RUGBY

Standard Chartered U-20 Rugby League 2007

Semifinal preview by Red Sports reader, incidentalexpert. Thanks!

The Standard Chartered Under-20 league is coming to the business end of the competition this weekend. Over the last two weeks, 12 teams from around the island, comprising clubs and youth leagues, have been battling it out and now we are down to the semifinals.

This Saturday will see the top four teams battle it out for the cup and the next best four will contest the plate.

Here’s a short preview of the semifinals.

Cup Semifinal 1 – Bedok Kings vs Wanderers

This is going to be a tough one to call, with Bedok having forwards with experience at national level. Add to that a quick backline with Anglo-Chinese Junior College players and Bedok will definitely offer resistance to an equally good Wanderers team. Wanderers’ have a mix of Raffles Junior College (RJC), Raffles Institution (RI) and international schools boys. With that impressive player pool and the wining mentality of the RJ boys from their recent ‘A’ Division Championship title win, you have a deadly Wanderers team. Prediction – Wanderers by 5pts.

Cup Semifinal 2 – Combined Schools vs Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA)

This is another blockbuster of a semifinal. We have two very good teams with very little between them.

Combined Schools has the cream of the crop from this year’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ Division competitions, and it shows. They just came off an 85-0 romp over Northern Knights and look raring to go. Their forward pack is teaming with talent  with hooker Arthur Lim from St Andrew’s (SA) and 2nd row Kevin Neo from RJ just some of the notable talents shoring up a very mobile pack. The backline is teeming with RJC first teamers, from centre Stuart Ho to the 2007 RJ captain Chee Meng. Add Catholic Junior College standoff Mark Vincent and SA full back Teo Boon Rong and you have a potent mix.

SAFSA is a who’s who of past national age-group teams, and will be keen to avenge their 2005 loss to an underdog Combined Schools team in that final. With forwards Darius Sit and Josiah Peh in the mix, you have two very hard-hitting, ball-carrying players. National representatives Nick Groen and Daniel Chia will be marshalling the backs which will have its defence tested by the schools backline.

Prediction – Too hard to call. Even money.

Plate Semifinals

All four teams have under-performed, with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) having the potential to fight for the cup. Blacks are the dark horses, having most of their player base reduced because of the players’ Combined Schools commitment. It will be interesting to watch the Blacks vs ITE game, as both have very similar styles of play. TP should have been in the cup semifinals with the talent at their disposal. These guys were looking very deadly in 2006, and who knows, will look even deadlier when their Inter-polytechnic games roll around the corner.
 
Prediction – ITE Vs TP final –‘nuff said.

Details of fixtures:

Cup Semfinals

Saturday, 23 June 2007, Farrer Park

3:30 p.m.
Bedok Kings vs Wanderers

5:00 p.m.
Combined Schools vs SAFSA

Plate Semifinals

Saturday, 23 June 2007, Yio Chu Kang Stadium

3:30 p.m.
Blacks RFC vs ITE

5:00 p.m.
Northern Knights vs Temasek Polytechnic