Singapore University Games Rugby 7s

Could history repeat itself?

Singapore University Games 7s

Date: 21st September 2008

Time: 9am - 6 pm

Venue: NUS Rugby Field

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMUrugby resorts to signing of indemnity forms!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Injury woes for SMU

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMUrugby Crowned Blacks Midnight 10s Bowl Champions!

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


Day 1

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

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

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

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

Day 2

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

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

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

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

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

Hang in there

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

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

"Leonidas Ng"

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

Squad for Blacks Midnight 10s announced

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

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

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

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

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

Here is the final squad for Blacks Midnight 10s:

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

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

Wanted dead or alive.

The season has finally kicked off this week, with the City Boys having their first training as a full team for the first time since the Tri-Universities Rugby Championships. Although a few senior boys were missing due to their recent departure to Europe for their International Exchange, this week's training saw a good turn out.

Nevertheless, the City Boys will like to welcome the arrival of freshmen Bryan Ng and Derek Chan to their first SMU training yesterday at Gotham City. The team is still awaiting for flanker, Joel Ong's arrival as well, who has yet to make an appearance to greet his new team ever since signing for the City Boys.

In other news, the team was glad to hear the successful surgery on President Sherman Yeo's broken ankle. The President who sustained a 'freak' accident 2 weeks ago in a rugby match while playing for his club, was said to be "taken out in the air dangerously" by SMU team-mate Vicknesh Sellathurai, who was playing for his respective club in the opposing team. Many versions of the story has been written and published, but only those who were there will truly know what they saw. Till this day, it is unsure if the two are still on talking terms, but the biggest rumor that Has it! is that Sherman has retaliated by allegedly putting a bounty on Vicknesh's ankle (he didn't specify which side), apparently any side will do!

SMUrugby News insider sources told us, that while President Sherman was present at yesterday's training ground on his clutches, he was seen pulling a team-mate over during a water break and whispering "A life long supply of cigarettes for Vicky's ankle!"

Fact or fiction? Only one way to find out.

The City Boys are currently preparing themselves for the upcoming Blacks Midnight 10s next Friday. Be there to catch a glimpse of their new team in action.