Old Police Academy, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 – If you were wondering how come there were so few supporters at the A Division rugby final this afternoon, you wouldn’t be the only one asking.
Raffles Institution beat Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 11-3 but the lack of a substantial crowd made the occasion fall flat.
As it turned out, each school was limited to only 300 student supporters each. This was confirmed with a parent and three separate school officials.
And why?
Because of the over-the-top media coverage in the mainstream media of the scuffle after the B Division Rugby Championship final. (You can read more about it here.)
Days and days of breathless reporting about the scuffle with words like “free-for-all” and “pitch invasion” giving the impression that everybody and their grandmother was involved in a fight left the school organisers with little choice but to tighten up to avoid the media scrutiny.
And boy was there media scrutiny. Every single local news media in Singapore was represented at the final today. Unfortunately for them, all they saw was a rugby game.
Also rare at a divisional final was the sight of Police recruits lining the field to ensure there was no pitch invasion, robbing the winning school the joy of the traditional rush onto the field of play at the final whistle.
For those who miss the happy, rowdy atmosphere of a divisional school rugby final with the non-stop cheering (and jeering) of thousands of students, old boys and parents, this is a deep loss.
And why? All because the mainstream media deemed a picture of a brawl more worthy of their front page rather than one of a school captain holding aloft the championship trophy. It was that photo which triggered it all.
Talk about an own goal.
yeah… eh come on, rugby finals are the heart and soul of SA-AC-Raffles. seriously taking that away from the game, it will just be another game. remember, hooligan’s game. we need stuff to fuel these hooligans with the anger and fire. this is so 🙁
Hope the convenors,the police & the mainstream media do some soul searching. This really doesn’t go down well if we have ambitions to be a sporting nation, YOG hosting & all. Anw, have not seen such a good school div game for a long time. I enjoyed RI’s speed, strength & technique. Good job! AC played well too. Guess the A-Div boys are also more mature than the B-boys. Growing up with the game is part of the boys’ life journey. Keep rugby alive!
I was at the game yesterday. I did not realised there was resrictions to supporters whom I thought was strangely thin in numbers for boths schools considering that the players playing have been in their respective schools for at least 5-6 years (IB programme). You would expect the entire cohort from each school to turn up for a final, any final. If in fact it was true that there was crowd restrictions it is really sad for a country who is trying to get the kids out from watching TV, playing their PSP and hooked on Facebook on their notebooks.We need to loosen up guys
Its a typical knee jerk reaction from the higher authorities to what has been covered in the papers – a true domino effect.
Paper covers it badly->MOE gets spooked cause public perception is mared->Organizers/convenors on the ground get orders to tighten things up-> Tradition and Atmosphere are gone.
I relish the times as a player, coach and spectator at the Padang and old PA when schools finals were played, and you got off the bus and saw a see of the respective school colours, complete with drums and cheering – that was something you don’t even have at a S League game – a full house!
The ‘pitch invasion’ is a necessary part of getting the school involved, and in essence can be controlled. 2010 has seen professional rugby clubs in the Super 14 competition let their fans and supporters on the field after the game to mingle with fans – it can be done, just needs to be managed.
Next time there’s a punch-up at an S-League match, will they restrict the fans? Certainly not – ‘cos they need the fan numbers to justify their existance and also the revenue.
If everyone where to keep mum and not blow this whole matter up, the media won’t be attracted and this would not have happen.
The Straits Times ruined it all.
I remembered there were also police recruits lining the field at the Old PA in 2004 B-Div final to ensure there was no pitch invasion, however, after the final whistle when, they still failed to prevent a pitch invasion. Reason? St Andrew’s won the B-Division Police Cup again after 11 years.
well thats singapore for u. one small thing happens and everyone becomes kiasu bout it. Anyway congrats to RI for retaining the title. ACS(I) also played well too.
I was at the finals, but I didn’t know there was a limit on the number of supporters! I agree that the measures taken were a little paranoid but I’m just glad I was one of the 300. Wouldn’t have missed today’s game for the world.
Restrict the number of student supporters? Surely it makes more sense to restrict the media! The organisers should let in those with a track record of well-intentioned school sports coverage, and keep out the muckrakers (that includes newspapers that churn out rubbish like “a thrown punch that staggered the city”)
I was there. And i have to agree. The atmosphere was nothing short of disappointing. Rugby finals is the event where the whole school should go down. I am not a rugby player and sometimes i am appalled at the support the rugby dudes get. But i still go down to cheer my friends and my schoolmates on. It’s rugby, it’s like football in America. It’s big. It’s huge. Today wasn’t. It was saddening to see so few supporters at a rugby team. I blame the mainstream media and their biased, profit-making motives. Let’s see how much coverage of the match we will see in tomorrow’s papers. Headlines will probably scream “No fights at A division rugby finals, well done officials!” That said, well done raffles. Nothing could take away the fact that you guys are worthy champions
this is just stupid. talk about Singapore being already very uptight, this just worsens the situation. what next, no rowdy noises to be made at all games ?