biggest rugby tournament for all Universities this term, the Singapore Universities Games Rugby 7s will be held over the weekend for the second time in history. After being omitted from the previously established IVP games, which included polytechnics, the Singapore Universities Sports Council decided to hold their own competition, hence the birth of SUNIG few years ago.

During this weekend, we will see if defending champions SMU will be able to silence the critics and successfully defend their title like they have with the Tri Uni 15s tournament. They will be looking to complete the much prestigious double (7s & 15s title) to cement their place as the top university rugby team in Singapore again this year. The team has undergone many changes since the last tournament and has been constantly reminded that the loss of the former batch of senior players will be difficult to replace and emulate. In fact, this will be SMU's first official tournament without the players from the graduated 'Class of 09s'. While the pressure is on the new team, the team promises to deliver as Captain Derek Chan is upbeat about his chances of defending the 7s crown.

SMU will be looking to show off some of their new talents, with the likes of freshman speedster Daniel Kong, who will be looking to provide some prolific finishing and Benjamin Wai who has began to stake a serious claim for a first team place in the City boys. The team on paper looks impressive, with each player recording an average of 12.00 seconds for the 100m. (bearing in mind an outlier result of prop Sherman Yeo, who completes the century in about 30 seconds). The team is said to be made out of a list of speedsters and will certainly look to "gas & smash" their way through to the finals.

NUS on the other hand will be led out by Captain Firas, who will love to share the spoils and provide an upset for the defending champions. The NUS side will be looking rather "foreign", with almost 3-4 international exchange students making a first team appearance. They are speculated to be from either France, Canada, South Africa, NZ, Fiji, South Africa..... (YOU NAME IT THEY HAVE IT. well honestly, we are not too sure where they are from, but in any case, there are about 4 of them). In terms of the locals for the side, the team will feature a host of former Anglo Chinese School boys, like Shafiq Zulazmi, Justin Koh, Leow Wei Xiong and Loh Wei Liang. Another player who will also be featured in the side is Singapore Idol wannabe Ian Choo, who promises to sing some tunes during the tournament interval break.

Next, we have the Boon Lay Warriors, who once again are often an unknown force, only because they are located in the most obscure location in Singapore. However, not to be underestimated, the sides is going to be led out by Sidney Kumar who has recently burst into the National rugby scene in Singapore. He will be accompanied by the likes of talented rockstar-looking, Xue Ren Han, "SMU-snubber" Joel Leong and "Fake Ang moh" Peter Walker. The Warriors, will certainly be a team to watch out for.

Finally, we have SIM. The team will be captained by National player, Jon Lee. The team is mostly unknown to me! Except for Eugene Rong and former AC scrumhalf-who-now-looks-more-like-a-prop, Sugyanto who are listed to be representing SIM. It will be interesting to see what SIM can pull off, as I am sure they will like to improve their performance from the last SUNIG.

Well thats our wrap on the upcoming SUNIG, we hope you guys get down to catch the action...and to see who will be crown this year's SUNIG champions!

Coach Rong in doubt once again

2009-09-18T02:30:00.004+08:00

The speculations on Coach Rong's contract has been constantly hogging the headlines on our blog this season. And this week is no different. With 2 weeks out into the universities' biggest tournament for the term (Singapore University Games 7s), the current SMU coach has been rumored once again to be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Rong who apparently hasn't receive any of the 77 virgins that were promised to him in his contract, has expressed doubts on his availability to see out his contract till the end of the year. The ex-ACS rugby player told SMUrugby-news, "For personal reasons, I may not be able to see through my contract and join the boys up in Australia for the India Rim Games."

The City Boys' Sports officer, Andrew Aaron Tam could not be contacted during the time of press release.

Rumors has it, one candidate waiting in line to snap up the prestigous job could be former national scrumhalf and SCC player, Hairul Naim.

SMU Logistics unveils new innovation!

2009-09-12T14:27:00.006+08:00

SMU's new patented product - BlowIt

In the build up to the 2009 Singapore University Games, SMU's very own research and development arm headed by Gerald Fok unveiled their very new creation - a dildo looking whistle - at yesterday's training session. The new invention, which qualified for patent protection under the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore last week, looks to revolutionalize the refeereeing world and it seems that there has already been agreement that the new whistle will be used at SUNIG in October.

The new invention, affectionately known as BlowIt, had been kept under wraps with only key members of the research team and President Derek Chan aware of this new invention. In the short but succinct press conference held, President Chan said that 'the invention was a huge step forward especially as SMU Rugby looks to influence every aspect of the rugby circuit - including refeereeing'.
Head researcher and logistics chief, Gerald Fok, also hailed the new development as ground-breaking and gave credit to the high aesthetic value of the new achievement.

Coach Rong gave BlowIt its debut during SMU's internal games and had nothing but praise for the new tool in his mouth, even going as far to say that 'the blowing's just fine!' However, it seems that some parts of the SMU camp were voicing their concerns over the new invention. A key personnel in the developmental team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, highlighted the dangers of the new invention - "With the new design, it seems that referees are going to be more inclined to blow prematurely or even at any given opportunity! In addition, we need to send out a clear message to the public that despite the mean look of the whistle, it should only be reserved for blowing purposes."

BlowIt will be available at all major retail sporting outlets by end September.

SMU Rugby clinches deal with EA Sports

2009-09-11T09:39:00.005+08:00

An artist impression of the new Rugby 08

On Wednesday night, the City Boys clinched a new deal with EA Sports to co produce an SMU version of Rugby 08. The new deal, which was signed at an undisclosed fee, promised to be sufficient for Coach Rong to continue his recruiting ways in the coming season. EA Sports had previously approached the management with the proposal after watching a few scintillating performances put up by the City Boys.

In an exclusive interview with Coach Rong, he had this to say. "The boys were all very excited about who was going to be on the cover. Traditionally the SMU-Rugby 08 cover would be given to the most prominent player that represents us both on and off the field. In the weeks leading up to the selection, there was healthy competition between our boys. We only pick the very best even though we had many candidates, and we hope that all players will respect our final decision."

Rumour has it that in the running for favourite to grace the cover is first-team prop, Matthias Lim. The fitness maestro was recently called up to the Singapore A side after putting up some outstanding performances especially in the Tournoi Des 5 Ballons where he took his Spanish opposition for a dance before burning him senseless.

Bryan taking off his shirt, determined to prove a point

The apparent selection of Matthias for the Rugby 08 Cover has, however, not sat well with everyone in the team. For one, current Vice-President and the 2008 bad boy of Singapore Rugby, Bryan Ng, was not shy in expressing his unhappiness. When interviewed and asked why he felt he should have been picked, Bryan stared us down before lifting his shirt and declaring he had 8 good reasons. It seems that Bryan's defiant ways in not respecting the management's decision will not sit well with both Coach Rong and newly appointed President Derek Chan. Will there be strife amongst the City Boys? And what effect will this have on their preparations for the upcoming SUNIG? Only time will tell.

Ben Wai pledges to keep SMUrugby blog alive!

2009-09-10T00:49:00.002+08:00

In the latest news in SMUrugby, last season's Most Dedicated Player of the Year, Benjamin Wai has recently accepted the challenge to take upon an editorial role on SMU's highly refreshed blog at SMUrugby News.

The former track and field athlete admitted he was nervous yet excited at the prospects of being the latest addition to the team of elite writers. He said, "its a huge responsibility, i will do my best to entertain the millions and MILLIONS! of fans out there." He also said that one of his objectives upon coming on board is to satisfy the many anonymous fans' requests of putting up more photos of both winger Bryan Ng and prop Matthias Lim on the blog - half or if not totally naked! (Whether these anonymous fans are male or female - it can't be verified.)

Nevertheless and more importantly, with the new inclusion of Ben Wai, SMUrugby news promises to fill you with more spills on what goes on in the SMUrugby team...and we will be expecting to to get more "refresher-wannabes" coming back for more.

SMU signs a deal with University Western Australia

2009-09-07T15:46:00.000+08:00

We are happy to announce that SMU has signed a Sports MOU with the University of Western Australia (UWA) last Friday, 4th of September at Campus Green.

"This is the first ever Sports MOU that SMU and UWA will be signing with an overseas University. We are very confident that with the signing of the MOU, SMU sports and adventure will be given another boost and will take us to another level of development for our student athletes and leaders. The MOU will provide our students with more opportunities for skills learning and improving our overall standard of sports and adventure in SMU." Said SMU Sports Officer Andrew Aaron Tam.

Professor George Stewart, Dean of the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences and Director of International Strategy, South East Asia represented UWA at the signing ceremony while the SMU President,Howard Hunter and Dean of Student life, Prof Low Aik Meng, represented SMU in the signing ceremony.

In addition, the school secured a Sports Award from Teamlink Marketing Pte Ltd, who will contribute $6,000 a year for 2 years to help defray cost for students selected for training, courses and internships under the MOU with UWA. A cheque of $12,000 will be presented to SMU after the signing of the MOU.

Good Runout for City Boys at Blacks Midnight 10s

2009-09-02T12:00:00.006+08:00

While the Springboks maintained their 100% Tri-Nations record this season with a commanding display of attacking rugby and stifling defence at the Subiaco Oval over the weekend, some of our City Boys turned out for their respective clubs and had a good runout at the Blacks Midnight 10s.

Half of SMU's representatives such as Jed Ong and company turned out for the ACS Old Boys Rugby team whereas the other half of them such as ex-SMU skipper Amos Siow and Project Superstar Justin Lum represented Red Dot Rebels. Both clubs churned out fine performances in the grueling two day tournament. The above mentioned were not the only City Boys who played over the weekend, our ever hardworking forward Vickneswaran Sellathurai, elevated to the current Singapore 7s squad a few months back, represented Bucks Rugby Club too.

Match of the Day: ACS OBA versus Red Dot Rebels

The highlight of the tournament was the duel between Red Dot Rebels and ACS Old Boys Rugby in the group stage in Day 1 where our SMU team mates battled against each other. Adding spice to the battle was the duel between SMU rugby members Melvin Teo aka Cheeky/Jaa-Bro (ACS OBA) and Bryan Ng (Red Dot Rebels), who played on the wing for their sides. And SMUrugby veterans Daniel 'Ramone' Lee (ACS OBA) and Mouth Chew (ACS OBA) were also out to boost their chances of selection for next month's SUniG 7s after returning from their international break during the summer.

There was no love loss between SMU boys when they turned out for their respective clubs in a match that was marked by bone crunching tackles and powerful running. Red Dot Rebels eventually hung on to a 5-0 win. The result could have gone against Red Dot Rebals had a 50m drop kick attempted by former ACS(I) rugby star Blandon Tan (who will be unveiled to SMU fans next season after agreeing to a 4 year deal for a undisclosed fee) not gone wide. With the game heading to a draw, Red Dot Rebels managed to score with the last play of the game through our very own Amos Siow.

Justin Lum and Bryan Ng gave fine performances for Red Dot Rebels

Despite being knocked out in the playoffs in Day 2 by Blacks Magic, ACS OBA ended their first rugby outing with committed performances on the field. They managed to churn out a victory against Fars Rugby Club (the Iranian champions in 15s and 7s) with a convincing 13-0 victory. ACSOBR's first foray into competitive 10's rugby after a 15 year absence has set a new marker on where they stand on the local club rugby scene. Likewise, Red Dot Rebels - a team that has been making for itself a name in the local and regional rugby scene in recent years lived up to its reputation by coming in as Bowl Champions.

Current Vice-President EJ & soon to be SMU player Blandon Tan in action against the Iranians

With such fine performances churned out by our City Boys during the action-packed weekend, the SMUrugby selectors will be without a doubt licking their lips over the array of talent they have at their disposal for the upcoming season.

SMUrugby not participating in the Blacks Midnight 10s 2009

2009-08-28T14:48:00.004+08:00

Jed Ong (left), former national swimmer, looking to make an impact for the ACS OBA

This year is the first year in the past 3 years that SMU will not participate in the Blacks Midnight 10s. After winning the Bowl tournament in 2007 and 2008, the 2008 defending champions have opted to pull out from the tournament and concentrate on rebuilding their squad and gear up for the biggest university tournament of the year, the SuNIG 7s.

Nevertheless, the omission from the tournament has provided SMUrugby players to play for their respective clubs, as President Derek Chan gave the green light to players to participate in the yearly tournament.

Ben Wai, looking to get match time with ACSOBA

Players such as En Jian, Jed Ong, Mouth Chew, Ben Wai, Cheeky aka Melvin Teo and Daniel Lee will be featuring for the ACS OBA team. This will be the first time the ACS OBA will be participating in this tournament and playing in a competitive tournament since 11 years. The team will also have the likes of former ACS boy and NTU forward, Yik Thai Hoe who will certainly play an integral role in the team

Bryan Ng will be looking to keep his try scoring habits for the Red Dot Rebels

Other SMU players featuring in this tournament will be Justin Lum, Bryan Ng and Amos Siow who will all be playing for the Red Dot Rebels. The team will be full of many local talents, including former SMU captain, Daniel Marc Chow and Alex Chew. Also featuring in the squad will be former NUS centre A'srie, who is making his first competitive appearance since a career ending injury last year, and current NUS utility player, Valmiki C Nair. This squad will certainly look like an interesting team to watch out for.

So if you are interested do hop on down to catch our boys in action head on down to the Blacks Midnight 10s at SPE tonight.

Rongy to coach SMU for life?

2009-08-27T01:43:00.004+08:00

Last night at the City Boys' training ground, the boys who usually have trainings on Wednesdays’ nights at the underground concourse were told to give way for the SMU cheerleading team. It was reported that they was a bit of Argie Bargie going on between SMUrugby’s representative and the SMU cheerleading captain (some chick), but eventually the rugby boys (being the gentlemen that they are) gave in and resorted to training at an open space outside the school library in the DARK!

Rumor has it, a deal was struck with the cheerleading team, but the conditions of agreement for the use of the training ground were undisclosed. However, whatever the conditions were, it certainly left a lot of the City boys grinning from ear to ear when they were told to relocate to the random space outside the library. Strange, but it’s true.

Rumor has it: En Jian (EJ), Vice president of SMUrugby was the one who negotiated the 'deal' with the cheerleading girls?

The training was said to be somewhat productive as players ran around blindly in the dark. Coach Rong described the session to be one requiring high levels of awareness and good handling skills, something which apparently the City Boys weren’t very good at.

However, the training in the dark last night played little significance to the tension that has been surrounding the speculation of Coach Rong leaving, especially after having signed a new contract till the end of the year. The ‘has-been’, the forgotten, the 45-caps former Singapore captain said, “the speculations of being offered a job by a mysterious source for an undisclosed fee is true. The money they were offering was good, but after consulting my agent and talking to a few friends, I have made the decision to stay.” The legendary forward who suffers from two bad knees and who constantly walks with a chronic limp shared that from this latest episode he has discovered that his heart lies with SMU, the place where he calls his “HOOD”.

The board that spoke to him were visibly relieved by the news, but told the media that Rong has requested that the terms and conditions that he signed for in his latest contract be reviewed immediately. Apparently, during the time of agreement the 29-year-old coach was promised 77 SMU virgins as a win bonus, should he help SMU to successfully defend their SuNIG 7s’ crown in October. The finance officer of SMUrugby told us, “the man is now asking for 300!”

The board will hold another meeting with regards to reviewing coach Rong’s contract and will see if his request be viewed reasonable or not. But for now, the City Boys are glad to know that they will still have a coach with them for the next 6 months of their season.

Coach RONG to leave prematurely?!?!

2009-08-26T03:09:00.000+08:00

Late last night, SMU City Boys received shocking rumors that Coach Rong Jing Xiang might be set to leave the club. The coach who recently signed a newly extended contract in July has been linked to a lucrative move to a mysterious job for an undisclosed fee.

The news came as a shock as the coach had only signed a new 6 months contract and had pledged to stay with the City Boys till the end of the year. When President Derek Chan was interviewed, he said, “We can’t confirm the validity of these rumors…” The new SMUrugby president who just assumed the leadership role added he has arranged for an emergency board meeting and has requested Coach Rong to have a word with the board.

Derek Chan aka D.Chan told SMUrugby news, “Should Rong choose to leave we will respect the decision, but for now, we will take things one step at a time and see what is the situation.”

The announcement of such news has posed a threat to the team’s current progress and preparation for the upcoming SuNiG 7s which is set to take place on the 3rd & 4th October.

Meanwhile, the Wednesday’s training (26th August) is said to be as-per-normal despite the rumors. In addition, Coach Rong has indicated that he will certainly be present and will be looking forward to the 25-odd players squad to turn up in full force at the Concourse (underground).

Could this be the last training for Coach Rong? Will Coach Rong leave? Will the departure of Coach Rong, mark the downfall of SMU’s reign as the #1 Rugby University in Singapore?

Stay tuned, as we will give you the latest on SMUrugby News

Insider news: Rumor has it, Uncle Wei Nurn might be eyeing on the coaching job!!!

Fullback quitting rugby to start feasting club?

2009-08-24T02:39:00.005+08:00

After being largely anonymous last season and announcing his informal retirement from the game, the man they called "The Ong" made a surprise appearance during SMU's last training on Friday, at their latest new training ground at Kallang.

The man who recently lost his starting position to Wang En Jian was looking relaxed and cool about his 'shocking appearance'. He said, "I am just here for a work out. Nothing more to it." He dispelled all rumors that he might be gearing up to play for the upcoming SuNiG 7s and insisted he will like the media to leave him in peace.

Off the field, the star fullback is rumoured to have been operating a club of his own on the City Campus, called "The Feasting Club". Apparently, the club which began just 6 months ago was formerly headed by ex-City Boy, Lionel "Robber" Poh. However, after Poh's semi-retirement from the rugby scene and an expired contract with the City Boys, the leadership role has fallen upon Alex Ong's shoulders to lead the charge in having massive feasting all through the days.

The Feasting President Ong, is said to be recruiting more members for his club, which has currently 2 members remaining since the departure of Poh. The other member being current SMUrugby President Derek Chan. The duo are said to hold club meetings around Waterloo street during lunch-time.

When questioned about the existence of the Feasting Club, Alex Ong replied, "Be there or be square."

Tough challenges lie ahead of SMUrugby

2009-08-21T03:02:00.001+08:00

Its been a long time since we last “refreshed” our much beloved blog, which is coincidentally looking to surpass the total viewership of NTU’s blog really soon. ..So in order to achieve that and feed all you hungry readers out there…we are back once more with the new and latest juice and spills of what goes on in the university rugby scene and in particular, the City Boys.

After an impressive season that saw SMUrugby successfully defending their Tri-Unis title, 2008 President Sherman Yeo stepped down to allow the newly-appointed President, Derek Chan to assume the honors and bring SMU forward in the competitions and challenges ahead.

Upon assuming the new leadership role, President Derek Chan wasted no time by firstly renewing the coaching contract of Coach Rong Jing Xiang for yet another term. When interviewed with SMUrugby news, the coach who led the team to it’s second Tri-Universities Crown was elated. He said, “I am looking forward to working with the boys, they are a great bunch with lots of talent.”

The first challenge for Coach Rong is to defend SMU’s SuNIG 7s’ Crown, a challenge that has left many pundits and critics speaking of how this could be a tough test for Rong and his boys. The former Singapore Captain has to deal with a squad that has suffered a significant depletion ever since key players such as Daniel Marc Chow, Desmond Wee, Lorenzo, Weiming, Alex Chew and Lionel Poh, have all left the team on free transfer.

Speaking to Coach Rong after his 1st official training for the 2009/2010 season with the City Boys at the City Campus underground concourse on Wednesday, Coach Rong said, “The players that left us were certainly a tough act to follow, but I believe that the current squad of players have what it takes to step up to the plate and fill the big shoes. We just need to work on gelling the team together and work with the new boys who have come in this year.”

Despite appearing confident in his replies throughout his interview, Coach Rong did drop hints on his concerns for how the boys might fare next season for the Tri-Unis 15-a-side Championship, saying that while he is confident for the coming SuNiG 7s, he admits there will be a lot more work needing to be done when the 15 a side season starts.

But in his words, “It’s going to be a challenge, but I like challenges and I believe the City Boys will be up for it when the time comes.”

Only time will tell.

More from SMUrugby's France Tour

2009-06-10T23:52:00.002+08:00

to Elisha Chng (1985 - 2009)

2009-05-31T20:32:00.005+08:00

To an amazing, athletic and wonderful lad.

Elisha Chng was a great person on and off the rugby field.

You will always be remembered.

My deepest and un-expressionable condolences to all his loved ones and friends.

till we meet again...elisha.

SMU Rugby's Formal Player Awards for the 08/09 Season

2009-05-24T21:42:00.004+08:00

In April this year SMURugby once again hosted their Annual General Meeting to usher in the new Exco as well as to recognize the contributions of their players throughout the season. In the absence of the regular Emo-Speech IC, Amos Siow, Senior Player Alex Chew and out-going Vice-President Mouff led the Awards Ceremony to commemorate the greatest distinctions and disgraces of the 08/09 campaign.

Most Consistent/All-rounded Player Award

Wang En Jian

The award for the most consistent and all-rounded player went to SMU’s fullback for the Tri-Uni’s 09 Season for his conscientious and consistently safe stewardship of the SMU half of the pitch.

Most Dedicated Player Award

Benjamin Wai

Ben Wai’s continuous undying dedication to the team at every training and his impeccable attendance record were matched only by the winner of the next award.

Most Hardworking Player Award

Gerald Fok

Gerald’s solid work ethic in trainings was firmly proven when the SMU forward went on to match some of the fittest in the team at a blip test session, cementing his place as our most hardworking counterpart.

Most Improved Player Award

Tafadzwa Marasha

Tafa, the famous brudder of the Tri-Uni’s squad has come a long way this season, a personal highlight of which will no doubt be his match-turning try scored from a penalty kick gone wrong against NUS in what could be said to be this season’s point of peripetia.

Most Promising Player Award

Nicolas Hwang

The man informally known as The Panzer has shown repeated flashes of brilliance on the field in this year’s season, making his mark as the player to watch in SMU’s already star-studded backline.

Best Newcomer Award

Melvin Teo

In the short time that we have known him, Melvin a.k.a. Cheeky has truly proven his worth to the team often exceeding expectations and astounding his peers with his on-field performance. For that he was crowned the award reserved for the most valuable addition to the SMU lineup.

Best Forward of the Tri-Uni’s 09

Vickneswaran Sellathurai

Vick stepped up to the mark this season, captaining a memorable match where he rallied his forwards against an unexpected and brutal NTU forward onslaught that saw our City Boys bunkered a mere couple of desperate inches from their own try line. His contributions to the team as a forward have been invaluable and as we bid farewell to SMU’s longtime forward bastion of strength Daniel Marc Chow, perhaps this is the player all spectators ought to set their sights on in the seasons to come.

Best Back of the Tri-Uni’s 09

Justin Lum

Yes, it may come as a shock to many, but Justin Lum is in fact a player in SMU. Though public appearances by this long missed Rugby celeb are now rare since his knee injury where in his words “my knee shattered into a million pieces”, Justin Lum showed up when his team needed his services most, and did he show up in style. Single-handedly destroying opposition scrum-halves to earn back good SMU ball possession and then putting the nail in the coffin to secure spectacular and critical game-winning tries, Justin Lum despite his dismal attendance record has earned this award with his unarguably critical on-field performance for his team.

Top Try Scorer of the Tri-Uni’s 09

Bryan Ng

Despite the many controversies surrounding him, the number of times Bryan has crossed the line this season is rivaled only by the number of abs Bryan has under his easily removed shirt. Nuff said.

Best Back of the 08/09 Season

Alexander Chew

Alex came into this season as a man with a mission, proving his worth to the team time and time again with his strong, surging counter-attacking runs that gained the City Boys valuable time and territory both in defence as well as attack. Desmond Wee has cited Alex as one the top wingers in Singapore, and who are we to disagree with Desmond.

Best Forward of the 08/09 Season

Daniel Marc Chow

DMC needs no introduction. Once again the man has dug deep to contribute the “hard yards” both on and off the field for his teammates. Returning from an appendicitis operation to immediately hit the field to defend the championship side by side with his fellow forwards, Daniel Marc Chow showed no slack to the opposition to put on a solid showing as the most dependable and valuable forward the team has to offer.

Best Player of the 08/09 Season

Derek Chan

This coveted highest accolade is awarded only to players who bring the team to new heights not only in terms of individual contributions but also as a playmaker who sets the team on the road to victory. The decision for this season was unanimous. Derek has truly proven to the SMU club management that his multi-million dollar signing was worth every cent in the check. His contribution to the team in offence when running the ball and in defence when making the tackles count has earned him this award as the most valuable asset to the SMU team.

Stay tuned to SMU Rugby News as we usher in the new exco and look to begin an exciting new wave of transfer signings and million dollar deal player contracts in preparation for the fresh 09/10 season. More news soon to come.

SMUrugby Leaves Europe in Awe

2009-04-22T23:36:00.005+08:00

The SMU 7s squad finally completed the Tournoi Des 5 Ballons in true fashion. The team who went up to Cergy, France to compete in the week long tournament performed beyond expectations to secure a silver medal in the league competition and a bronze medal in the cup competition. The tournament was an invitational event involving a vast variety of teams from more than 9 countries around the world and with more than 40 competitive teams.

In the league competition, the City Boys beat ILEPS (10-7), St Petersburg University (17-5) and Complutense (29-5), and only drawing with the defending champions, ESSEC (12-12), which denied them the gold.

In the cup competition, SMU faced ILEPS in the semi-finals and had to swallow a disappointing defeat of 21-7. Unfortunately, in an unanticipated turn of events, ESSEC then went on to withdraw from their own tournament and our City Boys were awarded a third place position that did not reflect the true standing in the tournament. However, on a brighter note, SMU was also awarded the Fair Play Award for upstanding conduct both on and off the field throughout the tournament duration.

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 manager Andrew Aaron Tam and our physio, Uncle See Hong, who played a huge part of making this tournament a success for us.

From the point that our team stepped onto the plane, and even upon our arrival at the tournament grounds, our team faced constant doubt and ridicule as both locals and competitors doubted our playing ability. However this tournament has truly served to become a hallmark for our beloved City Boys who have done well to prove themselves and leave a memorable mark in Europe where we have shown once and for all that we should never be taken lightly again.

Results:

Group Games

(1) SMU vs ILEPS (France)

Scoreline: 10-7

SMU Tries: Bryan Ng (1), Alex Chew (1)

(2) SMU vs ESSEC (France - defending champion)

Scoreline: 12-12

SMU Tries: Wang En Jian (1), Alex Chew (1)

(3) SMU vs St Petersburg University (Russia)

Scoreline: 17-5

SMU Tries: Bryan Ng (2), Derek Chan (1)

(4) SMU vs Complutense (Spain)

Scoreline: 29-5

SMU Tries: Nick Hwang (1), Melvin Teo (2), Matthias Lim (1), Bryan Ng (1)

Cup Semi-Final:

SMU vs ILEPS (France)

Scoreline: 7-21

SMU Tries: Derek Chan (1)

SMUrugby Set To Leave For France

2009-04-12T02:52:00.006+08:00

In less than a week's time, SMUrugby will be flying off to France to represent the school as well as the nation in the “Tournoi des 5 Ballons” organised by ESSEC (École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales) Business School. The 30th edition of the T5B, “Tournoi des 5 Ballons”, will take place in Cergy-Pontoise, France, from April 19th to April 24th 2009. This is the first time a sports team from SMU will be travelling to Europe. This also marks SMUrugby's first trip out of the Asia/Oceania region.

The tournament will last for 5 days: arrivals on Sunday, qualification games and playoffs at ESSEC and in Cergy’s facilities from Monday to Wednesday, Finals and closing ceremony on Thursday evening, and departure on Friday morning.

SMUrugby will be Asia's sole representative and will be up against 5 other teams from France, Spain and Russia. Having recorded their first overseas victory in Australia back in December 2008 during IRAUG 2008, the City Boys will be looking to build on that and come home from France with some victories under their belts.

The City Boys were put through their paces in their last training at Gotham City on Thursday morning as they make their final preparations for the 7s Tournament in France under the watchful eyes of Coach Rong Jing Xiang. The boys looked sharp as they were working through their moves under the hot sun.

Inspirational skipper Daniel Marc Chow has been appointed the tour captain in his final swan song for SMUrugby. When asked how does he rate the team's chances for the TB5 tournament, he said:

"Even. We know we will be facing bigger players from France, Spain and Russia. But we will give them a hard time because we have nothing to lose. We have the right mix of youth and experience in this team - the old guards who have aged very well and the freshmen who are knocking at the door and eager to show their ambitions."

Derek Chan, recently named as the Player of the Season by the SMUrugby Players' Association in his first season at SMUrugby, has been named as the tour's vice captain. When asked what style of rugby can we expect to see from the team, he answered:

"The City Boys always feel better attacking than defending. We'll play the beautiful game. We'll give a show in every match!"

The squad of 14 representing SMUrugby in France:

1. Daniel Marc Chow (Captain)

2. Derek Chan (Vice Captain)

3. Vickneswaran s/o Sellathurai

4. Sherman Yeo

5. Nicolas Hwang aka Panzer

6. Alex Chew

7. Chew Yin Xiang aka Mouth

8. Daniel Lee

9. Melvin Teo aka Mok's Bro

10. Wang En Jian

11. Bryan Ng

12. Chong Wei Nurn
13. Matthias Lim
14. Benjamin Teong

We wish the 14 players all the very best in France.

Flight Details:

Air France

Changi Airport, Terminal 1

18th Apr - Singapore to Paris (AF 0257)

Departure/Arrival: 2255/0605

1st May - Paris to Singapore (AF 0256)

Departure/Arrival: 2330/0605

A tribute to our graduating players

2009-04-02T08:23:00.004+08:00

As the season is coming to a close, all thats left on the City Boys' calendar, is a trip to France to participate in the T5B Rugby 7s tournament held in Paris. This will be the last tournament for the season and will also be the very last for many of our old guards who have served SMU well.

SMUrugby will like to take time to salute our old guards who have served the City boys faithfully and who have certainly played an integral part in building up the team to what it is today.

Players who will leave at the end of this season under the "Bosman ruling".

1. Mok Wai Hon
2. Naresh
3. Lorenzo Escano
4. Vignesh Naidu
5. Lionel Poh
6. Daniel Marc Chow
7. Lim Wei Ming
8. Alex Chew
9. Desmond Wee
10. Tafa

Enjoy the video.

A tribute to the 2nd graduating batch of players from SMUrugby.

Time: 7:57

SMU Rugby Retains Tri-Universities Rugby Championship 2009 (15-a-side)

2009-03-31T17:22:00.002+08:00

Results of Tri-Universities Rugby Championship 2009:

SMU vs NTU (11-0)
NUS vs SMU (12-33)
NTU vs SMU (8-10)
SMU vs NUS (10-12)

SMU Rugby successfully retained its 15-a-side title after a grueling one-month tournament featuring the likes of NUS and NTU. This marks the end of a remarkable season for SMU Rugby as the City Boys made a clean sweep at all the local university competitions – 2008 SuniG 7s (Champions) and Tri-Universities Rugby Championship 2009 (Champions), making them the top local university rugby team in Singapore.

We would like to thank OSL and SSU for the tremendous support given to the rugby team this entire season. Many thanks to the great supporters who came down to cheer for us. We greatly appreciate it and we hope that you will continue to support us in future competitions. It has been a great season and we will continue to work hard to do SMU proud.

Next up, SMU Rugby will be heading up to France in April for an international 7-a-side rugby tournament featuring the top rugby universities from around the world.

The debate: Who is the Special One?

2009-03-29T03:08:00.007+08:00

Ever since our interview with current SMUrugby City Boy’s Coach, Rong JingXiang, “shit-stirrers” from various sources have flooded our tagboard and wrote to us. Some have questioned whether Rong has achieved more than Harry, or if there is possibly a better coach out there suitable for the talented City Boys.

The position of being the City Boys’ coach never used to get much attention until recent years. It is highly speculated that the position of being City Boy’s head-coach has been highly sought after, and that many coaches in Singapore have at some point in time expressed interest in the job over the last 2 years.

In the last 2 years, with 2 different coaches, the team has shown to be able to deliver the goods regardless of who they were being coached under – winning their respective tournaments and achieving the ultimate goal of winning the Tri-University Rugby Championships in both years under both Harry Mason and Rong Jingxiang respectively.

Based on our statistics analysis, both coaches’ achievements with the club are relatively on par and there are perhaps minor differences on paper. However, it is said that the team under new coach Rongy plays with a lot more structure, flair and confidence as compared to team that played in the previous season. But that may be due the inclusion of the new players, such as Derek Chan, Bryan Ng, Nick Hwang and EJ. However, making a comparison between the two coaches and judging who did a better job will be highly inappropriate and unprofessional of us as both coaches have been vital and integral in developing SMUrugby to where it is today – so much credit must go to both of them. As it is never going to be easy to coach a team with so much talent, of which most of the backline players are natural wingers and finishers of the game, rather than playmakers.

So kudos to both coaches, Harry Mason and Rong Jingxiang.

Under Harry Mason’s time (2007 to 2008)
- Won Blacks Midnight 10s Bowl in 2007 & 2008
- Finished 3rd in the ringEmail 7s
- Won SUniG 7s Cup 2008
- Won Tri-University Rugby Championships

Tri University 2008 Statistics

o Won 3 Matches Lost 1 (65pts scored & 35pts conceded)
o 1 Bonus point
o 8 tries scored & 5 tries conceded
o Most tries in a game for SMU : 3 against NUS (2008)
o Total points tally 10

Under Rong JingXiang’s time (2009 to current)
- Won Tri-University Rugby Championship

Tri University 2009 Statistics

o Won 3 Matches Lost 1 (64pts scored & 32pts conceded)
o 2 Bonus points
o 9 tries scored & 3 tries conceded
o 1 clean sheet
o Most tries in a game for SMU: 5 against NUS (2009)
o Total points tally 11

SMUrugbynews Special:Coach Rong in the hot-seat

2009-03-28T04:49:00.007+08:00

After successfully defending this year's Tri-Universities Rugby Championships this year, City boy's Head coach, Rong Jingxiang speaks to smurugby-news.blogspot.com, and shared with us his views on the team and what the future holds for the 2 time! 2 time!...Tri-Uni Champions.

SMUrugbynews: Thank you Rongy for taking time off your busy schedule to speak with us.

SMUrugbynews: ok...Firstly, congratulations on leading the team to victory in the Tri-Uni Championships. Could you describe to us how was your stint as the new coach of the City Boys been this season?
Rongy: Well...it was fun coaching cause i knew most of the boys before hand. To be honest, i didnt feel like i was a coach- COACH. I felt like i was one of the boys who was imparting the knowledge that i had acquired in my years of experience. It was nothing too formal and it was good fun.

SMUrugbynews: With the team littered with so many talented rugby players, was it easy to work with the team? Did you face any problems with any players in particular?
Rongy: Yes. It is obviously very hard to work with a team so littered with talent, cause at the end of the day, you can only fill in 15 players and you will want to get the best out of each player - so it was certainly tough. In terms of having problems with any players...well...lets just say the player that gave me the most problem was obviously Desmond "I'm fucked up" Wee (we knew that was coming).

Because while the lad has no doubt the ability on the field, he THINKS he is as good looking as me and his brother, Colin Wee. HAH! i had to keep the boy in check together with that unrealistic ego of his.

SMUrugbynews: Haha..whats new eh? Well moving on...many have criticised that with the amount of national team experience within the team, the City boys have at times underperformed, especially with narrow victories over NTU and even a defeat to NUS, what do you think about that?
Rongy: Well with the talent available, you would expect the scoreline to little bit more flattering. However, we've got to give some credit to our opponents. Both (NUS&NTU) who have in their respective matches "turned up" during game time and give the City boys a run for the money. Any team that wants to knock the defending champions off their pedestal will definitely give nothing less than their best, this is obvious in any sport.

Having said that, a win is a win and while we are champions once again, there is lots to be learnt and improved within the team.

SMUrugbynews: How would you then rate the City Boys performance in this year's Tri Unis?
Rongy: upon 10, i would rate them a 7. The rating would have been better if they have been more consistent throughout the 80mins. However, like all good teams complacency will sometimes creep in (as it did for us).

SMUrugbynews: So then, what has been the key to the success of the SMUrugby team this year?
Rongy: The desire to win from the boys. Special mention to the new boys like Derek Chan and Bryan Ng who both showed a lot of passion when they were on the field. It was good for the team.

SMUrugbynews: With many of the old guards set to leave the team at the end of their contract this season. Do you feel like the City boys' dominance in the local schools' rugby scene will be under any threat?
Rongy:Well.. obviously the team will be weaken. However, i'm sure SMU will gladly extend their contract if they wish to take up another year of studies in sexual intercourse offered by the students of the school. And when i say this, i refer to Vicky as one of the students.

SMUrugbynews: .....(ok whatever that means) So serious question now...This season the City boys featured without their former captain Amos "stomper" Siow, also known as the man with the most natural swing...was his presence missed in the team?
Rongy: KNN! His presence was sorely missed caused i realised that was a lack of comedy relief during training and the role of a clown was hard to fill. NEXT question..CB...KNN.

SMUrugbynews: Ok final question. We have heard that the board has been very pleased with your performance this season as head coach, does this mean we will be seeing more of you next season? The fans are already calling you "The Special one".
Rongy: The truth is...i would love to continue, but i haven't had any talks with the board as yet to where my future lies with the club. It remains to be seen. Lastly, to the fans...it is true...I am...whoever you say i am.

THE SPECIAL one.

SMUrugbynews: Right.

SMU Barely Scraps Past NTU

2009-03-14T23:50:00.002+08:00

NTU vs SMU (6th March 2009)

Location: NTU

Scoreline: 8-10

NTU
Tries: NTU Winger (1)
Penalties: Aidil (1)

SMU
Tries: Nick Hwang (1), Alex Chew (1)

At the back of a surprise victory over arch rivals NUS, the City Boys were looking to pile on the points against NTU when the teams met in the far western obscure part of Singapore for the return leg of the tournament. The City Boys were clearly buoyed with confidence and some were saying even before the match that the title was in the bag. However deep in Boon Lay territory, NTU were training hard, quietly getting confident that they could once again outmuscle the SMU forward pack, and somehow spring a shocker for SMU.

The sun was definitely a factor as a few SMU players were complaining of a possible heat stroke during the warm-ups and some even disgracefully requested to the coach about playing only one half. Such appalling reactions from the handsomely paid superstars were confounded by NTU’s intensity in the opening 5 minutes which saw SMU’s backline under serious pressure.

SMU’s kicking game was taking a while to find its groove whilst NTU’s standoff and fullback found pin-point accuracy in their punts which resulted in an unexpected first try for the Boon Lay Warriors. The try started from SMU’s first foray into the NTU’s 22 and due to some sloppy ruck-clearing, NTU had managed to steal the ball off the ruck and they countered. Gutsy play and simple hands from NTU within their own 22 and a massive boot from their fullback saw the ball travel into SMU’s 22. SMU were clearly not prepared for such Crusaders Style of rugby from their humble counterparts and were punished when a failed clearance from SMU’s flanker Ben Teong led to a try from the NTU winger. That try definitely set the tone for the rest of the match as NTU commanded throughout the half, and for once in years looked like they were serious contenders for a victory.

With halftime approaching, clearly both sides were suffering from the punishing heat and at one point of the match; NTU’s Yik Thai Hoe was seen pleading with his coaches to take him off. Apparently the appeals had started after 5 minutes and at every breakdown, Yik was sighted waving his hands to signal a substitution, however his requests were being turned down and he was cajoled into staying on for another 10 minutes always, this led to some spectators on the sidelines including injured flanker Lionel Poh and Uncle See Hong chanting “let him go, let him go”.

Back to the game, almost at the stroke of halftime, SMU managed to turn on the style and this led to some power pick and drives from SMU’s forwards led by Number 8 DMC and the ‘beautiful’ Prop Sherman Yeo. Some serious rucking101 from NTU caused the ball to be popped out of the base of the ruck and this lead to a free for all which allowed SMU in-centre also nicknamed Nick the 'German Panzer' Hwang to scoop out the ball and barraged past 2 NTU players to score SMU’s first try of the match leveling the score at 5 a piece. The Panzer’s recent performances have caused quite a stir in the Asian Rugby Forums and some critics have said he might be a serious contender for a place in the Team of the Tournament.

In the 2nd half, SMU brought on some big guns to replace the tired legs and that led SCC’s Prems Winger Alex Chew who also recently switched compression sponsors from Skinz to Under Armour, scoring a brilliant try 10 minutes into the 2nd half. The score was then 10-5 to the City Boys. The rest of the match was anything but cruise control for the SMU team, NTU came back even harder and this frustrated some of the SMU forwards. At one point, SMU forwards were heard screaming at each other, apparently ‘le beautiful prop’ Sherman was question the commitment of his second-rows and that led to a shouting contest.

NTU camped out in the SMU’s 22 for the remainder of the match as time and again, SMU failed to find touch on their kicks which resulted in NTU keeping up the pressure on SMU. The pressure got to Referee Douglas Danapal, brother of senior referee George Danapal (if you recalled he almost had an altercation with an SMU player last year @ SMU Ringemail 7s ), and he sent off SMU’s mercurial scrumhalf Justin Lum for disrespect. Justin Lum could be heard hurling profanities at the Ref as the number 9 was given his marching orders, 10 minutes in the bin.

Within that 10 minutes with 14 men, NTU converted a penalty infront of the post. The score was 10-8. If the match had a statistic on which half of the field the game was played, it would have shown 100% in SMU’s 22. The last 20 minutes was probably SMU’s real test of defense as NTU constantly knocked on the doors. NTU received so many opportunities to steal the victory from SMU that it was as if it was Christmas already and SMU was in such charitable moods. NTU missed a penalty right infront of the post and then had what seemed like 2 confirmed tries that gone begging due to some hardcore on-the-line oh wait, after the line tackling. Tackles from the biggest man on the pitch Derek Chan and monster hits from Vicky 'Squirmy' Sellathurai and Tafadzwa L Marasha resulted in the no-tries. SMU survived the ordeal and went on to win the match 10-8.

Final Score: 10-8 to SMU

*This article was proudly brought to you by special correspondent Lionel 'the Robber' Poh

SMU Champions Again!!!

2009-03-11T14:07:00.001+08:00

Click on table for a clearer image.

Championship Table

2009-03-09T12:33:00.002+08:00

Click on image to view the table

Try & Points Scorer Standings At The End of 1st Round

2009-03-04T12:13:00.006+08:00

Top Try Scorers

#1 - [3 Tries]

Bryan Ng (SMU)

#2 - [2 Tries]
Keith Oh (NUS)

Justin Lum (SMU)

#3 - [1 Try]

Shafiq Zulazmi (NUS)

Tafadzwa L Marasha (SMU)

Elisha Chng (NUS)

Ian Lennard Choo (NUS)

Jayapathma Herathmadhushanka Meranjan (NTU)

Karnjote Singh (NTU)

Top Points Scorers

#1 - [15 points]

Bryan Ng (SMU)

#2 - [12 points]

Justin Lum (SMU)

#3 - [10 points]

Keith Oh (NUS)

#4 - [7 points]

Shafiq Zulazmi (NUS)

#5 - [6 points]

Josiah Goh (SMU)

#6 - [5 points]

Tafadzwa L Marasha (SMU)

Elisha Chng (NUS)

Ian Lennard Choo (NUS)

Jayapathma Herathmadhushanka Meranjan (NTU)

Karnjote Singh (NTU)

SMU Shocks NUS With a Record-Breaking Victory!

2009-03-01T02:22:00.009+08:00

NUS vs SMU (27th Feb 2009)

Location: NUS

Scoreline: 12-33

NUS
Tries: Keith Oh (1), Shafiq Zulazmi (1)
Conversions: Shafiq Zulazmi (1)

SMU
Tries: Justin Lum (2), Bryan Ng (2), Tafadzwa L Marasha (1)
Conversions: Justin Lum (1), Derek Chan (3)

Considered by rugby analysts as the match of the 1st round of Tri Uni 2009, this classic match-up between arch rivals SMU and NUS was predicted to be an interesting encounter. Pundits have tipped NUS to edge out after witnessing the defending champions' dismal performance against NTU on Monday.

In what turned out to be a one-sided affair, former Rafflesian scrumhalf Justin Lum bagged 2 tries in his full debut for SMU to help inspirational skipper, Daniel Marc Chow, make a triumphant return to the team in a stunning 33-12 record breaking victory on Friday night.
The win was SMU's first 15-a-side win on NUS ground.

Justin Lum's double confirmed his return from a horrendous knee injury suffered training for the National Sea Games 7s squad over a year ago. His man-of-the-match performance will do himself some justice after disgruntled fans complained about the number of times (only 1 appearance so far) he has appeared in the SMU jersey after the massive transfer fee paid 2 years ago. It also relieved some of the pressure on the City Boys, which had been reeling from their below-par performance earlier in the week against NTU as well as missing the presence of key players such as Lionel Poh and Daniel Marc Chow.

Returning to the team for the first time since his freak abdominal injury 2 weeks ago, DMC had a hand in two of SMU's five-pointers.

The City Boys have now won all of its first round games of the Tri Unis season against both NTU and NUS. This victory now brings SMU to a comfortable position on the top of the table with 2 more games to go.

University Won Lost Draw Bonus Points Total Points
SMU 2 0 0 1 7
NUS 1 1 0 0 3
NTU 0 2 0 1 1

*Sorry but I've left out the Points Scored, Points Conceded & Points Difference as it would not fit the layout of the blog

Match Report

SMU got off to a great start when NUS conceded two tries early in the first half within a space of 10 minutes. Those 2 tries were results of shocking schoolboy errors made by the NUS players. In the 12th minute, SMU was awarded a penalty and Justin Lum's effort sailed wide of the post. Instead of catching the ball and killing it in the try area, NUS players's lack of communication lead to the ball bouncing off the hands of their French fullback. SMU's flanker Tafadzwa L Marasha capitalised on the mistake. He pounced on the loose ball and dived over the line for the first try. Less than 5 minutes later, SMU was awarded a penalty again and in a repeat of what happened moments earlier, Justin Lum's kick sailed wide of the post and this time landed off the head of the French fullback. Winger Alex Chew managed to tap the ball back and this time around, fellow winger Bryan Ng caught the loose ball and dived over the line for his 2nd try in as many games. Justin Lum duly converted and the score was 12-0 to SMU at half time.

NUS was clearly shocked by what had happened. SMU could not have asked for a better start to the game. It was an absolute nightmare-ish 1st half for NUS.

In the 2nd half, it was NUS' turn to pile on the pressure. With SMU lapsing into moments of ill-discipline, NUS seized their chances by going for the quick taps and catching the City Boys on backfoot. It was during this desperate period that NUS picked themselves up and forged on to attack. From a quick tap penalty, NUS captain Keith Oh barged through 3 defender to score. This brought the score to 12-5.

NUS' celebration was short-lived as Justin Lum scored a superb individual try off a defensive scrum in the 58th minute. Justin Lum, who was constantly pressurizing opposite scrumhalf Shafiq Zulazmi throughout the game, managed to knock the ball out of Shafiq Zulazmi's hands. He then picked it up and showed how to finish as he side-stepped through the NUS defence and scored underneath the post. Standoff Derek Chan took over the kicking duties and converted to bring the score to 19-5.

Justin Lum repeated the brilliance a couple of minutes later to score his second try of the game as the City Boys took control at 26-5.

To NUS' credit, they picked themselves up and kept on attacking. SMU then had to play with 14 men when flanker Ruzaini Sani was sin-binned with 10 minutes to go. NUS capitalised on the extra man they had and NUS' scrumhalf Shafiq Zulazmi got a deserved try when he dived over the line in the 71st minutes for a decent dose of consolation.

In the final minute of the game, SMU scored again to make the victory look a reality. This time, skipper Daniel Marc Chow picked the ball off the base of the scrum and attacked blindside. He managed to offload the ball to standoff Derek Chan before being tackled. Derek Chan showed his class when he slid through the gap and slipped a great pass to winger Bryan Ng, who dived over in the corner for his 2nd try of the game. The final whistle was blown after Derek Chan slotted in the conversion, with SMU recording a famous victory over NUS.

Final score: SMU 33 NUS 12

Speaking to SMUrugby News during the post-match conference, senior SMU player Desmond Wee, said:"The result is positive for us, especially since the last game did not go that well for us, but we cannot become overly enthusiastic and must prepare calmly for the home leg next Friday against NUS. Overall, today's performance was incredible. It was a great team effort."

SMU Opens Tri-Unis Campaign With a 11-0 Victory Over NTU

2009-03-01T02:00:00.001+08:00

SMU vs NTU (23rd Feb 2009)

Location: SPE

Scoreline: 11-0

SMU
Tries: Bryan Ng(1)
Penalties: Josiah Goh (2)

With inspirational skipper Daniel Marc Chow and ferocious flanker Lionel "Robber" Poh out with injuries in the week prior to this game, many pundits predicted that this was going to be a very tight game for SMU. Similarly, the Boon Lay Warriors were also dealt with a major blow to their Tri-Uni campaign with talented stand-off Xu Ren Han being ruled out with an ankle injury for the remainder of the season. This was gonna be a tough and intense game for both sides.

Straight from the kick off, NTU certainly sent out a powerful message when they surprised SMU by turning over possession at the breakdowns as well as driving the SMU forward pack back in the scrums. The Boon Lay Warriors managed to produce some real grunt in their scrum and screwed up the momentum for the City Boys. They made the defending champions look decidedly average and certainly a long way off last season's vintage. The City Boys were their own worst enemies at times. They made some uncharacteristics mistakes that resulted in them being pressured by NTU in their own half for a significant period of the game. The City Boys got a jump start when they were awarded 2 penalties in the first half which scrum-half, Josiah Goh, calmly slotted in to ease the pressure. At half time, the score was 6-0 to SMU.

The most redeeming feature for the SMU side was their change of attitude in the 2nd half. A half-time tactical change by Coach Rong Jing Xiang saw star winger Alex Chew and scrum-half Justin Lum coming on to replace Melvin 'Cheeky' Teo and Josiah Goh. With the substitutions made, there was a noticeable lift in the pace of the match. Justin Lum was able to provide the quick ball out that allow standoff Derek Chan to distribute the ball to the backline. With the score still standing at 6-0, the City Boys finally found the mark with their attack towards the end of the 2nd half when out-centre Desmond 'I'm F**ked Up' Wee broke up in the middle and allowed fellow Sea Games team-mate, Bryan Ng to crash over for a try to end the game 11-0 to SMU's favor.

Speaking to SMUrugby News at the end of the game, stand-in skipper Vickneswaran Sellathurai said, "We were lucky to get a victory here today. It was a below-par performance from us today, especially the forward pack. Credit to the NTU side for pushing us all the way. The only positive thing to take out of the game today was our defence. It is still early in the season and we still have a lot of work to do."

NUS Holds Off NTU In The Opening Match of Tri Unis 2009

2009-03-01T01:08:00.001+08:00

NTU vs NUS

Scoreline: 10-17

Location: NTU

NTU
Tries: Jayapathma Herathmadhushanka Meranjan (1), Karnjote Singh Daniel (1)

NUS
Tries: Keith Oh (1), Elisha Chng (1), Ian Lennard Choo (1)
Conversions: Shafiq Zulazmi (1)

*Due to numerous Mid Term Exams, SMU-rugbynews editors could not provide you a more detailed match report. Thank you for your understanding.

SMU Rugby Clinches Team of the Year Award!

2009-02-28T20:41:00.006+08:00

SMU Rugby got a great boost to their season when they were named SSU (SMU Sports Union) Team of the Year, the highest accolade for the team that emerged within top four at inter-varsity leagues or equivalent events and has contributed to the Sports Fraternity in one main or two sub events, at the annual SSU Sports Awards Night 2009 two weeks ago. This is the first time SMU Rugby has made it to prestigious list, which includes SMU Sailing and SMU Fencing. This award joins SMU Rugby's bulging cabinet which still has an empty place for the 2009 Tri-Unis Cup.

"It is a great honor to win this because there are so many great teams in SMU at the moment," said President, Sherman Yeo.

The annual SSU Sports Awards Night was a close-knit affair that brought the SMU Sports fraternity together; saluting undergraduates who have left their mark on the school's sporting history vis-à-vis sporting excellence.

The judging panel of both SSU (SMU Sports Union) and OSL (Office of Student's Life) voted based on the achievements and contributions of the various nominated teams, with the year officially running from the start of 2008 till the end of SUNIG (Singapore Universities Games) back in August last year. In that period, SMU Rugby won the inaugural Tri-Unis Championship 2008 & SUNIG 7s. It was the only sports team in SMU to be crowned champions in SUNIG 2008.

Daniel Marc Chow, current skipper of SMU Rugby, who has seen the ups and downs of SMU Rugby since it was established back in 2004 said, "This is a great achievement for SMU Rugby. We have come a long way since playing in our first official game back in 2005 and being the whipping boys of the university rugby fraternity. We wouldn't have won this award if not for the players, staff, management and our ardent supporters. Thank you guys!"

Another ACL story

2009-02-18T23:44:00.004+08:00

What looks like a promising season for the City Boys, has turned into a last minute disaster. With Captain Daniel Marc already confirmed to be missing the first match against NTU, blindside flanker Lionel "robber" Poh has been reported to be out for the rest of the season. The reckless and crazy flanker, who is known for his beasty tackles and robber-like techniques in the rucks has been reported to have torn both his MCL and ACL during SMU recent friendly match against ACJC.

The ACL victim list has been slowly growing over the years and some rumored that it is a mark of true legends, something that past-victim Desmond Wee will 'testify' to. In 2005, when the "Weezer" suffered a similar injury, the latter actually believe that the injury was more of a fashion statement than a rugby injury - but that's the zoolander for you.

Meanwhile. this injury is really going to be a huge blow to the City Boys and one can only wonder who will be filling the big shoes of this two important forwards for the SMU team. This will certainly cause some headache for the newly appointed SMU coach Rong JingXiang.

Not so interesting Facts:

Past ACL victims
1. Desmond Wee
2. Muhd A'srie
3. Lionel Robinson
4. Mohd Raihan
5. Valmiki C Nair
6. Justin Lum
7. Lionel Poh
8.......

Chow-bal out?

2009-02-17T02:23:00.005+08:00

With one week to the opening game of the 2nd inaugural Tri-Universities Rugby Championships, SMUrugby may have suffered a massive blow with inspirational team captain, Daniel Marc Chow rumored to have gone under the knife recently on Saturday.

Apparently the big man who idolizes French forward, Sebastian Chabal, has been struggling to lose "some weight", especially in the mid section, after coming back from his 6 month stint in Portugal since last June. This attempt to lose what some will call 'love handles' or 'love belly', has been rumored to be one of the explanations offered to why he has gone under the knife. Daniel Marc Chow-bal, was rumored to be experiencing some pain in the "abdominal" after doing one sit-up too many after Friday's training and had to be rushed to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. While we cannot confirm if the operation was due to a medical condition or an excuse to go under the knife for aesthetic reasons, we definitely wish Chow-bal a speedy recovery.

In an email interview with SMUrugby-news overseas-based correspondent, Amos Siow, his agent said, "The Big Daddy (DM) is looking a bit out of sorts and might possibly miss the opening game against NTU. ...however, we will leave it to the doctors and sports trainers to decide if he will be fit for the game at the end of the week."

Meanwhile, the City boys were reported to have won convincingly against ACJC on Saturday in a friendly, after being crowned Team of the Year in SMU.

Where in the World is Refresher Siow??

2009-02-13T00:11:00.014+08:00

As the highly anticipated Tri-Uni's draw steadily nearer, the much talked about Cityboys recently received an urgent rallying cry to

"STEP UP AND BE COUNTED"

Said President Sherman Yeo solemnly at our last scheduled press conference: "NUS think they can have a go at us but lets prove them wrong. I know that mid terms/presentations/assignments are piling up but now is really the time for us to make some sacrifices."

One notable name from last year's historic Tri-University's victory however, remained unaccounted for. The question on everyone's lips: "Where in the World is Refresher Siow??"

In order to set the matter to rest, your ever-loyal, totally objective reporters here at SMURugby News took an overnight flight to the far reaches of the known world (where Amos was last seen on exchange), in order to bring you some answers. At present, little is known of the fate of this legendary SMU Old Guard except for a rumoured Spring signing with the Copenhagen Business School Rugby Club for an as yet undisclosed amount. We also found this "refreshing" little gem:

What all this shocking news amounts to, we leave to you our treasured readers to conclude on your own terms. SMU Veteran Vice-President Chew Yin Xiang however, was quick to give an answer. In an exclusive interview Mouff Chew gave us the low down.

"We at SMU Rugby are not worried about the absence of our beloved Refresher. Although we deeply miss him, we cannot comment on his personal activities overseas and can only wish him the very best. In the meantime, our ranks are swelling with talent. We would like to introduce to you, our secret weapon Numero Uno, Nicolas Hwang a.k.a. The Panzer."

Named after the infamous German Tank known for both its power and speed, Panzer is rumoured to be just one of many talented centers who have stepped up to the in-center spot left open by Amos' absence.

According to Mouff, The Panzer was homegrown in the fertile soils of Anglo-Chinese Junior College, before recently being signed in a super-secret-under-the-table deal to SMU where you may have caught glimpses of this extremely classified undercover powerhouse in action on and off the field.

With the atmosphere getting tenser and more super-charged with excitement, we at SMURugby News wait in undisguised anticipation for this promising season to get into full swing. More news soon to come.

NTU in trouble?

2009-01-18T23:23:00.004+08:00

As the annual tri-unis approach, the three universities have been hard at work training, with countless gym sessions and endless fitness sessions as some of the university boys can attest to.

However, over in the west of our sunny island, rugby powerhouses NTU have seem to run into some minor difficulties, well quite major if you consider the circumstances.

Sources close to SMU Rugby have reported that NTU have lost the services of former U-19 lock and key forward Sathish Sanmugavelu. The brown-eyed Sathish has been reported to be tired of the game and is considering hanging up his boots. NTU's Captain, Sidney Kumar, and long time friend of Sathish has been seen trying to persuade the inspirational lock to come out of retirement, reportedly offering him a leadership role in a new contract.

Sathish could not be reached for comment at press time.

Adding woe and in an unexpected move, NTU's newly signed coach, Gene Tong, has also reportedly quit the team due to some contractual issues with the Singapore Rugby Union and hence, is unable to continue being NTU's coach. Captain Sideny Kumar was not contactable at press time. This is worrying for Sidney as he tries to build a team weakend by the loss of several key players due to graduation.

What lies ahead for NTU in this upcoming competition? The future looks bleak as they face up to a much stronger NUS side filled with young talent and a dominant SMU side filled with national stars.

SMU Spotted Polishing Up their Biggest Guns For the Coming Tri-Unis

2009-01-14T15:02:00.003+08:00

With the Tri-Unis quickly approaching on the horizon and NUS' reported determination to pose a strong challenge to their rivals from yesteryear, the SMU team was seen last Monday hitting the gym to polish up their guns.

Veteran and freshly re-appointed Captain DMC led the boys through the first of many gym sessions under the new regime of legendary ex-National Captain Rong and greatly respected coaching phenomenon Lincoln.

When interviewed while literally bending the bars in his squat routine, rising Bucks star Vick told our reporters that he was "well and truly ready for a new season of ankle-breaking madness".

With NUS more than a month into training and SMU getting on the tracks as well, the question must be asked, where is NTU in the heat of this dawn of an exciting new season?

The boys continue their training tonight. Stay tuned.

Singapore Combined Unis win Silver & Bronze

2008-12-22T14:03:00.002+08:00

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

2008-12-13T01:06:00.003+08:00

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

2008-11-22T20:23:00.009+08:00

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

2008-11-11T12:32:00.005+08:00

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?

2008-11-09T01:03:00.012+08:00

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

2008-11-03T17:02:00.004+08:00

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!!!

2008-10-31T14:18:00.003+08:00

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

2008-10-25T15:13:00.006+08:00

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

2008-10-22T08:39:00.004+08:00

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

2008-10-21T13:53:00.002+08:00

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?

2008-10-15T12:58:00.012+08:00

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

2008-10-07T14:17:00.004+08:00

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

2008-10-05T19:43:00.008+08:00

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

2008-09-30T14:42:00.009+08:00

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

2008-09-29T12:14:00.008+08:00

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

2008-09-26T13:32:00.004+08:00

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

2008-09-25T16:23:00.010+08:00

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

2008-09-23T20:09:00.006+08:00

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

2008-09-19T13:50:00.002+08:00

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

2008-09-18T13:30:00.004+08:00

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!

2008-09-11T17:55:00.008+08:00

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

2008-09-11T01:24:00.004+08:00

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!

2008-09-07T09:05:00.000+08:00

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!'