CCAB, Tuesday, March 20, 2012 — Raffles Institution beat St Joseph’s Institution 15-9 in a closely-fought game to secure the fourth and final semi-final spot in the National B Division Rugby Championship.

Both SJI and RI took to the field knowing that only a win for either team would guarantee the final semi-final spot. Scrappy play plagued the game as both sides probed for weaknesses in the opponents’ defence.

SJI drew first blood when they converted on a sweet drop goal 30m out. They were unable to make much headway against the strong RI defence, and knew that kicking would be their best chance to put points on the board.

RI then responded with a well-taken try down the right touchline. The try was virtually presented to them on a tray by the feeble tackling of the SJI wing defence.

At the stroke of halftime, RI, playing with a penalty advantage, showed that they too knew where the posts were, delivering a drop goal from 25m out which ricocheted in off the left upright to take a 10-3 half-time lead.

In the second half, SJI started strong and soon pulled to within four points (6-10) with a well-taken penalty. They continued to pile on the pressure as they attacked relentlessly, only to be denied by wild RI defending, which saw RI reduced to 14 men on two occasions, including the last 10 minutes. The yellow cards were for a high tackle and an intentional knock on.

With five minutes on the clock, SJI were awarded a penalty on the 22m line in front of the posts. Controversially, they elected to go for the points instead of kicking to the corner for a line out just short of the try line. The penalty was taken with aplomb and SJI trailed by only one (9-10) with four minutes to go.

However, from the kickoff, a mistake by SJI allowed RI to camp in their half. SJI defended desperately on the try line but RI still managed to score after swinging the ball wide to score on the opposite wing. RI missed the conversion but still led 15-9.

The last play of the game started from the kickoff and saw SJI throw everything but the kitchen sink at RI. The SJI forwards pounded untiringly but made no headway. SJI’s bigger players pierced through but were stopped by RI defenders who threw their bodies in the fray.

When SJI knocked on 5m out, it was all over because the referee blew for time.

With the win, RI progress to the semi-finals, albeit by the skin of their teeth. They will now face Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in the first semi-final while St Andrew’s Secondary will take on bogey team ACS (Barker Rd) in the other.

In recent seasons, ACS (Barker) have been able to get the better of the Saints in crucial matches, like the 2011 C Division semi-final last year, and also at the same stage a few years ago.

ACS(I) wrapped up their preliminary round with a thumping 77-0 defeat of ACS (Barker) to finish with a 6-1-0 win-draw-loss record. The Saints finished with a similar record — the two teams had drawn 7-7 when they met each other — but are second on the table because of an inferior points difference.

ACS (Barker)’s 5-2 win-loss record secured them third place while RI grabbed the last spot with a 4-3 record.

ACS(I) and RI will play their semi-final on Monday, March 26th, 3:15pm while ACS (Barker) and Saints will play the next day at the same time. The venue for both games is Republic Polytechnic.

National B Division Rugby Championship — full fixtures and results