By Lee Hwee Cheng
Highlights in Episode 14 of RedSportsTV.
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Clash of the titans, literally. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Home Team Academy, Wednesday, May 23, 2007 – In a rather secluded corner off Old Chua Chu Kang Road, on a pitch set against a picturesque bright blue sky and a nice cool breeze, moods around the new Home Team Academy stadium were at an all-time high as the usual Raffles and Anglo-Chinese camps fought it out yet again – both on the pitch and at the gallery.
But it was the Rafflesians who culminated the highly-anticipated affair with a prideful rendition of their school song, when the boys in green-black-white pipped Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) for the crown 13-10 with a penalty kick in sudden-death extra time.
It was all defense, scrummages and penalties in the game and any attempt by the backs at a breakaway from the defense line would quickly be foiled by a tackle. In fact, it was ACS(I) who scored the first points of the game when they were awarded a penalty kick early in the first half.
The score remained for most of the half at 0-3 as both sides struggled to keep ball possession and launch any possible attack. A bad violation from the RJC camp resulted in another penalty awarded to the boys in yellow-blue stripes, but this time, the kick failed to clear the posts.
ACS(I) had a close stab at a try when they won the ball in a line-out near the try line and charged ahead. But the Raffles defense put out all the stops and held their line. The try attempt was foiled, and in a matter of minutes, the attack had quickly swung the other way.
In the final minutes of the first half, RJC’s Shaun Yam (no.11) received a pass in the midfield, faked a pass and then with a quick change of direction, sprung forward instead and broke through the ACS(I) line. He skipped a few defenders before he was taken down – but not before passing the ball to Stuart Ho (no.13) who finished the play with a try. The conversion was not made, however, and at the end of the first half, RJC were leading 5-3.
Barely two minutes into the second half, ACS(I) twisted the situation around when they overpowered RJC’s scrum to score a try. They went on to complete the conversion and the ACS(I) camp at the gallery broke into a frenzy of cheers as ACS(I) now led by five points at 10-5.
From then on, it was all RJC on the offense. They missed another penalty kick and almost got through when a breakaway was foiled just before the try line. With adrenaline all pumped up, it was only a matter of time that RJC finally scored their next try. Missing the conversion kick again, RJC managed to level the game 10-10.
In the last few minutes of the game, both sides were awarded yet another penalty each, both of which failed to clear the posts. And at full-time, the score remained level at 10-10.
With10 minutes of sudden-death extra time, it was RJC who dominated right from the start and it was not long before another penalty was awarded to the Rafflesians. Third-time lucky, the Rafflesians finally scored on a penalty as Ong Zhe Han (no.12) sent the ball flying between the posts.
It was at this moment that the Rafflesians broke out into a frenzy, and the pitch became a sea of greens, blacks and whites as RJC ended the final with a 13-10 win.
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Ian Gan of ACS(I) tries to break free from the defense but RJC’s Kevin Neo pulls him back. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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"You’re not getting past me, dude," says ACS(I)’s Khairulanwar (14) to RJC’s Shaun Yam (11). (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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Shane Gan of ACS(I) makes a pass to a teammate before he gets tackled. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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"What nice arms you have, dude." RJC player gets the ball in a line-out. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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An ACS(I) player shouts with joy at going over for a try against RJC. (Photo 6 © Liu Yongjia)
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An ACS(I) player grabs the ball and runs while RJC players try to chase him down. (Photo 7 © Wee Ban Bee)
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An ACS(I) player gets taken down by RJC defenders. (Photo 8 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Shane Gan of ACS(I) kicks the ball forward to move the attack into the RJC half. Looking on is teammate Timothy Gay. (Photo 9 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Ian Gan of ACS(I) tries to break free. (Photo 9 © Wee Ban Bee)
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ACS(I) player attempts a forward punt. (Photo 10 © Wee Ban Bee)
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"It’s a try!" ACS(I) supporters cheer as their team makes a successful try. (Photo 11 © Wee Ban Bee)
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Martin Eddie Butler of ACS(I) player makes a run with the ball but an RJC player attempts to bring him down from behind. (Photo 12 © Wee Ban Bee)
These were the boys who sweated it out on the pitch this afternoon. Good job, everyone.
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
1 – Eric Ong
2 – Daryl Thio
3 – Liu Yi
4 – John Yeo
5 – Leo Yi Shyen
6 – Martin Butler
7 – Timothy Gay
8 – David Cheong
9 – Shane Gan
10 – Ian Gan
11 – Tang Hon Wei
12 – Justin Boey
13 – Blandon Tan (Captain)
14 – Md Khairulanwar
15 – Shannon Tan
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John Wisnioski of RJC goes on a searing run against ACS(I). (Photo 13 © Joshua Tan)
Raffles Junior College
1 – Aaron Teo
3 – Jed Chua
5 – Kevin Neo
6 – Foo Ming Qing
7 – Thaddeus Cheng
8 – Law Yi Meng
9 – Wong Kah Wei
10 – Lee Chee Meng (Captain)
11 – Shaun Yam
12 – Ong Zhe Han
13 – Stuart Ho
14 – John Wisnioski
15 – Nazirul
18 – Iwan Kurniawan
24 – Kenny Ng
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"Shhh … don’t tell them I got the ball." Everyone seems engrossed in something else as an RJC player gets ready to run with the ball. (Photo 14 © Joshua Tan)
Editor’s note: Right, we’ve gotten all the names, but we realize we don’t quite recognize the faces and the jersey numbers don’t appear on the pictures. So, if you recognize yourselves or any of your friends in these pictures, drop us a note in the "Comments" section, and we’ll update the captions accordingly. For more action shots, visit the picture gallery. Thanks! I must say though, ACS should consider changing the colours of their numbers so that they can be seen. We were pitch side and still couldn’t see the numbers properly. Small red numbers on a blue and yellow background are impossible to see. Just a suggestion to facilitate better reporting. Thanks.
Errrr *** Mr Wisnioski, you have a personal vendetta against ACSI?
Why blame ACS(I) when your son didn’t perform to full potential because of poorly prescribed contacts? Good thing you finally got to grips with his problem before he got to RJC.
mr wisnioski, i do believe you know why the acsi coaches were ‘unresponsive’ to your son concerning this dsa issue.
please do not antagonize acsi coaching because i believe you have no right to judge them.
so don’t say you guys ‘gave up’ on acsi, because acsi never offered you anyway.
Dear Mr Wisnioski,
it is true that Shawn Ang accepted a DSA from rjc late in 2005, and it is also true that he backed out from it ON HIS OWN ACCORD at the end of the year. You seem to be suggesting that the acsi rugby coaches had held a knife to his throat and forced him to stay in acsi. Every student has a free choice of which school he wants to attend, and he could have easily gone to rjc if he wanted to. furthermore, as you mentioned earlier, Jed was also in the IB programme, but he went to rjc without being “pressured" like shawn ang, as you allege. I really don’t think its fair that you are badmouthing the acsi rugby fraternity. Among the IB boys, shawn made the choice to stay in acsi, just as thadd and jed had made the choice not to. it’s as simple as that.
The #14 on this year’s A div team, khairul, was not “recruited" from anywhere, he completed his secondary education in acsi. There is only one rugby player on the team who was from SJI, he’s a J2 student and he came on in the second half of the finals.
I would like you to remember that one of the main reasons why john has become the player his is today is because of the coaching from ACS(I) he has been receiving for 4 years.
Please remember that you and your son John were part of the ac rugby community for 4 years, and unless you want to claim that the community has changed drastically since you left it, you were also part of the people that “go too far" and who “don’t care about the game" if it doesn’t involve ac.
It must be quite difficult for a parent to see his child go through so much pressure…
to “ourhero”
“Kevin Neo, the SA B Division Captain in 2006”
Kevin Neo was not the SA B-Division Captain in 2006.
As a J2 in ACSI, I do have to admit, our year 2s have not shown as much dedication to the sport as our year 1s have, hence the ‘lack’ of players in the squad.
I would also have to add that this is due to the IB programme does indeed add a lot of pressure in the sense that the workload is more spread out rather than just being based on the final exams. But let’s not make this an argument over education systems alright?
Perhaps the RJC team did deserve to win, shown by the ‘fire’ and drive they had, in close comparison to the ACJC team’s.
Personally, I question my choice of staying in ACSI rather than going on to a local JC in a sporting sense, because due to us being the pioneer batch of students, the school would rather us place more importance on studies than on sports. Hence, the lack of time and energy to train. I’m not passing any judgements on local JCs, not saying they don’t focus on studies. But I daresay the way the IB programme is put up does require a lot of effort due to the fact that most of our final grades are based on essays or assignments. Okay, I’m missing the point here. Point is, let’s not argue about this, and to John’s dad, I agree that the ex-ACSI Rafflesians do maintain strong relations with some of their former teammates, and that this A division finals was not one of hatred or rivalry or whatever, but more of a showcase of good rugby.
So, let’s not make this into an argument between schools or their affiliates. This ‘Comments’ section is more rather meant for comments on the article or game. The fact is that ACSI lost, and RJC won. No amount of excuses would change that. Kudos to both teams for making it an exciting final, right down to the very last minute.
And thank you redsports for your coverage on local sports. This publicity does add a lot of motivation for players. If only you had this when I was in secondary school….. Oh well.
On a side note, next year’s hot favourites are indeed ACSI, but if the game were played on paper, ACSI should have won the final, seeing the score difference against ACJC and SAJC, as compared to RJC. Well, looks like rugby isn’t played on paper then, is it? Why of course. It’s played on grass.
Ha ha ha.
dear acsi,
please consider whatever you are saying before actually blurting it out rashly. because i would like to ask, which schools actually used their Integrated Programme (IP) status to play more-experienced players in the b division?
acsi is not the only one of course, chinese high and hwachong jc has technically become 1 school – HCI such that they field year 5s against raffles institution in the judo finals last year in 2006.
unless my memory has failed me severely i remember a similar situation with acsi going into the rugby season in 2006. because of the very rule that players only need to be under-17 to play in the b division, acsi decided to field its Year 5s for it is an IP, or if you would prefer, IB school. It has been a rule that saints have been using to their advantage over the years, boasting bigger and more-experienced players, who took the n-levels in year 4.
now. let’s think about it. raffles institution could jolly well have proposed a merger with raffles junior college, calling themselves Raffles i-dunno-what-you-can-be-as-creative-as-you-want, and fielding technically JC1 players to play in the B division. that was an option. but it wasn’t taken because the spirit of sports in raffles is not in the result, but in the true experience, whereby most year 4s, having endured 2 intense years of training since their C division tournament, can pit their skills against others once again.
i’m not saying that this spirit is different at acsi. and even if it is, i’m not saying it’s wrong.
and to clear things up, the number of people who get retained each year can be counted with 2 hands. and barely 30% of these people are sportsmen. and just in case you give me an argument that people can get retained for 2 years, IF YOU DO GET RETAINED FOR 2 YEARS, a change in school would be “suggested”.
and just a piece of advice (you can choose not to heed it of course), try to avoid sweeping statements like ac is the best rugby school in singapore. okay i’m not saying it isn’t but things get hot that way. well it’s fortunate that you are passionate about your school but i’m sure you are not some troublemaker who just wishes to stir up controversies right?
rock on. your school thrives on people like you.
just to clarify.
RJC sportsmen do NOT represent their school for 3 years. if they do get retained, the school bans them from playing. yup.
just to clarify, i never meant to use studies as an “excuse” for losing. i just meant to say that the structure of the IB program forces students to work consistently over 2 years. it is not like the A levels where you can play a fool during J1 and mug the last 6 months J2 and still do well. it just shows the commitment and heart the acsi players have, to stay back and train after school ends at about 5pm almost every day. they even go to the gym during free periods.
to RJC: i dont think you have any right to pass judgment on any of the acsi rugby players, especially not to question their passion and commitment.
to rugby fan:
i would like to remind you that the first batch of IB students have yet to graduate from acsi. as such, you cant really compare RJ to acsi academically. yes, you may be the current “champs” of A levels, but do remember that acsi is in a whole different league.we dont do A levels.
to john’s father:
it is heartening to see that none of the rugby players had any trouble at all getting promoted. but is it not true that several sportsmen represent RJC in the A div for 3 years after getting retained either in J1 or in J2?
also, RJC came knocking on the doors of the top athletes in literally every sport in acsi, regardless of whether they were taking O levels. only a handful decided to go there. now i’m not saying those sportsmen who went to RJC are morally wrong in any way, but you do have to understand that some of us may not be too happy when we see someone we considered to be a brother wearing rival colours. i also agree that we should not shut people like john, thadd, aaron and jed out by calling them traitors, but simply accept the fact that they feel they’d be better off elsewhere.
even though they may be wearing green, black and white, i hope that deep down they still remember where they’re from.
over 20 points can get into jc? must be some new MOE rule…your really into the education scene eh acsi.
To Rugby Fan,
my sentiments EXACTLy.
and to acsi, funny how you used the whole “negligence of studies” as an excuse for the loss, and an argument against rjc. surely you know better about the standards in the academic field?
and also to the incessant repetition about how there were 5 ex acsi players yada yada. get a grip. more than half of them weren’t even first team players. the simple fact is, they came over, we welcomed them warmly, and most importantly, trained and nurtured them into the CHAMPIONS they are today. surely, u cant take credit away from us from that.
and with reference to sore losers who go on and harp about how most of the team was made up of year1 players. Say, whose fault is it that the acsi has year 2 players with no passion, commitment nor heart to the school and to the sport? Rugby isnt merely about the physical strength and skills of the players. What counts alot also is the heart and passion of the players, and i believe this is why we are the Champons. In any case, acsi has many quality year 1 player who wud have made the team anyway with or without the year 2 players training.
on a side note, hot favourites for next year’s championship should be acsi
lol to acsi
rj never takes in players with 20 or more points mind you and moreover the pool of rugby boys come from secondary schools ri,acsi,sa,barker etc where populations are somewhat equal. Even if RJs population is larger u dont see a chinese orchestra kid popping up to be the next rugby star lol rj doesnt even take in boys who are interested in rugby at all. and how does acsi being academically orientated affect rugby? RJ is the ‘champs’ in studies annually everyone knows that so no point bragging on that point and for this year CHAMPIONS of RUGBY too
RJC never took in students with 20 or more pts. that’s a fact and DSA players have to score below 20 to stay in RJ. the barker rugger that DSAed this year-he left because he got more than 20. get your facts right and stop disseminating wrong info. and remind me if i’m wrong, in which year had RJC retained its students for them to play rugby? wake up la. The J2 ruggers this year, not a single one is a retainee. oh and only IB year 5 students have to study and RJC students do not have to study for A levels this year? You give them a place in universities or what? The best u can say is that your J1 players play better rugby than their seniors. They are in the team while their seniors are not. Kudos to them for putting up a good match against the rj team-and let’s just hope they would become even better for the next rj batch of ruggers!
Haha it makes me wonder in this technological age u don’t get informed huh. SIMPLY check the redsports website to see how many gold rj have won-this week alone. Rugby, soccer, tennis(double), badminton(double), hockey, netball… So that is what u mean by “RJC is barely meeting expectations in the sporting arena" huh -.-
the reason why ac boys are not in the national setup is mroe down to the fact that they are not interested to play, rather than the fact that they are not good enough.
unlike RJC, we don’t have a policy of taking in students who get 20 or more points for o levels, retaining them and making them play rugby for 3 years. as a result, IB students actually have to pay attention to their studies so that they dont get retained. this means that the J2 students don’t really have the time to train as much as their juniors or their raffles counterparts. furthermore, there are about 700 or so students in the entire IB program in acsi (meaning J1 and J2), which is about 1/3 or 1/4 of the RJC population. with a pool of sportsmen thats 3 or 4 times the size of acsi’s pool, shouldnt raffles be at the very least expected to win? the fact that our ruggers, without even having a full squad, managed to push RJ to the limit already speaks very highly of their talent and commitment. so i really dont think its a big deal that RJC is barely meeting expectations in the sporting arena.
P.S. as quoted from a friend “only acsi boys can score in rugby finals”
At the end of the day, season 2007 is over , there’s a year of training and ins and outs , and we will see who holds the cup in 2008.
Want to throw something else into the mix –
If ac is that good (and no one is saying otherwise) – then why isit at national youth and full national team level, there are hardly an ac products?
Take the national under 16 team for example – all school players – 0 from 2004, 3 from 2005, and for this year, the champions – 0 . These are the players that turned up for selection, not those that got selected by the way. ACS official reply was that their boys were not available for national selection due to commitments -oh well. One might ask – what other commitment is higher than representing you country?
At national level – at best, there are 4 in the current set up of 30.
Best rugby school – yeah maybe , best developer of rugby talent for the good of the sport? who knows?
Ac bes
ZZING. right on raffles. not this year m8! and most of ya’ll being j1 dun rlly mean much cuz ur in the first team basically sez ur better than ur j2s. which i can imagine cuz ya’ll rlly a pretty good team. yeh the game coulda gone either way but hell u take your chances and we won. but anyway good luck for next year and all.
we’re all mature enough to move beyond it when we choose to be.
kudos to RJC for winning (although some will say it just rubs in the point that only ac alumni score tries at a div finals *kidding*) with passion and style
kudos to ACS(I) for hard fight (also with passion, and some style) which we hope will be better next year
good match all round, better match next year?
go Peter Petrelli!