RI see off ACS(I) 11-3 to retain A Division rugby title

Old Police Academy, Wednesday, May 12, 2010 – Raffles Institution beat Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 11-3 to retain their A Division Rugby Championship title this afternoon.

RI led 8-3 at half-time on the back of a penalty and an unconverted try. Another penalty in a second half dominated by the boys in green saw off the challenge of ACS(I).

RI started off as favourites and within a minute, won a penalty. Md Alimi (RI #15) stepped up to take it but the 25m attempt sailed wide.

However, scrumhalf Md Saiful (RI #9) made no mistake four minutes later with another penalty to put RI up 3-0.

ACS(I) had a chance then to even things up when captain Colin Lee had a drop-kick opportunity in front of the post but he fumbled the attempt.

RI soon made ACS(I) pay for not taking that chance.

Working off a rolling maul, RI pushed down the left and Yan Xun Chin (RI #11) went over for a try in the 16th minute. RI missed the conversion but were now up 8-0.

RI then had another penalty but Alimi missed again to give ACS(I) hope. In the 19th minute, Colin Lee this time made no mistake when he dispatched a penalty from 35m for his school to trail by 3-8 going into the half-time break.

Building on this momentum, ACS(I) had a bright patch early in the second half when they got themselves into the RI 22m area but they could make nothing of their possession.

Then the tide turned green as the RI boys dominated. ACS(I) dug in to keep the RI forwards from going over inches from their try line on two occasions as RI spent long periods camped in the ACS(I) half.

In the 46th minute, after a period of domination, RI decided to kick a penalty from 25m and Saiful put one through the posts for an 11-3 lead.

An RI player then mishandled a long ACS(I) punt upfield and dropped the ball in a dangerous position. However, no ACS(I) player could capitalise on the error and get to the ball first and RI saw out the rest of the game without any trouble.

“I trained six years for this!” said an ecstatic Yan Xun Chin of RI who scored the only try of the game in the first half. “I lost to ACS five years in a row. Finally beat ACS!”

“We played our hearts out,” said Md Saiful, who kicked two successful penalties for RI. “This is our last chance to win [since we’re graduating]. We stuck to our game plan, to play with the forwards and keep possession.”

And what was going through his mind as he took the nerve-wracking penalties?

“Win it for the team!” said Saiful.

Final Result
RI 11 ACS(I) 3

RI – Yan Xun Chin (1 try), Md Saiful (2 penalties)
ACS(I) – Colin Lee (1 penalty)

RI Lineup
Dixon Yu (prop, #1), Shannon Sin (FLanker, #6), Isaac Ng (Prop, #3), Lim SHao Chun (2nd Rower, #4), Tham Sung Ming (Flanker, #7), Gabriel Ho (Eight man, #8), Jamal Adil (Hooker, #16), Mark Tay, (2nd Rower, #5), Md Saiful (Scrumhalf, #9), Lennie Wee (Flyhalf, #10), Yan Xun Chin (Winger, #11), Bryan Koh (Capt, Centre, #12), Marcus Pereira (Centre, #13), Avinash Raju (Winger, #14), Md Alimi (Fullback, #15)

Substitutes: Max Heng (#2), Jason Goh (#17), Julian Chang (#18), Maskil Masjuri (#19), Jon Lim (#20), Brijinder Singh (#21), Mark Yeo (#22), Russell Wong (#23), Aravin Kumar (#24), Luwei Feng (#25)

ACS(I) Lineup
Ray Tan (Prop, #1), Jaira Koh (Hooker, #16), Austyn Yong, (Prop, #3), Drew LExmond (Lock, #5), Christopher Ooi (Flanker, #6), Don Koh (Flanker, #7), Marcus Chan (Number 8, #8), Lee Jo Hee (Scrumhalf, #9), Colin Lee (Captain, Standoff, #12), David Tjioe (Centre, #13), Timothy Cheah (Centre, #10), Cavan Ho (Winger, #14), Tan Chaun Xi (Fullback, #15), Toh Wei Xiang (Scrumhalf, #21)

Substitutes: Leon Song (Lock, #19), Mark Wong (Lock, #20), Gideon Chan (Centre, #23), Calvin Ying (Fullback, #24), Goh Jie Hui (Winger, #26), Zachary Koh Jie (Winger, #22), Joshua Quek (Standoff, #25), Liu Ai Jue (Lock, #18)

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