By Lee Hwee Cheng
Highlights in Episode 14 of RedSportsTV.
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Clash of the titans, literally. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Home Team Academy, Wednesday, May 23, 2007 – In a rather secluded corner off Old Chua Chu Kang Road, on a pitch set against a picturesque bright blue sky and a nice cool breeze, moods around the new Home Team Academy stadium were at an all-time high as the usual Raffles and Anglo-Chinese camps fought it out yet again – both on the pitch and at the gallery.
But it was the Rafflesians who culminated the highly-anticipated affair with a prideful rendition of their school song, when the boys in green-black-white pipped Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) for the crown 13-10 with a penalty kick in sudden-death extra time.
It was all defense, scrummages and penalties in the game and any attempt by the backs at a breakaway from the defense line would quickly be foiled by a tackle. In fact, it was ACS(I) who scored the first points of the game when they were awarded a penalty kick early in the first half.
The score remained for most of the half at 0-3 as both sides struggled to keep ball possession and launch any possible attack. A bad violation from the RJC camp resulted in another penalty awarded to the boys in yellow-blue stripes, but this time, the kick failed to clear the posts.
ACS(I) had a close stab at a try when they won the ball in a line-out near the try line and charged ahead. But the Raffles defense put out all the stops and held their line. The try attempt was foiled, and in a matter of minutes, the attack had quickly swung the other way.
In the final minutes of the first half, RJC’s Shaun Yam (no.11) received a pass in the midfield, faked a pass and then with a quick change of direction, sprung forward instead and broke through the ACS(I) line. He skipped a few defenders before he was taken down – but not before passing the ball to Stuart Ho (no.13) who finished the play with a try. The conversion was not made, however, and at the end of the first half, RJC were leading 5-3.
Barely two minutes into the second half, ACS(I) twisted the situation around when they overpowered RJC’s scrum to score a try. They went on to complete the conversion and the ACS(I) camp at the gallery broke into a frenzy of cheers as ACS(I) now led by five points at 10-5.
From then on, it was all RJC on the offense. They missed another penalty kick and almost got through when a breakaway was foiled just before the try line. With adrenaline all pumped up, it was only a matter of time that RJC finally scored their next try. Missing the conversion kick again, RJC managed to level the game 10-10.
In the last few minutes of the game, both sides were awarded yet another penalty each, both of which failed to clear the posts. And at full-time, the score remained level at 10-10.
With10 minutes of sudden-death extra time, it was RJC who dominated right from the start and it was not long before another penalty was awarded to the Rafflesians. Third-time lucky, the Rafflesians finally scored on a penalty as Ong Zhe Han (no.12) sent the ball flying between the posts.
It was at this moment that the Rafflesians broke out into a frenzy, and the pitch became a sea of greens, blacks and whites as RJC ended the final with a 13-10 win.
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Ian Gan of ACS(I) tries to break free from the defense but RJC’s Kevin Neo pulls him back. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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"You’re not getting past me, dude," says ACS(I)’s Khairulanwar (14) to RJC’s Shaun Yam (11). (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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Shane Gan of ACS(I) makes a pass to a teammate before he gets tackled. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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"What nice arms you have, dude." RJC player gets the ball in a line-out. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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An ACS(I) player shouts with joy at going over for a try against RJC. (Photo 6 © Liu Yongjia)
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An ACS(I) player grabs the ball and runs while RJC players try to chase him down. (Photo 7 © Wee Ban Bee)
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An ACS(I) player gets taken down by RJC defenders. (Photo 8 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Shane Gan of ACS(I) kicks the ball forward to move the attack into the RJC half. Looking on is teammate Timothy Gay. (Photo 9 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Ian Gan of ACS(I) tries to break free. (Photo 9 © Wee Ban Bee)
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ACS(I) player attempts a forward punt. (Photo 10 © Wee Ban Bee)
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"It’s a try!" ACS(I) supporters cheer as their team makes a successful try. (Photo 11 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Martin Eddie Butler of ACS(I) player makes a run with the ball but an RJC player attempts to bring him down from behind. (Photo 12 © Wee Ban Bee)
These were the boys who sweated it out on the pitch this afternoon. Good job, everyone.
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
1 – Eric Ong
2 – Daryl Thio
3 – Liu Yi
4 – John Yeo
5 – Leo Yi Shyen
6 – Martin Butler
7 – Timothy Gay
8 – David Cheong
9 – Shane Gan
10 – Ian Gan
11 – Tang Hon Wei
12 – Justin Boey
13 – Blandon Tan (Captain)
14 – Md Khairulanwar
15 – Shannon Tan
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John Wisnioski of RJC goes on a searing run against ACS(I). (Photo 13 © Joshua Tan)
Raffles Junior College
1 – Aaron Teo
3 – Jed Chua
5 – Kevin Neo
6 – Foo Ming Qing
7 – Thaddeus Cheng
8 – Law Yi Meng
9 – Wong Kah Wei
10 – Lee Chee Meng (Captain)
11 – Shaun Yam
12 – Ong Zhe Han
13 – Stuart Ho
14 – John Wisnioski
15 – Nazirul
18 – Iwan Kurniawan
24 – Kenny Ng
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"Shhh … don’t tell them I got the ball." Everyone seems engrossed in something else as an RJC player gets ready to run with the ball. (Photo 14 © Joshua Tan)
Editor’s note: Right, we’ve gotten all the names, but we realize we don’t quite recognize the faces and the jersey numbers don’t appear on the pictures. So, if you recognize yourselves or any of your friends in these pictures, drop us a note in the "Comments" section, and we’ll update the captions accordingly. For more action shots, visit the picture gallery. Thanks! I must say though, ACS should consider changing the colours of their numbers so that they can be seen. We were pitch side and still couldn’t see the numbers properly. Small red numbers on a blue and yellow background are impossible to see. Just a suggestion to facilitate better reporting. Thanks.
Herokiller,
You sound like moron. But I’ll respond to a moron.
* Yes, my son made the USA U19 team, all explained above why he couldn’t play. He toured with the USA U18 team in April in England playing against Professional Academy teams, ex. Leicester’s U18 ‘pro’ players, players who are paid weekly. He took on this tour because it was only 12 days.
* You must be an old guy to refer to someone in the 1980s. I never said there have not been good ruggers in S’pore, truly exceptional players like the one you cite in the 1980s.
* You are all mixed up.
I think that I know Sam Chan, the one who coaches the S’pore U19 team ?
* I don’t doubt that there are players who have represented S’pore at the national senior level. My son has done the same since he was 17 years of age. But he can’t do everything.
Whether S’pore Rugby amounts to very much is another question.
* I have never said that he is the best thing that happened to S’pore Rugby. I said that now while he has the notoriety, publicity should be made of the fact as a positive for S’pore Rugby in the light of the negatives that have happened to S’pore Rugby lately. Once my son does NS his USA Rugby is probably over until he goes to a university in the US.
The decision for us will be whether to play S’pore Rugby or USA Rugby, all becomes very complicated after he’s 19 yrs of age.
I have been communicating wth the USA Rugby officials in the US over the past week because John has been asked to attend their U19 Camp in Indiana in the next few weeks, impossible for us with his A levels.
Since you don’t seem to be a very smart but an emotional guy, here is my take, better that you can put forth here, I’m sure.
* The IRB has wiped out U16, U17, U18, U19 rugby. It has all been reduced to U20 rugby.
* The USA team came in 15th in April 2007. There were two Groups, 12 teams each, A & B. the USA was in Group B, the 2nd 12 teams.
* In 2008, the World Juniors now U20 will be in June not April. The whole thing is now reduced to just one A Division, 16 teams so the USA qualifies.
I think this makes it tougher for smaller rugby nations, ex. Taiwan and S. Korea to qualify. I don’t know what they play for ? I was at the Asian U19 Rugby Championships in December in Taiwan and Japan is far, far ahead of every other team in Asia. I think Japan finished about #12 in Belfast in April at the World U19s. I was hoping that they’d do better.
S’pore came in 8th out of 12 teams is Taiwan. It wasn’t explicit but since S’pore came in 8th out of 8 in the ‘Senior Group’ and there was another ‘Junior Group’ of 4 teams, where the Philippines came in first, we were told that S’pore would be relegated to the Junior Group of four teams, Arabian Gulf, Brunei, Guam and S’pore with the Philippines promoted to the Senior 8.
I think it’s bad for S’pore. Now that the U19s are eliminated what does a smaller rugby nation like S’pore play for ? The top 16 teams are separating themselves from the smaller rugby nations, ex. Taiwan and Korea. How do they make it to a venue to play against better teams than what we have in Asia ? Taiwan and Korea are far ahead of S’pore.
Briefly, what I saw in Taiwan last year and in the USA after Christmas is other rugby playing countries doing much more to develop rugby. In December, foes that S’pore used to beat – Malaysia and Thailand in U19 rugby were better than S’pore. Maybe it was a bad year but I don’t think so.
I think there are not enough good players in S’pore, locals or expats at the U19 level. Asian U19 rugby is far ahead of pre-U or Poly rugby in S’pore.
I saw the recent S’pore vs China international game. S’pore did well for first 60% of the game with a mixed bag of players, locals and expats, juniors and seniors, but just ran out of gas later.
I don’t know what you write about or praise about S’pore Rugby when the U19 team is slippin’ and slidin’ backwards, the senior teams are good for only victories over a few nearby rivals ?
Where is the progress or upside ?
S’pore no longer plays in the HK 7s that you refer to here. I started attending that tournament in 1978. I can’t remember S’pore ever winning a game but there must be a few victories over the years.
I think that S’pore needs to qualify to get in again to the HK IRB 7s. If that’s the case, then it may not happen.
Your last sentence, ‘the level of Singapore Rugby is so low,’ etc. Yes it is. With some good players, players with potential, good guys but the whole thing overall is a pretty low rugby standard vs other countries.
When I started commenting here about rugby, my son, our experiences it was more to share what we have seen and to be factual letting the facts speak for themselves.
To be honest it doesn’t really matter. With international accolades, titles, success over rival nations maybe even more sparse than they have been in the past, why even bother with it ?
The local rugby will be reduced to playing for school rivalries at Secondary school, JC level, Poly level, etc.
The international games will just be a mixed bag of mostly losses that nobody cares about except maybe you, herokiller.
Rugby will be better off played here just for the fun of the sport, the exercise.
S’pore uses Poly, JC players in int’l matches because there is a paucity of players. After JC or Poly where are you going to play rugby ? In the university ? The Army ? The local Clubs scene ? None of it is a very high standard of rugby.
I like the people in the SRU, the coaches, etc. and my son may play rugby for S’pore again, if he wants, but it’s not a big deal for us any longer.
He has A levels, NS and university in the USA.
We are asking Mindef as much as we can that John not be made to play rugby for the SAF team. If he’s expending 22 months of his life doing NS we want it to be as meaningful as possible, not hanging around playing and practicing rugby.
Tomorrow, I send a DVD of John’s JC rugby to the University of California, Berkeley, the Head Coach who is recruiting John saying that he thinks John is a ‘fantastic prospect’ after seeing video of his U18 play in April and talking with the USA U19 backs coach, a S. African, the one who coached John on the USA U19 team. Cal Berkeley is the pre-eminent University rugby program in the USA.
We are just focusing on his A levels, NS and US university applications later. John has already established himself as a rugby player in the USA, here and when we were in England one of the senior England U19 coaches said that he thought John was a very good player after watching play vs Leicester.
So what more is there to do ?
Trade messages with you, herokiller ?
The only bright spot I can see now about S’pore rugby for John is as follows:
* Playing for Tom Browne, Phil Greening or Sam Chan in the international teams. We like all these people.
* Playing U19s or U20s, whatever comes next with John’s former
RJC teammates, AC and SA rivals and his friends at the Polys.
I was in Taiwan in December with the S’pore U19 team and they were a very close knit team. I wrote aout that experience here in this space in late May.
The team went 0-3 but the friendships among the players was very rewarding, I think.
My son is what he is, he’s done what he’s done and that doesn’t change.
Our priorities are elsewhere now.
To ourhero (or maybe that’s what you hope to be)
To say there is no one in Singapore has done what he has done is a bit far fetch.
First of all, did he even make it to the USA U-19 squad?
And secondly, there are many players in Singapore who has done what he has done and much more.
Song Koon Poh, one of the legends of Singapore Rugby, made it to the World Selection team to tour South Africa in the early 80s. He was awarded the prestigious Sportsman of the Year by the Singapore National Olympic Council, the only rugby player to be awarded such an award.
There is also Sam Chan and Gary Tan who made it to the prestigious Asian Barbarians where the best players in Asia are selected in a combine team.
And let’s not forget Andrew Khoo, who has represented Singapore more than 10 times in the prestigious Hong Kong 7’s.
There are many players in the national team now who has represented the national team and various age groups concurrently when they were in JC or poly. I’m sure all of the above-mentioned players deserve some commendation as well.
So before you say your son is the best thing that ever happened to Singapore Rugby or the only thing that can be written about Singapore rugby, I think the minimum achievement that he should attain is to make the Singapore National team. Like you said, since the level of rugby in Singapore is so low, he should be able to do this easily.
Check,
I think this commentary will end naturally. It’s the only way for some of us to communicate, etc.
I make my comments so long and discuss issues that others may not care very much about in order to offer what I have seen with my rugby following experience.
2007 is my last year to follow the local rugby scene. I doubt that after the upcoming C Division Rugby Final, if I will watch very much or any schoolboy rugby, etc.
Finally, I go on about my son, John, often because he is a product of S’pore school rugby. He went to a USA U19 High Performance Rugby Camp, made a team that came in 15th in the World’s Juniors in April in Belfast, that is far, far ahead of Singapore rugby. I think he’s testimony to S’pore rugby, that in spite of S’pore’s recent rugby problems, etc., that there are good players who can play at a much higher level.
I think he should get more publicity as an advertisement for S’pore Rugby because I don’t think what he’s done is very easy.
When he was in Arizona In December at the USA Selection Camp, 167 players, the first morning was the taking of heights and weights, etc. The USA may not have the top U19 Rugby players vs other leading rugby nations but but they do have big players. When he was lining up to have these things done I looked at him briefly, and thought that he looked like a ‘paperweight’ vs the other players. He’s about 6′ 1 1/2′ and 180 lbs.
We were at the Asian U19 Rugby Championships in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On Dec 23rd, we flew Kaohshiung to Taipei, to S’pore (for 4-5 hrs only), to Tokyo, to LA to Phoenix, to Glendale, Arizona nearby. That was about 40 hours of transit time, arriving on Christmas Eve at this University campus, Dec 24th about 4pm. The Camp started at 8 am on Dec 26th.
In Taiwan, the two S’pore rugby physios were giving John hot and cold baths of his legs a few x/day and other things, his shins, knees and calves were all in trouble.
The chief medical officer in this USA Camp, an orthopedic surgeon from Stanford Medical School, examined John concluding that John is losing the feeling in his toes, that his legs have had too much ‘contact’ with the turf, that if he continues to play he could be out for a year, that he needs rest. He prescribed pain-killers for John to take in multiple doses daily.
I asked John to do his best since we have come so far, etc.
I won’t bore you with all but what he did to represent himself and Singapore, should be noted.
He arrived in Arizona, tired out from a difficult Asian tournament, jet-lagged, injured, etc., etc., etc.
He had to sleep with ice gags on his knees to kill the pain.
In the first practice game in that Camp, John started at #14 with the U18 A or first team. Some of those USA players rolled over on his ankles and knees. The first time it happened, he looked at me on the sideline. He couldn’t move, couldn’t move his feet or legs even one inch, I waived to him to get moving, just move, get off the field. He hobbled off the field somehow.
But he did so well, that he was elevated to the USA U19 2nd team for the next practice game, later in the day.
In the middle of that game, his team vs the USA U19s first team, the USA U19 Head Coach asked John to cross over to the first team and play #11. John got a pass ran past his opposing wing and then the USA U19 fullback, their best player later in April in Belfast, this in front of the USA U19 coaches.
The USA U19s back coach, a South African, loved John because he felt ‘that he really understands the game’ and because John never complained about his injuries.
If John had stayed in the USA in Jan -April 2007 to practice with the USA U19 team, he would have played #14 for the USA in the World U19 Rugby Championships in April, in Belfast N. Ireland.
Much more to say here about what John had to overcome, etc, but he wore his SRU rugby sweats and other outfits from the ARFU U19s in Taiwan throughout the 6 day USA Rugby Camp. I know John and part of that effort was to represent Singapore.
About 10 days after that USA Camp, we received a pulsating email message from the rugby coach at UCLA urging John to play rugby there. He must have heard about John from that Camp. It was supposedly a closed rugby camp.
A few weeks ago, I received a message from the University of California, Berkeley Head Rugby coach saying that John was a ‘fantastic prospect’ when he has a team of 55-65 players that includes many of the best USA rugby players at the collegiate age. He wants us to rush the application materials to ‘Cal,’ and has his assistants messaging us as well. They have seen video play of John and we’ll send some more, etc.
Last night, I punched into yahoo.com. ‘Cal Rugby’ and one of the first search links was titled something like ‘Cal reloads for the coming season,’ meaning that the Coach is announcing the 10 new players recruited by ‘Cal’ to be incoming Freshman, ex. 6’7″ forwards from Canada, international scrum half from Canada, etc. AND the nephew of the current U19s backs coach, the South African. This S. African coaches the Dallas Harlequins, a team in the highest level of rugby in the USA, The Super Twenty League or something, the same coach who ‘loves’ John.
Etc., etc., etc.
* Yet I hear others, others implying here that John can’t play, that he’s overrated, etc.
Is there anyone else in Singapore Rugby doing what he’s done ?
* Singapore Rugby after JC doesn’t amount to very much, not enough good players, other competing countries all doing more, etc., etc., most S’pore Rugby results against foreign competition are losses, etc.
Since there is very little ‘to write about’ regarding S’pore Rugby at an international level, I think more should be made of John’s achievements because I don’t know from where any other positive notoriety about S’pore rugby will come.
Wbb,
I was going to ignore your comment above calling me ‘petty, etc.’ But it’s okay. I know you well enough not to take it seriously. I have a photographer replacing you in May 2006 and in 2007. He’s not as good as you are with the pictures but he helps me.
VoR,
Your commentary above, etc., I didn’t take it badly at all. I don’t think it was directed towards me. You asked why I praised RJC so highly, etc. I think that commented last week that I recognize all S’pore JCs as superior schools and some as even more exceptional, etc.; that I commented so strongly about RJC partially to have some in the AC crowd choke, etc. which I admitted.
The more serious point that I had wanted to make in this context, if any one cares to consider it, is the following idea.
I have been in touch with the university rugby coaches and undergraduate admissions in the USA trying to leverage John’s rugby into something that will help with his university admissions.
The leading US universities all know the S’pore JCs very well but the reputation of RJC is easily the most pre-eminent. RJC is a very famous school because of its academic strength. I won’t repeat what I’ve read, heard from these admissions people but the praise of RJC is noteworthy.
So, as a parent I’m very happy that John has a chance to be at RJC. But this is not meant to put down any JC because I enjoy my conversations with all sorts of students at John’s age that I meet, thinking that most are very competent, intelligent, etc.
Warrior,
Thanks for your comments.
I did a Phd at Cambridge in England. I played rugby as an undergraduate in the USA. And in my final year as an undergraduate at Columbia, Lloyds Insurance sponsored our team’s rugby tour in the UK and France where we played mostly very good rugby teams, ex. Neath in Wales, Racing Club of Paris and others.
In April, 2008 John played with the USA U18 team on tour in the UK, played very good teams, ex. Leicester’s U18 team filled with 10 England U18 players. John was the USA’s Fullback, not his natural position.
So, in the UK I was able to revisit the thought of John attending university in the UK, maybe my College at Cambridege, ‘Peterhouse,’ the smallest, oldest, first of the Cambridge Colleges.
A whole bunch of considerations have come up recently to mix up John’s plans and we are trying to figure out what path to take:
* There is no more Int’l U19 Rugby. All this U17, U18, U19 Rugby has been replaced by U20 Rugby. The World Juniors are now U20s in June 2008 not U19s in April.
* My son, John, will do the S’pore NS. We will appeal that he start in April 2008 vs Jan or March so that he has a chance to travel to the USA in the first quarter 2008 to visit the universities that we have in mind.
* I think his USA Rugby involvement has probably ended for now because his NS will terminate in the first quarter 2010. I don’t know how he can go to the USA almost every weekend to attend their ‘Assemblies (practices and practice games),’ as they are called.
* On that April Tour the USA U18 team was in over its’ head in all three official matches, the coaches were from Texas and the Head Coach was an obscenity. As soon as I returned, I called Boulder, Colorado, got the email address of the CEO of USA Rugby, Nigel Melville and sent a long message blasting the Head Coach, saying that John would never practice or play on a rugby field where this fool is present.
If you think, that my comments here are contentious and that I’ve trashed AC coaching unfairly, you should read that message to Nigel Melville.
I sent a watered-down version to a bunch of rugby fans, followers of John, USA and Singapore rugby.
If anyone here is interested then please message me at Wisnioski@yahoo.com and I’ll forward my summary of that USA U18 Rugby Tour. It has been sent to lots of rugby coaches that are following John – most Ivy League Colleges/ Universities, Berkeley, UCLA, etc., etc., the SRU.
By the way, before that USA U18 Tour, John was considered the star of that team because he was the U19 player who couldn’t make the U19 World Juniors in April 2007, etc.
* John’s highest priority is his academic performance. I don’t know how he’ll do in his A Levels because his rugby has taken up so much of his time and energy.
* Although John is a US citizen, he was born in S’pore, raised here, through the local school system. I think he’s at heart more in sympathy with Singapore.
* I don’t know what he’ll do but rugby has to be secondary. His academics are the highest priority.
* * Finally, he went for his NS initial appointment and medical. He has a ‘loose’ shoulder that moves around from a rugby injury at ACS(I) in his Sec 4 year and he has ‘sweaty palms.’ I hope these problems don’t affect his NS status. W are waiting for the results of his NS medical x-ray of his shoulder.
If he’s going to do S’pore’s NS as a U.S. citizen, I want him to do something meaningful in the SAF, not hang around doing something unchallenging or practice rugby all day long.
Check,
I have returned from last Sunday’s commentary so I’ll start with your comment above that follow mine done last Sunday.
I have to apologize. Afterwards, I realized that I misread your intentions. It was Sunday morning, I get up very early and was trying to rush out but decided to check this redsports.sg site. In my haste, I misunderstood you. Again, I apologize, my ‘blogging here’ towards you was wrong.
i’m not sure if there might be an misconceptions here. im not a rafflesian. just a neutral who’s very interested in the school rugby scene.
and personally, i think everyone who’s involved have said their piece. so let’s just close this chapter and move on.
Hmm, was I rude or overly critical of John check? If you have bothered to read my post, I apologised, I infered and I questioned. I did these three things all very humbly. Is it the Rafflesian way to respond so bluntly and critically(if that is your intent) at every perceived notion that they are “imperfect”?
Throughout this thread, there were strong, violent comments against rjc. I made none. My point was simply, praising rj to be so “nice” seems a tad too superficial as john is afterall a good player and every practical person, jc whatever would want to keep a good player. Is that wrong or unjust? I did not mean, in no sense, that RJ is biased towards john just because he is a superstar. I questioned the manner in which the praise towards rj was directed.
Read, question, make peace – Those were my intentions. I am sorry you came back so harshly and bitterly on your defense because it was never in my intention to insult or make false insinuations. Perhaps that was why OurHero misunderstood? If you read your post again, it came across as overly harsh, strong and bitter. Sorry, it did come across to me personally that way.
I will apologise if I have offended you; I just hope the same courtesy can be extended.
cheers.
It suprises me that ourhero can read my lips when I “congratulated” the AC PE coach. He wasn’t near by at all. How could he have known what I was being exchanged?
And just because I shook hands and laughed, he chose not to talk to me anymore? Shows how petty he is. And he says I am making assumptions!
Can’t I talk to people who are my friends or whom he detest?
I will close at this not not make any further comments.
To Check, – just putting some facts in place.
Ourhero: Actually in terms of programs and stuff, have you ever thought of John looking at unis in Aust, NZ or UK instead of US? The rugby there is far superior than the standard in US and the degrees are decent enough (ok maybe not Berkley Standard but very respectable). Loughborough University has an excellent tie up with Leicester Tigers as well as Bath University along with Bath Rugby Club, the University of Sydney is amongst one of the best rugby clubs in Sydney (I may even Australia) in the past decade. He may not even make 1st grade (or even 2nd grade) at the first go but hey the standard and enviroment will be much better and competitive for him to thrive in.
A good example can be Hong Kong’s No.10 Kenzo Pannell, (currently studying in Canterbury University) recently helped HK achieve their first win over Korea recently in May. Not exactly a big guy in all circumstances, his experience in NZ definitely played a contributing factor to this. HK’s current success is also due to their crop of youth players playing (Like Kenzo) in Tier 1 (UK, NZ, Ireland no less) nations while in Uni and they are reaping in the rewards because of this.
If i’m not wrong, they do dish out rugby scholarships in Australia, there’s one in University of WA (In Super 14 territory nevertheless). These places i mentioned do have some sort of academy system in place whereby John can excel both in sports and studies. Just give it a thought, if you want to something best for the son and an environment for him to thrive in terms of both rugby and studies. Don’t worry about careers after that, the rugby network is always strong everywhere in the world….
Just a suggestion since you’ve brought up the subject of your son studying and playing rugby abroad.
oh and one more thing. i cant agree more with ourhero on this point:
yes, if john is anything, he is quick. very very quick.
Mr Wisnioski,
u have misread my intentions. im an avid supporter of rjc, and my reply about the way john was treated in rj was to DEFEND rj, because VoR seemed to be saying that rj was treated john well simply because he was a superstar. i was merely trying to point out that rj treats every student the way they treat john, and my reference about john being not a key a player as many people think he is was to shoot down VoR’s arguement about rj’s seemingly biased treatment, which i feel was too unfair. it was not meant to say that john is not a key player, because in all honesty, he is, and will be an outstanding player.
finally, the point about the animosity. i was questioning why mr wbb was so hostile towards u, but not the other way around as i feel u’ve been rather polite on this comments page so far, except for the few times which u’ve tried to dig into the ac supporters, which u openly admit to and i respect u for that.
lastly, i am not an ac supporter. im a neutral.
Check: Your comment about animosity between wbb and me.
* I’ve been clear about my position above, there to read,right or wrong ? I don’t know but that’s my view.
* wbb is an avid AC supporter, his son Desmond was a top AC/national player, that would never be an issue for me. The issues are the uninformed comments about John, me, RJC, what happened in the past and why, etc., sore loser comments by the AC crowd, etc.
Yesterday, Raffles lost to SA in the Kiwi Cup rugby game 5-10. It’s disappointing, SA was more aggressive, played a better all around game than Raffles, nothing more to say. I don’t think the Raffles players, coaches like losing but what’s the recourse ? Just have to be better the next time, that’s all.
Finally, I’m always happy to explain but I’m also always ready to defend.
Rushing now, I’ll catch up later.
wbb: Your comment above about John’s ‘game’ in the Final.
‘John was not fast enough.’ This is a joke. If John is anything, he’s very fast. I erased here what I put earlier so as not to be too aggressive.
John was not caught from behind. On the play which you photographed, displayed somewhere here, John was running around the ACSI winger and that boy just managed to grab John’s jersey in the back, see the photo, and push him out of bounds. Had RJ worn the ‘hi-tech’ body hugging jerseys that they wore in last year’s final, John would have scored. I think the little winger across from John made a good play.
My unhappiness is not because John did not start in the 2005 B Division Final after he started in all the previous games. He did’t start that game because the ACS(I) coaches know the SAS tactics are to have the #10 boot high balls towards the wings downfield to create fielding errors, John’s eyesight was not great then, that he would be liable to misfield balls, etc.
Adrian Chong told me that was his decision before the game. I was/ am not angry about it, a coach has to coach making his own best decisions. My gripe is that John should have gone in earlier, not later and then asking John to ‘save the day,’ I was standing behind the ACS(I) bench and saw it all.
As for the rest of Ban Bee’s comments in his blog above.
* I never try to coach. In John’s 4 years at ACS(I), I didn’t speak 15 words to Melvin Deng, only to Adrian Chong mostly to find out about game times, venues, etc.
* I commented to the ACS(I) Principal about the B Division coaching after they lost to SAS in 2 successive years because I didn’t want ACS(I) to keep losing, because I cared, etc about ACS(I) rugby.
I’d do it again in that time frame.
ACS(I) added a new coach a few months later and most probably not because of my long message to Dr Ong.
* John went to RJC, please read all aove if it matters to you, because he was not in the IB in Sec 4 at ACS(I), we started to think of RJC in Feb 2005, DSA was announced in May 2005 ( a ‘God Send’ for us), we spoke to Dr Ong about the IB at ACS(I) after Dr Ong announced after the B Division loss in April 2005 that he would be taking O level stream candidates/ruggers into the IB but only after seeing the O level pre-lim results in August, September , DSA had a mid July deadline, no word from Dr Ong so we just followed through with RJC, the basic story. At that point, it had very little to do with AC rugby coaching.
Check:
Thanks for your comment but you come across as one of the AC nobodies who comment here.
Your points:
* Nobody thinks John is a super star, not me or anyone else, never thought of it that way.
I once asked John, ‘Who is the best player on your team ? He said, ‘We are all the same.”
I once asked him, ” # x and # y missed tackles ?” He said, “We all miss tackles.”
* Your paragragh above, ‘Did John score in the final…….’
If there were an answer to the question it would be # 11, Shawn Yam, the one with the best game that day, former AC player who is more than happy to be at RJC.
I can’t say enough about Shawn, special player, special teammate, special young man, etc.
Since the first week of Jan 2007, he and John including me sometimes only talked about beating ACS(I), everything was focused on beating ACS(I), the season was about beating ACS(I).
* I’m very proud of all the RJC players including the reserves. They are all very special. I know them very well because I watch most of their practices and all their games. They are extremely close friends.
I don’t want to boast about John’s rugby but I’ll state the following FACTS:
John plays for Singapore’s U19 team, played every minute of every game in Taiwan in December at the Asian U19 Rugby; John is a starting player on Singapore’s ‘Singa Lions,’ the National 7s Development or A team and is now being asked to play 7s for Singapore in the upcoming SEA Games in Thailand in December, some nationality issues to be clarified first; John is a starting player for Singapore’s National 15s A team; John was contacted by USA Rugby in August 2006 asking him to attend the USA U19 Rugby High Performance Selection Camp in Phoenix, Arizona, December 26-Jan 1, 2007, 167 best USA U19 rugby players from all over the USA and overseas, everyone was time trialled in 40m, 60m, 400m and 1,500m, your hero John, was first in every time trial except 2nd in the 1,500m, he had leg injuries after Taiwan, afterwards in the Camp all the other players would start shouting from the sidelines, “Go Singapore, Hit Him Singapore !!’ on and on, John wa a great representative for Singapore, he made the USA U19 team but was asked to remain in the USA through April 2007 to train with the team which he couldn’t do for obvious reasons, in April 2007 he was in England for 12 days playing with the USA U18 team, playing #14 and #15, started all three games, played every minute, he has been invited to go to Indiana in late July as one of the core 20 players to start training again with the USA U19 team preparing for the World U19 Rugby Championsips in April 2008, he can’t go because of A levels and in 2008 he’ll do NS although as a US citizen it’s not manatory for him but we believe in it.
Setting aside the USA involvement, rugby on a much higher level than S’pore, there is no other player in Singapore that plays in so many S’pore select, national teams as John. Why ??
Lots to say.
Two weeks ago, we were contacted by the legendary rugby coach at the University of California, Berkeley asking John to apply to ‘Cal.’ Berkeley is the pre-eminent university rugby team by far in the USA, in May 2007 winning the NCAA US Collegiate Rugby title 37-0, most US national players come from Berkeley.
They have asked for video of his play which was passed to me yesterday by RJC so I can send to Berkeley, we are also sending application materials to the Head coach’s assistant.
After the USA Rugby Camp in December, we received a 3 page pulsating email message from the rugby coach at UCLA, asking the same.
These coaches have never seen John play, just heard by ‘word of mouth’ in the USA.
Check, do you know more about rugby than they do, more about John ?
Last night before looking at this red sports thing this am, I was looking at John’s performance vs ACJC and SAJC, waiting to review more video from RJC is the next week although the quality is inconsistent.
Vs ACJC, in a low scoring 7-3 game, John’s offense was’t much because the AC coaches know how to mark John, furthermore RJC doesn’t have the backline play, coachng to take advantage of John, way out on the wing, the passing is so slow and tedious, by the time the ‘lopsided’ passes get to John he’s already a marked man. ACS(I) does a better job coaching backs than RJC, other issues here that I won’t mention, but John’s defensive rugby that day vs ACJC esp. in the 2nd half was very good, his defensive rugby has improved so much after the April USA U18 Tour because the USA team was constantly backing up and John was constantly tackling, etc. I think it was the best defensive game I’ve seen him play in S’pore.
Last night I watched the video of the SAJC vs RJC semi-final game. I’m John greatest critic, and I’m the only one he’s truly afraid of, etc. but his game vs SAJC was tremendous, he scored a brilliant, higlight reel try, his tackling, running, other rugby skill stuff was unbelievable. I can’t wait for the Berkeley coach to view this game.
Berkeley’s team is made up of international players from the USA, Canada and other countries, they only take in 10 players/yr.
Vs ACS(I) John had a few early chances but ‘the little boy’ opposite John did a very good job. He played John in the same way ACJC did, by moving up close to him, close to the sideline, etc.
But I think the game is team play. ACS(I) knows that John’s defensive rugby is good so no one on the ACS(I) team in that whole game even tried to run near John’s wing position, their play was away from John throughout. Blandon Tan from fullback was also shadowing John if you looked closely, the same as Andrew Yap in the ACJC game.
* Check’s above paragraph, ‘John is not a key player…..’
Don’t tell us, me what he is and why Raffles treats him as it does, etc., etc. Reread the long blog that I wrote above here two weeks ago, ask Lincoln Tan why he wanted John to transfer to ACJC telling John that he’s the best JC rugger in S’pore snd offering to make John Captain of the team ?? He wanted to save his own team in 2006.
There isn’t any adulation of any particular player at RJC rugby, probably in none of the sports at RJC. RJ is not only the best JC academically but RJC has more national athletes, A Division winning teams than any other JC by a long shot but everyone there in non-descript, humble. It’s one of the factors that impresses me. You can’t boast very much at RJC because almost every student is outstanding in some way, so there are very few ‘heroes’ there.
* Check’s last paragragh above:
I have stated previously here that I believe that any student in any JC in S’pore is a good student, have to be pretty competent.
I have stated that ACS(I) is one of three independent JCs, so that makes ACS(I) special, no reason to feel badly about RJC, ACS(I)’s new IB Building is so attractive, looks like a good place to study, etc. I like Dr Ong, the teachers and John’s former friends and players at ACS(I).
I just don’t tolerate the AC creeps, either students, parents or alums who comment here about John and I, esp. when they pretend to know how we feel, experienced things, should believe, etc., etc.
John and I know far more than anyone else about ‘our situation.’ And I’m happy to explain it very clearly but we don’t back off or back down, it’s very simple.
When I went to ACJC in March 2006 to put an end to Lincoln Tan, Adrian Chong etc trying to get John to transfer to ACJC, Kelvira Chan (?) impressed me as a JC Mother Teresa and she spoke of how hard it was to get admitted to ACJC, 8 points on the O levels, etc.
I know Belinda Charles at St Andrew’s becaue she moved over to Saints at the end of John’s P6 year, she asked John to attend St. Andrew’s. I thought she had a lot of character, very intelligent, etc.
Check is trying to dilute our enthusiasm for RJ. But it just won’t work. I like all these schools, think the students are all very good, believe in a comment once made by Teo Chee Hian (?), the former Education Minister,’that all schols or all secondary schools are good, etc’ I always remember that comment and agree.
But I’ve seen closely, how the Principal, HOD of PE, others at RJC have treated John, I can’t speak for others, and I’m just so thankful that John’s at RJC. I cannot make that comment about our situation ?
I have admitted above that I have praised RJC so that the AC types with a complex over RJC, can choke but I don’t mean to imply that other schools are not very good.
The fact that our family is so satified with Raffles shouldn’t make any difference to anyone. If a parent says the same as I do, ‘Our family is so happy with ‘_____’ school !’ I would never make qualifications about those sentiments.
In 2005, DSA period, when we were deciding whether to have John stay at ACS(I), go to ACJC, RJC and HCI sent us their DSA application to complete, I messaged an admission officer at Columbia University, an Ivy League University, where I was an undergraduate, this person covers Singapore applications to Columbia, I asked her advice because she knows the S’pore JC scene very well. She messaged back something like, ‘It doesn’t matter which school John attends, he just has to be outstanding wherever he attens (to get accepted to an Ivy League university).’
We are happy about chosing RJC, we like the RJC temperment, etc, that’s just our position, that’s all.
We’ll never say anything else.
VoR:
Thanks for the comment although I’m not quite clear about all of it.
I put this comment it at the end of my long ‘commentary’ above which I hope the readers here will ‘read’ for a few reasons, although it was edited a bit by Les.
* I’m so happy that RJC accepted him. I’m very impressed by the HOD of PE, the Principal and others at RJC, by their humility, lack of arrogance, lack of boastfulness, etc. Hard for me to describe, I’m just very thankful. I don’t think my son John would have any regrets about leaving AC although he still sees some of his AC friends.
John’s attachment to AC is almost non-existent.
John, his parents are very happy to be associated with Raffles, that’s it. If the ACS(I) crowd can’t handle it as reflected by some AC commentators here ex, ACSI, or sprugger as calls himself now, Check, acs, etc., etc. then that’s their problem.
VoR (I like this name), to be forthright, I did put it in the above blog in a very ‘over-the-top’ manner in order to rub it in to the AC crowd, such as the commentators mentioned just above here.
I’m so fed up with them that I don’t mind pouring it on, maybe that’s not good.
I have been away from this commentary thinking it had died out.
But please let me go through these above comments in order. As usual, I enjoy trading ideas and comments although some I don’t understand, don’t understand the presentation, English, etc. I will be as ‘transparent’ as possible, as usual.
So, in order….
wbb:
You are making assumptions. You have not lost a friend. I stopped talking with you based on one incident. In 2006, during the A Division season, I was at ACJC watching AC vs some minor opponent.
I was standing on the sideline near the field of play and was asked rudely by an ACJC PE coach to sit in the stands, we argued a bit and I saw you later congratulating this person. Afterwards, Lincoln Tan, the AC coach, told me to ignore the AC PE coach, that he was from Raffles and not very likeable. After my exchange of words with this person, I saw you laughing and congratulating him, that’s it.
My sentiments were to just not talk with you again.
I never have any fear being transparent. Right or wrong ? I don’t know but that’s the reason not because you didn’t go to the RJC vs SAJC 2006 A Division Final and take photos of John who scored one of RJC 2 tries. That thought has never entered my mind.
just curious, wbb, why this animosity between u and ourhero?
Hi Check,
The good players usually do not score unless presnted with an opportunity. They are usually marked players by the opposition since they are percieved to be so good.
John had a chance to score in the finals but unfortunately he was not fast enough and was intercepted towards the 22 or 10 metre line. I saw this myself and I think it was on two occasions that this happened. Correct me if I am wrong.
It may also be ACS(I)’s strategy on this. I don’t know. But I would imagine that this would be applied to any good team tactics and stretegy.
RJ played well that day and had the game contained. Just as AC did but unfortunately it was not to be AC’s win.
Historically, Ourhero’s unhappiness with AC coaches goes back during the B Div finals in 2005 when John was not played from the start of the games and usually comes in only at the second half or later. He was quite unhappy about this strategy of the coaches and hence sought better pastures at RJ for his son.
That was his perogative.
I know this as I was his friend then.
No one can blame him for this. Any parent would only want the best for their children. However please leave the coaching to the coaches be it bad or good. Every parents’ sons are good and excellent players, give them the support but do nt try to interfere.
If you are as good as you think you are, be a coach!