SMU Rugby Exco 2011

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.

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

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...

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?

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

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

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

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

SMU 49 - SIM 15

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

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

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