By Les Tan/Red Sports
Jay Koh of ACS(I) feels the full brunt of a tackle by Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Padang, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 – St Andrew’s Secondary put together a 3-try performance to beat defending champions Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 17-10 to capture the B Division Rugby Championship title this afternoon at the Padang.
While some ACS supporters will take issue with the referee for his calls, the Saints forward pack was the dominating factor in the match and ACS(I) composure was missing on the day.
The Saints shocked the watching ACS supporters when they drove straight towards their opponents try line and scored through Jia Jun (#17) in the 3rd minute. Though the try was not converted, the early 5-0 lead was a psychological booster shot for the Saints.
Jia Jun then earned himself a yellow card from the referee for a dangerous tackle as ACS(I) came storming back. ACS(I) pressure paid off with a flowing move which ended with Nazryn (#12) going over near the corner flag to make it 5-5.
But ACS hopes came crashing back down to earth when Nicholas Yau (#7) scored an unconverted try in the 15th minute for a 10-5 Saints lead.
Yet again, ACS(I) came back with an answer from their backline when Marah Ishraf (#7) dove over for a try in the 23rd minute after a good penetrating run by Joshua Quek (#9).
The teams walked off 10-10 at half-time and the underdogs Saints knew they had a chance to cause an upset against an ACS team that had scored 101 tries and conceded only one before today.
The second half was all Saints. Chong Yao missed a chance to put three points on the board with a missed penalty kick in the 4th minute but ACS relief was short-lived when Ahmad Ibrahim scored a try in the 9th minute. This time, Chong Yao converted to give Saints a 17-10 lead.
ACS(I) were struggling and it took them 15 minutes before they finally got past the Saints’ 22m line in the second half. ACS(I) then elected to go for a penalty kick near the 22m line but James Morgan’s attempt was wide and that was the last the boys in blue and yellow would ever see the inside of the Saints 22.
From then on, the ACS composure on the field started falling apart slowly, with Nicholas Tan (#15) dropping the ball twice as he failed to catch the long upfield punts of the Saints backline.
Despite having a perfect 8-wins-0-losses record so far and outscoring their opponents by a combined 593 to 13, including a 35-0 thrashing of Raffles Institution in the semi-final, this was the one game that meant the most to ACS(I).
For Saints, the victory was sweet.
“We feel good! We’ve been waiting for this for a long time!” said captain Bryan Lim. “The highlight was when we scored the first try because it lifted our spirits.”
“The first try was important psychologically,” said Saints old boy Gue Kit Wan, 26, a school captain and ex-rugby player from the 1999 batch. “The Saints are strong in forwards while AC is strong in the backline. But AC mistakes and composure killed them. Saints confined the play to their forwards.”
“The hungrier team won,” said Crosby Ong, 48, an ACS supporter. “The game lacked fluidity with insignificant technical calls. The ref should have let the play go, especially when it James Morgan had a clear advantage in the second half and the ref called it back.”
“It was the human drive, the tiger in them,” said another Saints old boy, Yee Teck Peng, 76. “Both sides are even but the side that was hungrier won. The Saints forwards played extremely well.”
Saints Lineup
Forwards
Props: Ashidiq n Daniel Tan
Hooker: Benedict Tan
Locks: Wang Ren n Mohan Singh
Flanks: Ahmad Ibrahim n Nicholas Yau
8 man: Jia Jun
Backs
Half back: Peeranin
Fly half: Tang Hon En
In centre: Bryan Lim
Out centre: Hendricks Tan
Winger: Taufiq(#14) n Chong Yao(#11)
Full Back: Jonathan Loo
ACS Lineup
Chiew Jun Leong (#1)
Jay Koh (#2)
Amos Tan (#3)
Daniel Chong (#4)
Leon Song (#5)
Kenneth Ang (#6)
James Morgan (#7)
Saul Joseph Ong (#8)
Joshua Quek (#9)
Marah Ishraf (#10)
Md Nazryn B Md Jaffar (#12)
Daryn Sit (#13)
Joey Wee (#14)
Mattias Chia (#11)
Nochlas Tan (#15)
Low Zhende (#19)
Abel Khoo (#16)
Qamarul Bin Arifin (#28)
Julian Chang
Mark Wong (#18)
Leonard Wee
Gideon Chan
Calvin Ying
Jaira Koh
Tan Yuan Ming
lee Jen Wei
Ng Chun Lung
Nazryn of ACS(I) tries to run past a tackle by Taufiq of St Andrew’s. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Nazryn of ACS(I) goes over for a try to even up the score at 5-5. (Photo 3 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
James Morgan of ACS(I) attempts but fails to convert the first try. (Photo 4 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Chong Yao of St Andrew’s looks to pass the ball while Mattias Chia of ACS(I) bears down on him. (Photo 5 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Hargaven and Wang Ren of St Andrew’s try to bring Nicholas Tan of ACS(I) down. (Photo 6 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
James Morgan of ACS(I) tackles Jia Jun. Jia Jun scored the first try for Saints. (Photo 7 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Hendricks Tan of St Andrew’s chases Marah Ishraf of ACS(I) but can’t catch him as Marah eventually goes over the try line to make it 10-10 in the first half. (Photo 8 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Mara of ACS(I) scoring ACS(I)’s 2nd try. (Photo 9 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
A Saints player protects the ball as he pushes past Mattias Chia of ACS(I). (Photo 10 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
It takes 3 ACS(I) players to bring down a Saints player. (Photo 11 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
A Saints player gets trapped as players from both sides fight for the ball. (Photo 12 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Both team’s player reaching high to try and catch the ball. (Photo 13 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s tugs at Saul Ong of ACS(I). (Photo 14 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Joshua Quek of ACS(I) tries to stop a Saints player from getting to the ball. (Photo 15 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s goes over for the winning try in the 2nd half. (Photo 16 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Saints supporters cheering on their school. (Photo 17 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
The Saints breaks out in celebration at the final whistle. (Photo 18 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
WE ARE NO 1!!! screams the Saints. (Photo 19 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
A Saint player overwhelmed with emotions hugs his Rugby teacher. (Photo 20 © Marvin Lowe /Red Sports)
A Saints player shouts to the heavens. (Photo 21 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
A Saints player hugs a team mate with tears of joy streaming down. (Photo 22 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Every Saints player stretching out their hands to touch the holy grail. (Photo 23 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
The Saints singing their school song with pride and gusto. (Photo 24 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
saints lineup. benedict foo. not benedict tan.
In the saints line-up saints flanker is Nicholas Yau mot Nicholas Yao
local players such as Daniel “Potato” Thiam, Saints old-boy and current teacher there
if we’re going down those lines of whether the Singapore team is made up of Singaporeans, why do New Zealanders still support the All Blacks even though quite a few of their players are either of Pacific Island heritage or were born there?
Nice photos man !!! u guys are lucky u have all this publicity !!!! hahahaha our batch had nothing !!!but nonetheless its wats in the heart that matter… well done saints keep the flame burning brightly ever
Hey guys! Just in case you didn’t really know, the Singapore Rugby Lions Team are not solely made up of westerners! There are local players in the Singapore Rugby Lions Team who are involved in the HSBC 5 Nations as well!
Boys…B Div tourny is over….the better team won…as simple as that….no point brooding over it….so its time to go back to the drawing board and the field to train for next year’s B Div…to both ACS and SAINTS camp…hope to see you guys in the finals again…its was an awesome game that day…AC din have its ususal flair and the SAINTS were just much more hungry and brought the game to AC. It always a awesome thing to see these 2 teams in the finals. Let see what happens next year….hope to see the SAINT take it back again ( this is the saint in me speaking hahaa) but may the best team win ( this is the rugby lover in me speaking)
Up and ON
One Family Unbroken
ACS please lah, enough with your whining.
if you have lost, just lose graciously and work hard for next year lah.
what for waste all your time down here trying to argue.
fyi, you lost to a better team. not because of the linesman or whatever lah. stop living in self-denial and get over it please.
RI doesnt take the ppl only above 265 bullshit
lennie and bryan did not score more tha 265….
oso, the rhino…..
singapore team made up of westerner….not singaporean….so its not singapore national team….
just like soccer team…
up and on:
“I decline to agree with Marah’s parent. With all due respect to his parent, education is not the most important. I would say integrity and character building are important too.”
If you had due respect for Marah’s parents, you shldnt even comment! They must have exercised great discernment and wisdom to make the choice, to send both their sons to ACSI.
And perhaps it also had to do with integrity and character building.
If education was most important to them, it might had bn RI?
Perhaps to them, ACSI strikes the best balance.
Up and on : “Having said that, I am sure quite a few good chaps comes out from RI and ACS too (I’ve met them, played with them and worked with them- so I know). But then again, there’s also ‘loyalty’ and ‘gratefulness’ to think about…”
We all know that MANY good chaps come from RI and ACS, and we also know quite few good chaps come from SA.
‘loyalty’ and ‘gratefulness’ can only be forged, not forced.
ACSI beat RI 12-3 in the A division match last Friday.
so apparently SAJC beat ACJC 27-13….
Thanks, Rhino.
Appreciate your encouragement.
Yo… I think I know who Rhino is. Hi, friend.
Anyway… I wanna tell you boys that I am very , very proud of you and how far you’ve all progressed from 4 years ago when we trained and sweated it out in Perth against the Aussies. To Kenneth, Nicholas, Joshua (I can hardly recognise you!!!), Nazreen from ACSI and Henricks, Hon En, Jonathan, Benedict from SA… and how can I forget the greatest of all… Qamarul, Mohan, Taufiq and Bryan from Gongshang Primary (to me, you are forever from GSP)… you guys rocked the field. 🙂
oh ya before i forget..
want to give a shout out to Hendricks from SA… well done, hope you keep playing after you leave SA.
this is your coach from when you were in Montfort Junior (the young one and not the old man!)
Dear All,
Les & his Redsports crew, thanks for covering the game.
Does anyone else have a feeling of deja-vu? Could have sworn that I’ve seen these comments somewhere before… you know the ones about SA doing this and AC doing that… oh wait, that was last year! Same old nonsense, different year!
To those that still have the excuse of being young enough to claim ignorance, Rugby is a game where whining & moaning after the game is not needed so CUT IT OUT!
To those that are old enough to know better, simply CUT IT OUT!!
All of these petty comments just reflects badly on the entire Rugby community, you may think that there is nothing more important than the pride of your school blah blah blah, but hey, guess what, there’s more important things to life!
Why don’t you guys just channel your energy into supporting the National Team, after all we’re all Singaporeans aren’t we?? The National Team have made history by being promoted into the Asian 5 Nations, news that is being reported around the world on sites like IRB.com and Planet Rugby. This is fantastic for one of the world’s smallest rugby playing nations!
I think St Andrew’s School was given the opportunity to be an Independent School. However, Mr Harry Tan, the Principal then, declined MOE’s offer because he believed that St Andrew’s School should also fulfill the social purpose of being a good school for children who comes from ordinary, HDB-neighbourhood homes.
Yeah, when and where is the A Division’s match ? I will take leave to support even though i have left school many years ago. I decline to agree with Marah’s parent. With all due respect to his parent, education is not the most important. I would say integrity and character building are important too. Having said that, I am sure quite a few good chaps comes out from RI and ACS too (I’ve met them, played with them and worked with them- so I know). But then again, there’s also ‘loyalty’ and ‘gratefulness’ to think about…