Saints cast aside Raffles to set up B Division rugby final against ACS(I)

By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Old Police Academy, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 – Defending champions St. Andrew's Secondary stormed into the final of the National B Division Rugby Championship with a comprehensive 50-3 win over Raffles Institution.

St. Andrew's will now face rivals Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in a repeat of last year's final. ACS(I) thrashed St. Joseph Institution 62-0 in the other semi-final played later at the same venue.

The undefeated champions led from start to finish, taking the game to RI early on and scoring a try in under five minutes. Jonathan Loo sprinted past RI's static defense to score the Saints’ first points and it was easily converted by Naresh (St. Andrew's #15), giving St. Andrew's a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes.

Not to be out done, RI replied through Haziq (RI #12) with a penalty in a good position. That, however, was all RI managed throughout the match as St. Andrew's defense shut them out thereafter.

St. Andrew's play saw them chalk up their fourth team warning with Daniel Tan getting a yellow card but the defending champions were unstoppable as they went on a scoring spree.

Despite being one man down, forward Khor Jia Jun broke RI's defense just after 15 minutes and although it was not converted, Rauf (St. Andrew's #13) split open the RI defense once again to establish daylight between the teams. His try was converted this team and St. Andrew's now had a 19-3 lead.

The sizable Daniel Tan returned to the game and he immediately made his presence felt as he did well to power his way over for St. Andrew's fourth try which was converted easily by Naresh. Naresh himself then scored another try just before half-time, breaking free from RI's defense on the right to give Saints a 31-3 lead at the break.

RI came out fighting in the second half as St. Andrew's seem to take a step back. RI made threatening runs at Saints' defense as they looked to reduce the deficit early in the second half. However, all the RI momentum came to an abrupt halt when Bennett got a yellow card. That totally turned the tables on RI as Daniel Tan got his second try of the afternoon to make the score 38-3.

Towards the end of the match, Saints continued to push for more and were rewarded when Naresh weaved his way through the RI defense before slipping the ball for Daniel David to score right between the post. Saints added another try for good measure right before the end to bring the score to 50-3.

"We started well but lacked the fire and passion at end," said RI head coach Rhys Jones. "From a coach's point of view, that is quite disappointing. We spoke to the boys about coming out hard and making an impact at the start of the second half. I thought they did that, but they couldn’t sustain the pressure."

"In the first half, I thought we were doing well until the yellow card for Saints. It fired them up more and we took a step back. In hindsight, that was a blessing for them," analyzed coach Jones. "When we got the yellow card in the second half – that was the final nail in coffin. All credit to Saints though."

"I think we are quite please with the result," commented St Andrew’s teacher-in-charge Daniel Thiam. "It took awhile for the boys to get use to some of the referee's calls and I felt we were rather lucky to get the tries while being a man down. We stuck to our game plan and the boys were determined not to go out at the semi-final stage."

On facing Anglo Chinese School (Independent) in the final, he said, "We have a lot of respect for AC and we are not going to take it [the match] lightly. At the same time, we are quietly confident of defending the title and we'll hope for the best."

"We know we have what it takes to retain the title!" said Saints captain Jonathan Loo. "Today we weren't playing up to standard. Our tries were more individual than as a team, but we stuck to the game plan throughout and that was why we won today."

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