Who's in and who's out?

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

Said SMU Sports officer, Andrew Aaron Tam,

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

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

NUS' flyhalf Pravin, who was initially picked for the AUG 7s, has withdrawn from the squad.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

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

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

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

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

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

vice gone wild

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

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

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

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

AUG 7s squad announced

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

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

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

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

The AUG 7s Squad

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

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

SMUrugby-News.com turns 1

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

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

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

Here's your faithful crew:

Main Operator: Chew Yin Xiang (Mouth)

Writer ams: Amos Siow

Writer ben teong: Benjamin Teong

Writer vicky: Vicknesh Sellathurai

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

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

Soon to be terminated Writer zhi: Gay Zhi Cong

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

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

The Weezer shares some Wisdom

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

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

Hola from Madrid,

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

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

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

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

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

Derek Zoolander, 2001

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

Actions to be taken over foul-play

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

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

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



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



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

SMUrugby President Sherman Speaks

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

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

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

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

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

· Supporters who came down to support all the participating teams

· Anybody who has helped us in one way or another

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

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

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