Raffles win back crown after edging out ACS(I) with extra-time penalty

Hi RJC !
{ lol King Xerxes has spoken !}

You have my VOTE for the most Humourous line of this long, unending story!
ps:I’m sure you know Xerses did not have a good ending and neither did
Leonidas. Ha ha.

Red Coach DYip

Ah, mr wisnioski, what complex?? I have sat with Raffles parents and cheered with them. Like you, I’m just sharing one of my not-so-nice experience of someone in the Raffles crowd. Let me share another not-so-nice experience of some in the SA crowd which had viciously taunted an AC player in the B final some years ago who had suffered a tragic family loss just days before.

Fact is, every school has its fair share of poor supporters. If we can refrain from judging the school because of these crowds, good sportsmanship will have a chance to thrive.

lol guys the game is over and everything’s been said. its really quite sad to see how such a great game of rugby, played in what i would consider its truest tradition, and also played in such great spirit and mutual respect, being used as such a catalyst for negative feelings or energies. sure, no school is perfect. but i do feel that ACS, as Mr. Wisnoiski has pointed out, tend to be abit overbearing in their pursuit of the gold medals. as important as it is to school pride and all that, i do feel that sometimes they tend to neglect the wellbeing and desires of the individuals involved. kinda like forgetting that the rugby gold is actually borne of real rugby players who need to consider their futures and the kind of atmosphere they want, and not just some all-encompassing scheme.

personally i do know the guys who have come over from acs, and what i get is really a sentiment of disappointment about how they’ve been treated since they’ve left the school for rjc. i get how acs wants to protect their own interest and the time and effort spent coaching and grooming the boys, but perhaps it is more “gentlemanly” to respect their choices and be happy for them rather then be sore about how they’ve “betrayed” the school. instead of respecting their decisions they’ve totally outcasted them and branded them as “defectors”. as coaches you’re supposed to be nurturing and as important as the lessons u learn about rugby are, the ones that u keep are the lessons about life. respect. discipline. endeavour. these kinda things. by being so unsupportive of the guys, the ac coaches put themselves in bad light. which i feel is sad in a way cuz i think as much as we can’t love them we at raffles at least respect them.

its cases like these that really bring me to feel that at sometimes the pride that AC has in their school name really does take precedence over too many things. like. the values that they try to impart to their students. the school prides itself on being gentlemanly, but in any competition where the school name is at stake, many of these values just seem to stop mattering anymore. i am NOT in any way saying that ALL of the students or staff are like that. but the fact is that some of them are. and if Mr. Wisnoiski’s anecdotes are to be believed, the ac rugby coaches would be part of said group. i agree. they need to loosen up. step back. and see what kinda values their actions REALLY portray about the character of the people involved, and of the school as a whole.

i’m pretty sure the guys didn’t mean any disrespect when they held up the college flag after they won. perhaps it just hit a sore spot with some of the viewers, but that is understandable. but i assure u, as ourhero has done, that them holding the flag was not an act of antagonizing the ac crowd or players, but rather as a tribute to the spirit of the team under the name of the college.

i have friends that have left for other JCs, and as sad as i am that they aren’t here with us in RJ, i’m happy for them because their happy themselves. sure they do come back and play against rjc, but the undertones to these clashes in the sporting arena is always respect and not bitterness. and i do feel that the finals this year was exactly in this manner, and i am particularly happy that it was. though i do believe my feelings towards the finals are … tainted somewhat by the fact that we won.

don’t really know bout the squash dude. but if he said that its not very nice @ all. but heres the thing really. if any of the teachers or staff in raffles found out bout that, he would have been reprimanded and told that its just not how its done here in raffles. but in ac, correct me if im wrong, they seem to not address behaviour like that. im not sure if they just let it go on the account of the fact that he said it as a gesture of school confidence, or whether they just really believe that saying something like that is in any way an acceptable way to act.

however! in all seriousness i can’t pretend to not be overtly pro-raffles. but u’ll have to forgive me for that. i have actually spent 6 years in the place and feel rather strongly for the name and the school. i DO hope, however, that we give u good impression of the school culture and the ideals that it springs from, cuz if we don’t someone’s gonna school us for messing up our priorities.

thanks to mr. wisnioski for clarifying that. to be honest i dont really remember john as being the quiet type. haha. i dont really know him personally so i cant comment on his character and i’ll take your word for it. but from the few times i happened to play soccer with him and his group of friends in secondary school, he struck me more as the extroverted loud type. not that thats a bad thing of course. just thought i should share that with you, and i’m not challenging your description of him in any way.

mr wisnioski:

i do acknowledge that there are some ac supporters who tend to cross the line from time to time, as there are in every school. i have never personally trashed any former schoolmate just because he went over to a rival school. i have friends from acs(j) who went to RI and chinese high after PSLE, and i am still in contact with them, just as i have friends who went to RJC and hwa chong after O levels who i am still close to. there is nothing wrong in going to a rival school, just because i wouldn’t doesn’t mean i should expect the same of everyone else. different people have different viewpoints and i accept that. however, the only thing that annoys me is when old boys of the school come back and disrespect acs. for example, after the rugby match on wednesday, when the teams were lining up to shake hands, there were a couple of RJC rugby players carrying the raffles flag. they were aaron and i’m not sure but i think john was the other one (please correct me if i’m wrong). yes, there is nothing wrong with a player carrying his school flag, but in the case of aaron and john doesn’t it seem like they are simply rubbing in the fact that they are now in RJC and are on the ‘better’ team?

i know this next example is slightly off topic but it serves to emphasize my point so bear with me. i was at the A division squash finals which took place a month of so ago. it was between RJC and ACS(I). RJC’s top player was a J1 formerly from the ACS(I) pre-IB program, and he had gotten in to RJ through DSA. before the match, he came up to our teacher in charge and said “i’m going to take your grand slam away from you” (ACSI had already won the C and B divisions earlier). for the record, acs(i) won the match 4-1.

how then, mr. wisnioski, do you expect us to respect ex-acs boys who try to rub the fact that they’ve moved on to greener pastures in our faces?

in either the 2004 or 2005 Rugby Final…

an ACSi rugger punched a Saint Rugger on the field, during the game, right infront of my eyes, less than 2 metres away… many many other Saints supporters saw as well and so did the referee. The referee just pretended nothing happen and continued on in the game. It was only till when the whole Saints supporters started chanting “red card” den did the referee do some action and gave a yellow card to that player.

i’m saying this to make a point, when ACSi lost, the referee was on their side, they kept quiet, when the referee is so-called ‘bias’ against them, they make noise.

Have you ever seen SA or Raffles make any noise about the referee in any Final? be it win or lose, we just played by the whistle. That’s what a real sportsman will do, play by the whistle.
If you understand, in a game, the whistle is so-called the final authority.

ourhero:

*it seems that ACSi only respond to your e-mail when you are commending them or helping them… but when you cite their flaws and their bad attitude, they just ignore.

*if i’m not wrong, the stomping was also not really a stomping, that’s why the punishment was more lenient compared to the ear-biting one.

*”When AC was receiving their runners-up trophies, the SA coach turned to his SA players and they all applauded and I think sang something in tribute to the ACS(I) team. When SA was awarded their trophy the AC crowd of mostly of adults, mostly old boys started booing the SA team, making catcalls and the like, saying that AC lost because of bad refereeing, etc. There were no congratulations of even limp applause recognizing the SA team.”

Not only did SA coach and players applauded, the school did as well. though we lost this year in the B. We applauded as well.
i’m also sure that since you were at the final last year, when we were taking 3 penalties kick, you sure heard ACSi jeering and booing. They did the same in 2005 and 2004 as well, but they din do it in this year at B, but they did at A. Anyway, i’m sure you could witness to what I just said.

SA is also not perfect, we had our fair share of jeering at ACSi at 2004 C-Div Final and we even ran our flags around the field (an action where the winning team will do) before the game ended. The next day, the whole school received a long lecture from the principal during morning assembly. When the student body do wrong, I think the Head and staff should do something about it, and not just let it pass.

*ACSi outsmarted us this year, they finally change their tactics and played SA tactics against SA while we still stuck to our same tactics.

to rugby2008 – Under 16 rugby goes where ?

There are a number of problems with some of the statements made in rugby2008’s article and others – mostly form the ill informed

There is No Asian Championship at under 16 level
There is none at under 17 level nor at under 18 and
now none at under 19 or 21

Given that the IRB has ruled that the only youth championship to be run in the future at World level wil be under 20 – where are the youth of Singapore at that time in there lives – ARMY OR University

The question is will there be an Asian Championship at age 19 in the next 12 months – Based on the statement by the IRB – NO

Secondly – Based on the above statement what portion of the development of the player is assisted by under 16 rugby – NONE

Why – Under 16 is legally the year of the O level – the year of the Mock exams and in some schools the year of full time pressure – failing O levels in Singapore is close to the same as committing academic suicide- the threats of no future – no job, ending up in a poor JC or a Poly – instead of a prestigeous JC like all of the above mentioned Raffles JC, Anglo Chinese JC,

If the rugby fratenrity is intent on development – then get smart select at
under 15 – 17 and 20

Under 15 is the middle year between entry and O levels – a year where most schools do not use them as there B division and they are to old for the C division – and where when they play – the physical size is not a major part of competitive rugby overseas.

Under 16 – leave them alone to develop their education and play their school rugby – Moniter them and assist there coaches to develop them both in a skills sense and physically on a minimal basis

Under 17 – they are either J1 or in the IB system in their first year – a year where they are due to the CCAB demands introduced to the under 20 competition (another stupid part of the game given the average age of the players)- yet it is a year where there are little or no major involvements with exams – they are relatively free to be developed – and they are normally in or past their growth period and strength training would be a major benefit to them all – take them into Australia – play the local schools – in Western Australia , South Australia and Victoria they would learn and win a few games – and given that Australia is supposed ti be the big brother to Singapore why not ask for an invite into the Australian Schools competiton at level B – with the likes of WA, Tasmania, Victoria, and the Northern Territory

Under 18 – Final year of College and the IB program – A levels are coming and given the empahsis on academics here in Singapore – a year where they should again play for the A division, be monitored both technically and physically for continued development – Watch where they go – ?

Under 19 and 20 – they are in the main in the Army etc- they could be at work if they failed badly , the could be into University of they do not qualify for the forces but are eligible to play for Singapore at under 20 –

That is the pathway to development – not at under 16 – Your question was why are there no ACS members in the National under 16 – the answer is simple – read the data above and ask – where are they going and who are they playing ? and what will it achieve ?

It is not a matter of none being put forward – it is a matter of why ?

As a parent of one of the players – my congrats to the owner and manager of this site – brought to my attention by my son – great photo’s and details –

to rugby2008 – Why not review your comments when it comes to the correct age groups being used – such as the Singapore Schools Team
at under 18

RD