By Les Tan/Red Sports
Jay Koh of ACS(I) feels the full brunt of a tackle by Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Padang, Wednesday, April 22, 2009 – St Andrew’s Secondary put together a 3-try performance to beat defending champions Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 17-10 to capture the B Division Rugby Championship title this afternoon at the Padang.
While some ACS supporters will take issue with the referee for his calls, the Saints forward pack was the dominating factor in the match and ACS(I) composure was missing on the day.
The Saints shocked the watching ACS supporters when they drove straight towards their opponents try line and scored through Jia Jun (#17) in the 3rd minute. Though the try was not converted, the early 5-0 lead was a psychological booster shot for the Saints.
Jia Jun then earned himself a yellow card from the referee for a dangerous tackle as ACS(I) came storming back. ACS(I) pressure paid off with a flowing move which ended with Nazryn (#12) going over near the corner flag to make it 5-5.
But ACS hopes came crashing back down to earth when Nicholas Yau (#7) scored an unconverted try in the 15th minute for a 10-5 Saints lead.
Yet again, ACS(I) came back with an answer from their backline when Marah Ishraf (#7) dove over for a try in the 23rd minute after a good penetrating run by Joshua Quek (#9).
The teams walked off 10-10 at half-time and the underdogs Saints knew they had a chance to cause an upset against an ACS team that had scored 101 tries and conceded only one before today.
The second half was all Saints. Chong Yao missed a chance to put three points on the board with a missed penalty kick in the 4th minute but ACS relief was short-lived when Ahmad Ibrahim scored a try in the 9th minute. This time, Chong Yao converted to give Saints a 17-10 lead.
ACS(I) were struggling and it took them 15 minutes before they finally got past the Saints’ 22m line in the second half. ACS(I) then elected to go for a penalty kick near the 22m line but James Morgan’s attempt was wide and that was the last the boys in blue and yellow would ever see the inside of the Saints 22.
From then on, the ACS composure on the field started falling apart slowly, with Nicholas Tan (#15) dropping the ball twice as he failed to catch the long upfield punts of the Saints backline.
Despite having a perfect 8-wins-0-losses record so far and outscoring their opponents by a combined 593 to 13, including a 35-0 thrashing of Raffles Institution in the semi-final, this was the one game that meant the most to ACS(I).
For Saints, the victory was sweet.
“We feel good! We’ve been waiting for this for a long time!” said captain Bryan Lim. “The highlight was when we scored the first try because it lifted our spirits.”
“The first try was important psychologically,” said Saints old boy Gue Kit Wan, 26, a school captain and ex-rugby player from the 1999 batch. “The Saints are strong in forwards while AC is strong in the backline. But AC mistakes and composure killed them. Saints confined the play to their forwards.”
“The hungrier team won,” said Crosby Ong, 48, an ACS supporter. “The game lacked fluidity with insignificant technical calls. The ref should have let the play go, especially when it James Morgan had a clear advantage in the second half and the ref called it back.”
“It was the human drive, the tiger in them,” said another Saints old boy, Yee Teck Peng, 76. “Both sides are even but the side that was hungrier won. The Saints forwards played extremely well.”
Saints Lineup
Forwards
Props: Ashidiq n Daniel Tan
Hooker: Benedict Tan
Locks: Wang Ren n Mohan Singh
Flanks: Ahmad Ibrahim n Nicholas Yau
8 man: Jia Jun
Backs
Half back: Peeranin
Fly half: Tang Hon En
In centre: Bryan Lim
Out centre: Hendricks Tan
Winger: Taufiq(#14) n Chong Yao(#11)
Full Back: Jonathan Loo
ACS Lineup
Chiew Jun Leong (#1)
Jay Koh (#2)
Amos Tan (#3)
Daniel Chong (#4)
Leon Song (#5)
Kenneth Ang (#6)
James Morgan (#7)
Saul Joseph Ong (#8)
Joshua Quek (#9)
Marah Ishraf (#10)
Md Nazryn B Md Jaffar (#12)
Daryn Sit (#13)
Joey Wee (#14)
Mattias Chia (#11)
Nochlas Tan (#15)
Low Zhende (#19)
Abel Khoo (#16)
Qamarul Bin Arifin (#28)
Julian Chang
Mark Wong (#18)
Leonard Wee
Gideon Chan
Calvin Ying
Jaira Koh
Tan Yuan Ming
lee Jen Wei
Ng Chun Lung
Nazryn of ACS(I) tries to run past a tackle by Taufiq of St Andrew’s. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Nazryn of ACS(I) goes over for a try to even up the score at 5-5. (Photo 3 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
James Morgan of ACS(I) attempts but fails to convert the first try. (Photo 4 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Chong Yao of St Andrew’s looks to pass the ball while Mattias Chia of ACS(I) bears down on him. (Photo 5 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Hargaven and Wang Ren of St Andrew’s try to bring Nicholas Tan of ACS(I) down. (Photo 6 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
James Morgan of ACS(I) tackles Jia Jun. Jia Jun scored the first try for Saints. (Photo 7 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Hendricks Tan of St Andrew’s chases Marah Ishraf of ACS(I) but can’t catch him as Marah eventually goes over the try line to make it 10-10 in the first half. (Photo 8 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Mara of ACS(I) scoring ACS(I)’s 2nd try. (Photo 9 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
A Saints player protects the ball as he pushes past Mattias Chia of ACS(I). (Photo 10 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
It takes 3 ACS(I) players to bring down a Saints player. (Photo 11 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
A Saints player gets trapped as players from both sides fight for the ball. (Photo 12 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Both team’s player reaching high to try and catch the ball. (Photo 13 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s tugs at Saul Ong of ACS(I). (Photo 14 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Joshua Quek of ACS(I) tries to stop a Saints player from getting to the ball. (Photo 15 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Ahmad Ibrahim of St Andrew’s goes over for the winning try in the 2nd half. (Photo 16 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Saints supporters cheering on their school. (Photo 17 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
The Saints breaks out in celebration at the final whistle. (Photo 18 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
WE ARE NO 1!!! screams the Saints. (Photo 19 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
A Saint player overwhelmed with emotions hugs his Rugby teacher. (Photo 20 © Marvin Lowe /Red Sports)
A Saints player shouts to the heavens. (Photo 21 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
A Saints player hugs a team mate with tears of joy streaming down. (Photo 22 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Every Saints player stretching out their hands to touch the holy grail. (Photo 23 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
The Saints singing their school song with pride and gusto. (Photo 24 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
AC old boy : im sorry to say tat u r wrong…SA is jus a government-aided school wic is niche in rugby…but ACsi is an INDEPENDENT school…
as an outsider from another school, i think that if either school has an argument to put up, it should be done politely, without having to resort to insulting the opposing school or people and bringing up things such as immaturity. also, saints did well to win. ac has lost, but i do not think that they are giving any excuses. they are mainly stating what they feel
haha … for wad??? we alr kissed the police cup…
rearranging another friendly is unnecessary. please grow up, or should I say mature.
In case you did not take note, observer, and as you have mentioned yourself, punishment HAS been meted out to those responsible for unsportsmanly acts, and bans have been issues within the school, ranging from weeks to months, for ill-disciplined players.
So on the school’s part, ACS(I) has been attempting to keep their players in check.
As for Saint Andrew’s students, quite the contrary. Maybe you may not know the identities of those boys responsible for the harassing and bullying act, but i sincerely hope that the students and players alike will settle their conflicts on the field and nowhere else. And to those saints boys responsible, put in your own lingo, “if you have the balls”, you would own up, wouldn’t you, Saint Andrew’s being a prestigious institution, known for its holistic development of students.
then why don’t you all arrange another friendly with ac? why don’t you all just have a rematch to prove to yourselves that you deserved the gold? it wasn’t all luck, yes, but it was mostly luck because ac is the better team
so what if saints jeer at ac? u wan to call police ah??? bring them to court ah???
Its interesting to see how arrogant SOME ACS(I) boys are saying that the win by the Saints was just luck and how they would trash the Saints anytime. How childish can you guys be. A win is a win and a loss is a loss.
i believe sas did well cause of the hard work they put in after the SJI match, cant believe they went back to training one day after the SJI match.
Saint Andrew’s constantly kept the pressure on ACS, and tied their backline down.
ACS looked to have the backline with more pace and flair, but made many unforced errors, and tactical kicking errors resulting in loss of possession and yardage.
Overall, saints kept the pressure going well, and ACS fought extremely hard, one of the finals to remember.
and i do not believe it was luck tt won sa the game. it was becos they played very well and were pressurising ac to the point where ac were beginning to break. tt is why they won. becos they played well and not becos of luck
on the field, it’s all in the game of rugby.
great game today, kudos to both teams.
Saints did awesome. hahah, take care & all the best! 😀
@ACS old boy
The fact that you just posted that kinda proves Saints point… from what i see and read your arguments are extremely weak, you try to stick to a subject which you think is viable when it actually does not support the context at all. Sin-binning? Punishment?? Were the boys punished when they punched the rugger?? Who are you kidding? yourself?? you are just living in your own ACS world.
where’s the sportsmanship during last year’s c division semis acsi n bedok town sec? ACSi made a high tackle intentionally.
then, how about the year 2006, when saints b div won acsi?… some players of acsi were banned from playing the finals…Y?? it is clearly bcos acsi are not disciplined… they fought against other schools in the 1st and 2nd round…den, acsi made an excuse when they lose: some of our players were banned…this means tat acsi oni depend on some players to win…
everytime acsi lose, they will give an excuse… but when sa lose, they jus accept the loss n train harder for nxt yr…
y can’t acsi jus accept the loss n be humble instead of being arrogant…
i think tt wat the sa boys did was unsportsmanly. but wat was said is true. evry sch has its bad students. and moreover, these students are not even the rugby players. the things tt ac boys hav done like the biting stomping jeering and the supporters frm their cdiv team hav even mocked the supporters of the opposing team were done by the rugby players themselves. the rugby players shud be the one that show the most sportsmanship becos that is what they learn frm the game. so it is worse for an ac rugger to do those things than some sa non rugger
Photo 14 SAS Player tugging is Ahmad ibrahim i think
It’s not a matter of where it’s done, but any offence committed on the field is dealt with appropriately and punishment, or a sin-binning is meted out.
Your saints boys are having their fun outside jeering and taunting acs boys younger than them, now where’s the justice in that.
And typical saints reasoning, running out of reasons to justify their claims, and now resort to claiming that the opposite party is immature.
Alright, would love to congratulate the saints on their victory, being a saint for my last 7 years. To be honest, hearing about last year’s C division score , i really didn’t have much hopes for this time round but i’m really glad to be proven wrong.
Anyway , with a parting shot at frank, i don’t think that sas had “luck” that the acsi players made mistakes but if sas made the same mistakes and acsi won, would you attribute it to luck that acsi had too? i guess not. I’d attribute that to training, both teams had trained hard and mistakes are bound to happen in the sheer moment of competition. The winning team are just the team that makes the lesser of mistakes. Oh , pardon my english, i’m sure i’ve made a lot of mistakes on my part. Good day.
Have we said that what our students did was excusable?? I said that both schools are not perfect and there are bound to be such students. Apparently your immaturity is showing already. Where the boys do it does not matter, its WHAT the boys did that matters…
eh saints. you win means you lucky today. but watch out next year. because you can go tell the whole world you’re better than ac. but any friendly at any time and place again will show that ac can own saints anytime and next year you see the trashing ac hands out to saints