Story by Les Tan. Pics by Les Tan and REDintern Vanessa Lim.

rugby_acsi_v_saints1.jpg

Joey Wee of ACS(I) takes cover while in a ruck. (Photo 1 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Friday, August 15, 2008 – The Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) beat St. Andrew’s Secondary 39-0 in a one-sided C Division Championship final to complete the rugby grand slam. ACS(I) won the A and B Division titles this year and are now the first school in Singapore school history to hold the A, B and C titles in a single calendar year.

Having beaten the Saints 41-5 in an earlier second round game, the only question was the margin of victory on the day. ACS(I) quickly answered that with an early try and by half-time, they were up 15-0. Saints did not even get inside the 22m line of their opponents half and were unable to put any sustained and meaningful pressure on ACS(I).

The second half was more of the same with four ACS tries and the only stress for ACS(I) was whether James Morgan would convert any tries after having missed all three in the first half. In the end he did manage to convert two although what most people will remember was the fact that he managed to hit the rugby posts twice.

Two of the ACS(I) tries in the second half saw them tear through the Saints backline like a knife through butter with multiple passes and a final strong run over the try line. This will go down as one of the most lopsided finals in C Division but given the fact that the mercy rule had to be invoked even in the semi-final when ACS(I) beat Bedok Town 89-7, this was not wholly unexpected.

ACS(I) won all their preliminary round games 80-0 with the mercy rule evoked in each game and they outscored their opponents throughout the whole championship by 512 to 15 points. This is the 12th consecutive C Division title for ACS(I).

The top four teams – ACS(I), Saints, Raffles Institution and Bedok Town – all received their medals and trophies at the end of the game but perhaps they should create a special prize next year for the players who score against ACS(I) next year. There certainly aren’t many of them.

Try scorers:

ACS(I): Md Rossafiq (1), Daniel Chong (1), Jay Koh (1), James Morgan (2), Winson Yung (1), Joey Wee (1)

Other results:
3rd/4th placing game: RI 37 Bedok Town 7

rugby_acsi_v_saints2.jpg

Daniel Chong of ACS(I) feels the full force of a tackle by Lester of Saints. (Photo 2 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
rugby_acsi_v_saints3.jpg

“Now where’s that ball?” David Chibueze Daniel of Saints looks for the ball while Gabriel Tan of ACS(I) hangs on to it. (Photo 3 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
rugby_acsi_v_saints4.jpg

Saints scrum half Jedaiah was bloodied within minutes of the start and had to come off for treatment. (Photo 4 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
cdivfinal21.jpg

Rauf of Saints tries to avoid getting tackled by Jay Koh of ACS(I). (Photo 5 © Van/Red Sports)
cdivfinal31.jpg

Samuel Teo of ACS(I) passes the ball to his teammate before getting tackled by Lin Yong of Saints. (Photo 6 © Van/Red Sports)
cdivfinal41.jpg

James Morgan of ACS(I) attempts a successful conversion kick. (Photo 7 © Van/Red Sports)
cdivfinal51.jpg

Joey Wee of ACS(I) finds an opening and runs right through for a try while Rauf of Saints tries in vain to stop him. (Photo 8 © Van/Red Sports)
cdivfinal61.jpg

Disappointment in the Saints camp. Terence of Saint closes his eye in pain. (Photo 9 © Van/Red Sports)
cdivfinal71.jpg

ACS(I) celebrate. (Photo 10 © Van/Red Sports)

Support Red Sports with 30 cents a day