The new competition structure ensures the traditional powerhouses get a chance to play each other before the knockout round. The other benefit for players is that the number of blowout games between two unequally matched teams should be fewer, said school rugby coaches Red Sports spoke to. School rugby has a mercy rule where the game ends the moment one team hits 80 points, resulting in some games not even making it past the half-time mark.

With school teams of similar standard grouped together, this will demand a more consistent performance from everyone and every game will be crucial, giving players in both the Cup and Plate competitions more to play for.

With every game being crucial, this season promises to be interesting as the Big Four teams may not be able to rotate their players as freely as they did in previous years, and it may result in points being dropped along the way.

In some ways, this has given some players hope that the monopoly of the Big Four might be broken. Said a confident Shamil of Greenridge: “All seven teams would prove to be a challenge for us but I am confident of our chances (of making the semi-finals). Let’s hope we’ll do better when we meet Saint Andrew’s in the semis.”

Match Results
ACS(I) 74 Junyuan 3
ACS(I)
Try Scorers — Barry Aun Jie (1), Harvey Aldrin (1), Harvey Mercado (1), Dominic Ting (1), Md Anees (1), Oliver Damas (2), Shi Cheong Hao (2), Samuel Teo (4)
Ngen Ge Liang (7 x conversions)

Junyuan
Md Aiman (pen)

St. Andrew’s 36 Greenridge 7
St. Andrew’s
Try Scorers — Maurice Wong (1), Wilson Chan (1), Malcolm Samuel (1), Abdul Rauf (3)
Greenridge
Try Scorers — Shamil Ridhuan (1)

b division rugby

Players contest a lineout. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

b division rugby

An ACS(I) player picks his way through the Junyuan defense. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

b division rugby

An ACS(I) player anticipates a tackle from his Junyuan opponent. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

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