Story by REDintern Renuka Singh. Photos by REDintern Vanessa Lim.
Nanyang Polytechnic, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 – The girls from Republic Polytechnic (RP) continued their march to glory after beating Singapore Polytechnic (SP) 7-1 in a Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Touch Rugby Championship game. This victory came on top of having whitewashed ITE 22-0 the previous evening.
The RP defence line held firm to force a turnover after SP failed to score. Good overlapping runs and quick recycling of the ball by RP saw their team captain Su score the first try in the opening minute. SP managed to advance to the 5-metre mark, but could not make an impact due to unforced errors, resulting in another turnover. The good communication within RP was again clear for everyone to see with their shouts of, “That man is yours!”, “Move left!” and “Move right!”. RP simply did not give SP any chance to score touchdowns.
Not long after, Dalinah from RP scored another touchdown after breaking through the SP defence. SP then had a golden opportunity to score in reply but their efforts were foiled by Siti (RP, #14), one of RP's faster runners, when she tagged the SP player before she had a chance to score. The speed of RP’s defense forced many turnovers in their favour.
RP’s swift play caused another touchdown, this time by Amanda. Nearing to half time, Shan (RP, #18) outran the SP defenders and dived towards the goal line for another touchdown. By the end of first half, the score stood at 4-0.
The RP bench was really very supportive even from the touchline. They would shout instructions from the sidelines, or send warnings – “Stay out! Don't get suck in!” – to continuously encourage their teammates. When they saw their players getting tired or slowing down, they would shout out, “Next sub!”
In the second half, Siti of RP scored another touchdown after receiving a great pass from team captain Su whose deceptive ability to lure defenders to her just before a tag proved highly effective. This allowed whoever she passed the ball to the space to run and score.
A few minutes later SP broke their scoring drought and had a touchdown. A SP player ran through space and dived over the goal line. Perhaps one reason SP found difficulty in scoring was the lack of support. An SP player would often herself stranded without teammates to pass to.
As the game wore on, Eunice, one of the fastest runner in the RP team, ran through the SP defence to make it 6-1. Just before the end of the game, Sophie from RP capitalised again on the weak SP defence to score another touchdown to make the final score7-1.
Other results:
Temasek Polytechnic 22 Institute of Technical Education 0
Nanyang Polytechnic 4 Ngee Ann Polytechnic 2
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