Singapore Surprise (新加坡之旅 )by Andrew Burrows

It’s not just the big boys, and girls, that get to go on tour. Tai Hang Tung Shiaolin Rugby Club - THT’s under 8’s team have just returned from a spirited trip to “The Singapore International Mini and Youth 10’s tournament” hosted by the “Centaurs RFC”.

The invitation arrived in late summer and it was decided that, after an enjoyable tournament in Thailand last winter, it was time to take to the road again and give some of the younger players a chance to see what it was like to take part in an overseas competition.

The big challenge came in the fact that for players who had moved up to U8 in September this was the first season where they would play contact rugby. This meant they were not only learning new rules but also new techniques for playing the game. Additional training was scheduled and things progressed quite nicely with all players proving that they were quite capable of learning new skills and applying them to the game.

The team finally came down to a group of only eleven players, out of the fourteen we were allowed to enter, with two of these playing up as they were only five and six years old. The group flew down to Singapore on a late flight on Thursday night and came together Friday morning for an early practice session. It was then that we found that after all the additional training for “tackle”, the games were going to be “touch” so in a very short practice session the strategy needed to be re-thought and the players prepared for a slightly different game.

Saturday morning saw an early start with the bus leaving for the Singapore Polo Club at 7:15am. After a warm up session and more discussion among the coaches the starting line-up was picked and everything was ready for the first pool match.

The first match was against “St Andrew’s Wolves”, from Singapore. Good defensive work put pressure on the “Wolves” allowing THT to take advantage of mistakes and score tries. This combined with good use of space and some strong teamwork created opportunities for us to score eight tries and get an unbelievable start to the tournament.

The second match was against one of the host teams “The Centaurs Stormers”. This was a well-contested match with both teams showing a strong defensive line and giving very few chances to break through and score. Both teams eventually managed to find space and the match ended with one try each.

The final match, in the pool stage, was against “The Royal Selangor Club” from Malaysia. This again proved to be a great match with both teams playing extremely well. THT came through winning by two tries and topping pool-3.

After three hard fought games, in a little over an hour, fatigue was beginning to show. The team warmed up for their quarterfinal match against the “Centaurs Force” team but delays in the start took its toll.

When the game started the Centaurs were much more aggressive and although THT put up a great fight they could not hold out against the continued attacks. With THT having no fresh players to bring on the Centaurs took advantage of gaps in defence and ran in two tries. THT came back with one great individual try but lost by two tries to one.

For a first time visit with no real knowledge of what level of competition to expect the team proved its abilities and were great ambassadors for the club. The trip gave exposure to the game of rugby outside Hong Kong and also helped the players to develop their skills and feel more confident in their abilities to compete. The trip was thoroughly enjoyable both at the tournament and travelling around Singapore. We hope the club can return again next year with a full complement of players.

Special thanks to the players, coaches and parents for their support in making this trip possible.

Results
Pool 3
THT 8 – St Andrew’s Wolves 0
Centaurs Stormers 1 – THT 1
THT 2 – Royal Selangor Club 0
Cup Quarterfinal
THT 1 – Centaurs Force 2