Singapore, Tuesday, October 25, 2011 — Local rugby schools Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), ACS (Barker Road), St Andrew’s Secondary, Raffles Institution, St Joseph’s Institution, St Andrew’s Junior College and Anglo-Chinese Junior College are among 24 teams that will compete for a place in the semi-finals of Schools and Colleges Tournament held as part of the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) International Rugby 7s.

A total of 41 local and international schools across Singapore started out in pre-qualifying to determine the 24 teams for this weekend.

The tournament will be divided into three age groups: Len Foster Cup (Under-14s), John Clark Trophy (Under-16s) and the Sithawalla Cup (Under-19s).

Only four teams from each age group will qualify to play in the semi-finals on Friday, November 4th, before the finalists emerge to battle it out on the following Sunday during the SCC International Rugby 7s.

Hairul Naim, 31, has been a Singapore 7s regular for many years, having represented the nation at various international tournaments, and recalls his time playing for Raffles Institution at the SCC 7s tournament.

“To play for your school with your friends and schoolmates backing you on a Saturday morning really spurs you on, and the level of play is really high, given that we get to play against local and international schools,” he said.

Mark Cheong, 18, was the vice-captain of the Singapore National Under 20 team that recently won the Asian Rugby Football Union Division 3 Championship. He was captain of last year’s Sithawalla Cup finalists United World College and believes that having both international and local schools in Singapore playing in one tournament is good for the game.

“If you are in an international school, you hardly play the other local schools in a tournament setting, and what’s more you don’t really get to test yourself against the best in Singapore. The SCC 7s breaks down these barriers and when you win, one can really say they were part of the best 7s team in Singapore.”

Tournament Groupings
Len Foster Cup (U-14)
Group A:
St. Andrew’s Secondary
United World College
ACS (Barker Road)
Tanglin Trust School

Group B:
Australian International School
ACS (Independent)
Overseas Family School
St Joseph’s Institution

John Clark Trophy (U-16)
Group A:
ACS (Independent)
Overseas Family School
St Andrew’s Secondary
Tanglin Trust School

Group B:
Australian International School
Raffles Institution
United World College
ACS (Barker Road)

Sithawalla Cup (U-19)
Group A:
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
United World College
Raffles Institution (Yr5-6)
The French School

Group B:
Tanglin Trust School
Anglo-Chinese Junior College
Overseas Family School
St Andrew’s Junior College