SCC Rugby 7s: Local schools grab 7 of 12 semi-final spots across 3 age groups

By Adrian Tan/Red Sports

Padang, Saturday, October 29, 2011 — Local schools across three age groups grabbed seven out of 12 semi-final spots on offer at the annual Singapore Cricket Club Rugby 7s.

In the Under-14 category, St Andrew’s Secondary and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) won all their group matches convincingly to set up clashes with St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) and ACS (Barker Road) respectively.

In the U-16 category, it was a similar picture with ACS(I) and Raffles Institution (RI) cruising through their group ties. They will meet the Australian International School (AIS) and Tanglin Trust School respectively in the semi-finals.

In the U-19 category, United World College (UWC) will take on Overseas Family School (OFS) in one semi-final while Tanglin Trust will play ACS(I) in the other.

While the Padang looked pristine during the group matches, many players were heard commenting on how soggy the pitch was with the copious amounts of rain coming down last week. Many straightforward conversions attempts between the posts were missed because of the inconsistent bounce of the ball on the soggy pitch. One wonders how things will be like next week, when the pitch is fully utilised over three days, with torrential rain expected because of the monsoon season.

On a side note, it was unfortunate for the participating schools that the tournament is scheduled in October. For the local schools, the tournament comes right after the end-of-year examinations for most of the players. Schools like ACS (Independent) usually impose a 6-week suspension of training to ensure that the players spend enough time hitting their books and getting the required grades. This usually means a drop in fitness levels, which becomes more pronounced in the 7s game, which sees more running and defending by fewer people over the same full-sized pitch.

For the international schools who follow a different school year, the players would have been returning from the long three-month summer break. For many, they might not have touched a a rugby ball during the same period. To pull together after a such a long time apart takes a herculean effort.

LEN FOSTER CUP (U-14)
Group A
United World College (UWC) 0 Tanglin Trust School (TTS) 26
St Andrew’s Secondary (SAS) 12 Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) (ACSBR) 0
UWC 5 ACS(BR) 28
SAS 0 TTS 24
ACS(BR) 19 TTS 0
SAS 41 UWC 0

St Andrew’s and ACS(BR) qualify for semi-finals

Group B
ACS (Independent) 10 St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) 0
Australian International School (AIS) 31 Overseas Family School (OFS) 5
ACS(I) 39 OFS 0
AIS 0 SJI 15
OFS 0 SJI 29
AIS 7 ACS(I) 12

ACS(I) and SJI qualify for semi-finals

LEN FOSTER CUP (U-14) PLATE FINAL (3RD PLACE TEAMS)
AIS 0 TTS 17

LEN FOSTER CUP (U-14) BOWL FINAL (4TH PLACE TEAMS)
UWC 32 OFS 5

JOHN CLARK TROPHY (U-16)
Group A
OFS 0 TTS 24
ACS(I) 12 SAS 0
OFS 0 SAS 22
ACS(I) 21 TTS 0
SAS 12 TTS 19
ACS(I) 27 OFS 0

ACS(I) and SAS qualify for the semi-finals

Group B
Raffles Institution (RI) 19 ACSBR 14
AIS 25 UWC 0
RI 17 UWC 5
AIS 12 ACSBR 7
UWC 5 ACSBR 14
AIS 5 RI 12

AIS and RI qualify for the semi-finals

JOHN CLARK TROPHY (U-16) PLATE FINAL
SAS 7 ACS BR 12

JOHN CLARK TROPHY (U-16) BOWL FINAL
UWC 15 OFS 5

SITTIWALLA CUP (U-19)
Group A
UWC 17 French School of Singapore (LFS) 0
ACS(I) 14 RI 0
UWC 15 RI 0
ACS(I) 12 LFS 5
RI 12 LFS 5
ACS(I) 0 UWC 12

ACS(I) and UWC qualify for the semi-finals

Group B
Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) 7 St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) 5
TTS 31 OFS 0
ACJC 7 OFS 12
TTS 19 SAJC 0
OFS 7 SAJC 10
TTS 24 ACJC 0

OFS and TTS qualify for the semi-finals

SITTIWALLA CUP (U-19) PLATE FINAL
ACJC 14 RI 7

SITTIWALLA CUP (U-19) BOWL FINAL
SAJC 27 LFS 7