Columns

We're in this TOGETHER

2010-11-08T15:40:00.008+08:00

by Tan Hui Juan

Last Thursday, 16 of us checked into ITE East College for a 4-day-3-night camp. The facilities were excellent and the dormitory was comfortable to our liking. The field and swimming pool were just a stone throw’s distance away. Each room was four-bedded, (different from the normal hotel stay that has only two to a room) which allowed more interaction to take place, making it seems like a huge family staying together in an apartment. We spent heaps of time together, which contributed to our team bonding. Logistics and administration were well taken care of. There was nothing on our minds but to focus on playing good rugby. The television was barely switched on and we practically did “eat, sleep, drink” R.U.G.B.Y over the last weekend.

Day 1: We did a light training in the morning followed by lunch. Training review was done before we headed for the afternoon training. At night, we had team meeting and goal setting for the first ever Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) Women’s International 7s competition.

Day 2: We saw ourselves being top of the pool after defeating Indonesia and Malaysia with a convincing win. Back to our camp, we did game reviews and played some team bonding games. Now I know who does not eat bananas, loves to drink bandung, never fails to use Listerine to rinse her mouth, obsessed with cupcakes, self-proclaim princess who does facial, manicures, pedicures… And not forgetting that some of us have really bad memory and lousy acting skills =P.

Day 3: Our main objective was to win the semi-finals match against Hong Kong which would eventually bring us straight to the finals. The most recent tournament against them was at 2010 Jonah Jones’s final; we drew with them in full time but lost to them during extra time. On the 6th November 2010, Singapore Women’s Rugby team re-wrote history! The semi-final match was indeed a close fight and it was a draw at the final whistle. The exact scenario at Jonah Jones; the Singapore team kicked-off to Hong Kong at extra time.

However, for this game it was the Singapore team that prevailed. The last and final whistle was blown and all our players ran onto the field to celebrate our win. Yes, it was the moment of joy and tears after such a long time… (Opps, I shall not disclose who but someone was caught in tears ^.^)

The team was in high-spirits and was looking forward to a very much anticipated final match against Japan. After an intense and exhilarating game, Japan won with a score of 14-0. Even though we lost, I can proudly say that each and every one of us gave our all and fought till the very last second. To me, it was a truly a great feeling to be able to play on our home ground with our supporters cheering us on. I’m indeed honored to have such opportunity.

With respect to the recent international competitions such as Jonah Jones 7s, Borneo 7s, SCC 7s, the team is definitely gearing up if not peaking at this stage. I can feel that the team’s confidence and morale is superb.

With just less than a week’s time before we fly up to Guangzhou for the Asian Games 2010, I would like to thank all the people whom have provided continuous support towards women’s rugby.

To the team: I know it is going to be a tough period for all the students with exams and working adults rushing down for training after work. Remember that we are in this together! Let’s go out there, prove our worth and show them what we Singaporeans are capable of. Let’s finish this 7s season with a BANG!!

B.E.L.I.E.V.E.

RarrrrRaaarrr… …

Rookie Revelations

2010-11-04T10:24:00.005+08:00

by Christabelle Lim

Hello to you. Let me introduce myself. I am Christabelle, rookie to the NW7s team (with a horrifying rookie performance i overheard), trying to revive this dormant column with my explosive wit and witty humour. Expect no technical rugby stuff because i believe (rarrr) with all our skill reviews and wallies up in Borneo the last thing you'd want to read on a player's column would be technical skills.

12 of us (missing some of our beloved senior players) went up to Kota Kinabalu from 28th oct to 1st nov for the Asia Pacific Women's 7s, for three days of games against teams from Asia and Oceania (yes freaking big Islanders). We knew we had a mission to accomplish, and big meats to hit.

Reaching the stadium grounds, I could see where this was leading up to, our moment on the field on game day, but first we had a training to conquer in the squeeze-water-out-of-clothes rain. The dampening rain did nothing to our spirits, as we were all focused in training, but one important point i learnt was that intensity of training must be worked from within, and not only when we are pushed to do so.

I always liked rollercoasters, but such things are no good when it comes to games. We were rollercoastering our way through the first day of the tournament, earning us many 'talks of the day', and we all needed a good talking-to at night. Just like qigong, what we needed to do next was to channel all our energies and communication towards a same platform, at the same time/level/intensity and that was a major learning point number 2 for the team.

Now as a rookie, is it not so much the skill and experience that you have to match up to because you continually improve on it, but rather your mental capabilities. People always say senior players are 'hardened' by experiences, but I think that does not mean if you are a junior player you are allowed to be 'soft'; you just have to be as mentally strong as any other player, because i believe (rarr) a team IS as strong as its weaker player.

Coming out of a not-so-good day at the tournament was a test of the mental prowess of the team and it was time to show the grit and character of the team on day 2. I think we did pretty well and there were more ups than downs to our games, more sparks than wallies. If there were any punters at women's rugby games, i am sure they'd have hated us.

To the plate final it was and after all the awesome defending and defences we lay siege on, after 14 mins of poor visibility due to the rain and shifting contact lenses, in the words of the Cook Island captain: only one team can come away victorious (okay roughly the idea), and so we went away with a hint of sadness but heads held high and desire higher.

Looking back at the tournament and our games, 14 minutes is really not a lot, the queue from koi takes way longer. Yet we put our hearts and bodies on the line, stamp our arrival as a team and live out our dreams in those 14 mins. And i believe we can and will keep fighting for those 14 minutes till we get to fight for 20 minutes of our lives.

I was reading my journal for inspiration (not much) and day 3 wrote "I can't write too much cos i'm drunk!" (no i wasn't but anyhow,) to my dear teammates: I CANNOT DRINK thankyouverymuch.

It's about Union

2010-03-31T14:26:00.007+08:00

by Wang Shao Ing

It’s been sometime since my last post and for good reason. I write now off the back of a very busy first quarter and Singapore’s 12th outing to the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby 7s 2010. The women’s competition ended with a repeat of last year’s final between Chinese and the Australians with the latter emerging worthy winners of a game in the Hong Kong Stadium before crowds some of us can only dream of.

One has never really been to “the Sevens” unless one has been to Hong Kong. Since I first stepped into the Hong Kong Stadium in 2001, I, along with thousands have been entertained by Waseli Serevi, thrilled by Karl Tenana, witnessed the exhilarating partnership of Simon Amor and Ben Gollings. To see close up the beauty of the game in its abbreviated format, every year 40,000 people must be wondering when the rest of the world might catch on.

Well, at last they may - in 2016.And with such a mammoth event for the game of rugby, I am celebrating but not reveling, jumping but not leaping.

With the entry of rugby 7s in the Olympics, rugby calendars for women this side of the earth were thrown into disarray. The traditional 15s season for Asian countries must now give way to the Asian Sevens Series which will be played across venues all over Asia between July to November. This year the Singapore Women’s 15s Senior Team have not been able to secure and will not play any international fixture.

Make no mistake, I like sevens. I have played it for the past ten years, nine for my country. The skills required for the sevens game have augmented my armory and my memories from the sevens tours and tournaments will last me a lifetime. But it was the full format rugby union fifteens that led me to fall in love with rugby union– the idea that regardless of size or speed there was a place for everyone on the team, that a game of unbelievable physicality would be allowed to go on for eighty minutes, that there would be a pitch littered with twenty-nine others, each with a special role and specific skills.

The Olympic decision will have a profound impact on rugby union for women in this region. Unlike our counterparts in Europe & America, there is no Six Nations, no FIRA European Championships, no Nations Cup. No consistent senior women’s 15s competition that grips the hearts and minds of rugby loving female fanatics.

Unlike the men, rugby union is not played by girls in pre-schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Development of the game for women in Asia starts with sevens and evidence suggests it may very well end there. With the hype and increased funding that inevitably comes with the inclusion of an Olympic sport, what happens to that young girl who’s built for the front row who does not have the blistering pace of a winger?

In the last two years, China and Thailand who once had representative 15s sides have been absent in the annual Asian 15s Championships organized by the Asian Rugby Football Union since 2007, presumably preferring to focus on sevens and have reaped the rewards. Both countries qualified from Asia for the Rugby World Cup 7s in 2009 with China taking the Bowl title.

The trend suggests that new Asian entrants to the sevens scene (e.g. Iran, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, India) may never see a full representative 15s side. What’s more, since the spots for Asia for the at the Women’s Rugby World Cup have been reduced from two to one, no one can see any other Asian country take the place of Kazakhstan in the next few years at the pinnacle tournament of the women’s 15s game. (Why Kazakhstan is grouped with Asia is subject for a whole other article!)

Why should national sporting bodies from Asia support or fund a team with no worldwide or regional competition? What is a regional title compared to Olympic glory?

Charlie Skarbek will certainly prove to be right in 2016, a new age has begun, but are we really, a world in Union?

article written for womens-rugby.com

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

2010-03-02T08:59:00.006+08:00

by Amanda Teo

Hello everyone, this is Week 5 of The Amazing Race/Survivor combined.

Following Shakespeare's syllogism that (s)he who sheds blood with me shall be my brother(sister), I now have twenty-three sisters (judging from the amount of blood loss today), thank you. For most of us, it has been a year since the last epic run and I swore I tried to manifest a convincing form of enthusiasm... until the ominous clouds were well overhead, reducing most of us to a solemn funeral march and pre-fitness diarrhea. As we sat in an apprehensive circle, Em encouraged us in goal-setting for the season that lay ahead, and more importantly the immediate runs that we were about to lose our minds over. As she explained the importance of a pre-game psych up (which never quite worked for me), Bel and I were absent-mindedly discussing over dinner plans (Blue mountain burger, grilled fish, carbonara perhaps?) but what caught my attention was when she asserted that as the weeks go by leading up to November, it was important to not only know what determined how we play as individuals but also to know how others played that will determine our collective performance. This is the fundamental premise of a team, our team- the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts.

You know, most of us do grunt and gripe alot before this, but really, as we readied ourselves at the line, it was evident in all of our faces: the dead serious expression of what we knew we must and can accomplish, whether out of uncertainty or perseverance, we just ran. In reckless freaking abandon. So off we went, round after round after cramp after dehydration after mild hysteria, we did it.

Amidst the commitment, I have to say that all this is insane but what's life without a bit of insanity every now and then, or twice a week for good measure. To be honest, I questioned the logic behind these runs as did others and it seemed so vulnerable with minimal scientific support and immense mathematical improbability. However, as I think back, logic and reason was never the primary cause of all our actions in a game; sure we had a plan, but when it came down to it, between the last line of the opposition's defense and yourself, there were no such thing as barriers. It was always broken. I've seen this in countless matches and Darwin was wrong: it was not always about the survival of the fittest but the fact that 'each of us are as strong as our weakest link'. We are a team, we play for each other, we cover each other's mistakes and in the light of tonight's runs, one die all die. Haha.

At the end of it all, our legs may be a little weaker but the eventual victories so much sweeter.

Patience is a Virtue, and so is Fitness

2010-03-01T15:15:00.006+08:00

by Amanda Teo

So the 15's season has ended a little over two months ago, and we're all hoping that we'd carry over whatever semblance of fitness left into the 7's season this year. We've made it through the first 7's match of the season thus far and yet, a grave misconception no less. Each time I step onto the track, my soul leaves and I imagine twenty-three others in simultaneous mid-flight, for the sole reason that we are a team. I couldn't agree more with Wing, "People tend to do the strange things in a group" or herd mentality, as justification for our weekly runs. In my head I tell myself I don't need protein for recovery: I DRINK PPPURE PPPASSION AND SURVIVE ON THAT ALONE, I AM MAGNUM STEEL (or so I say until the following morning). But in spite of a million reasons we'd like to give ourselves, there's an unspoken solidarity of muscle fatigue and the knowledge that we've survived yet another week, another session: by the fifth week we shall have conquered and conceptualized No Pain, No Gain, and by the end of the eighth we shall all be flying. And lethal.

I can hardly wait.

Quickfire with Olovsson

2009-07-22T17:03:00.005+08:00

As the playoffs for the Guinness Singapore Rugby Women’s XV 2009 looms, Sruwomens spoke to Susanne Olovsson, team manager cum forward from the Royal Selangor Club about the Dingoes and their challenege this weekend. Also a national prop for Sweden, Olovsson has been living and working in Malaysia since 2002.

How were the RSC Dingoes formed?

RSC Dingoes was formed in early 2008 by players from all walks of life who share a passion for rugby.

It was myself and the captain Wei that had a discussion due to so many girls was asking me if they could play contact somewhere as well. We kicked it off and it continued. The coaches that came on board last year have improved the consistency and sound planning needed to move forward.

The Dingoes have a good mix of both locals and foreigners between the ages of 16 - 35. Some of them have experiences in touch rugby; football (a few of whom are Malaysian national players), boxing, weightlifting and a handful are beginners in any form of contact sports.

How did RSC come to join the Singapore Women’s XV league and how have the Dingoes found it has found the NRC 15s league so far?

We( the coaches and me) were thinking how we could get the team to play games and eventually start a Malaysian league.

So I got this idea that we possibly could join the SRU league as in my other sport floorball, the Malaysian team joins the Singapore league as they didn’t have their own until now, so I contacted SRU if that could be a possibility.

The league has been exciting and a great learning curve for the future for these girls. Our goal before start of the league was, exposure to the game for the players and participation. Possibly one win.

What are RSC's expectations leading up to the playoffs against SRC this weekend?

Our goal now is to make it to the final as we believe that we have a good chance as the girls have improved enormously just during these few games. We are a different team coming into the playoffs then we were in the first game of the league when we played SRC.

Rugby

2009-03-18T15:55:00.007+08:00

by Tettyana Jasli

My left big toe nail is hanging open.

It’s quite fascinating. I can sort of swivel it open like a door on a hinge. Underneath the yellowish layer of the nail, I can see the soft pinkness of the layer of newly formed skin. Soon, I will be able to peel it off completely.

Plucking dubiously at it, I feel a sense of déjà vu. Barely four weeks ago, my right big toe nail was in a similar predicament after the exertions of the Guinness NRC 7s.

It’s a good thing my mother hasn’t seen the monstrosity that is my left big toe nail yet, though. She’s already voiced her objections to the muddy rags I bring home, the purple bruises and the other monstrosity of my right big toe nail.

Despite all this though, I’ve been rather pleased by the way she has reacted to me playing contact rugby. I played touch rugby during my junior college days, so when my friend Hui Ting persuaded me to try out contact with Bucks Rugby one July evening last year, I vaguely told my mother I was going for rugby, leaving out the delicate fact that the rugby I was going to be playing was the kind which involves people ramming into others, getting up, and then doing it again.

That evening, I trundled down to my first contact rugby session, together with Ting, former junior college classmate, now Princeton sophomore and fully-fledged rugby jock. She had persuaded me to drag myself down for the session with Bucks Rugby. The first thing we did was tackling practice. Maybe it was because it was my first time, but I really don’t think I’ve ever been tackled as hard. Ting weighs around 120 pounds and is about 1.64 m tall, but boy, she sure can tackle. Well, I came home that night feeling like I’d been in a car wreck, valiantly pretending that I had been playing touch.

Well, I’ve stopped doing that, at any rate. Pretending, I mean.

I don’t know exactly when my mother finally wised up, but I suspect it was either when I started bringing home T-shirts with muddy skid-marks, or when out of exasperation, I decided to demonstrate the mechanics of a tackle to my brother.

In any case, I think she’s caught on that the rugby I play is actually contact and not touch because every time I watch rugby on television, she takes one look at the scrums and starts fretting that rugby is such a rough game and squints anxiously at me.

Which is a good thing, in a sense. Sure, it does mean that I get a little more flak from my mother when I get a bruise on my right thigh or when I bring home a particularly muddy, sodden pair of socks. But for my mother to recognise my participation in which my interest most likely settles, it means a lot to me.

The Perlious Adventures of the Rugby Baby: What Not To Do On The Rugby Field

2008-12-15T09:51:00.009+08:00

by Yin Mei Lenden

I have to confess, (and thereby lose any sort street cred I otherwise might have had) that I was thrilled to have been invited to train with the National team, being only a rugby baby of only one year of age. For me, this was less an opportunity to be on the team and play against Hong Kong than a great chance to learn. What I was to learn is that it's impossible to train for a team sport and not become competitive. As the trainings went on, I realised a greater urgency to do well so as to get on to the team. My previous goal of "gaining experience" was soon revealed to me as naive and simplistic.

National training lasted a paltry three weeks where I wondered if it was enough to turn me into a lean, mean, fighting machine (it was not). The dreaded fitness sessions were presented as (more) manageable 15-minute sessions just before training ended for the night to condition us for the last 15 minutes of a game when we would be exhausted and ready to collapse. But Sam stressed that those were the most important minutes of a game for that was what could determine its ultimate outcome. And so it was that training would end with us trying to forget the exhaustion accumulated from the last 1 hour and 45 minutes of training and run as if our lives depended on it. Many things were learned during those fitness sessions. I, for one, discovered the meaning of life. Life, is not a marathon, is not a race. It is a sprint with someone running behind you trying to step on your heels.

What I constantly marveled at was the fact that we trained and played as a team. That clubs and factions were forgotten as we rushed to a line out or scrambled to form a scrum. Suddenly, the person I had hitherto glowered at across the scrum, was behind me, supporting me and giving me that extra shove against opposition scrums. And so I learned to work as a team, just as I learned to perfect my line outs and scrums and that suffering meant a developing of character. Memorising patterns of run drove me slightly up the wall and while I finally understand the mechanics of a switch, I still can't execute it successfully. I'm sticking to short shorts at the moment and hoping that 90 kilos of speeding flesh will throw off the opposition more successfully than one of my switches.

The three weeks of training culminated for me in all of 7 minutes on the field and that compounded the sheer thrill and delight of being On The Field! Playing! In National Colours! And executing a pretty good scrum!* (after all my collapsing ones. Eeeps.) and the extreme disappointment of mucking up both my line outs. But it was a start for me and something that I cherish and feel privileged to be a part of. I'll be back next year, hopefully less foolish and armed with the ability to side step. Sam Chan's Mantra this whole period has been "One command, one action." And so my command for me next year is to play well. Let's see if the action carries forth.

*Yes, my enthusiasm is embarrassing but I maintain Rugby Babyhood and cling to the novelty of My First National Game! So bite me.

Kazakhstan truly is an interesting place

2008-06-17T17:50:00.008+08:00

by Sophie Gollifer

Kazakhstan truly is an interesting place. Please note that the word ‘interesting’ is neither negative nor positive…

It was actually everything I thought it would be…and more. Whether or not I was ready for it, I, along with our whole team (inclusive of two coaches, one ecstatic team manager and of course physios; G-Mei and Pretty Cloud) were in for seven days of tortuous freezy post game showers; in which I called out for my roommate in vain while trying to stifle my sobs, sumptuous yet suspicious meals, dry weather (not good for the skin), extreme language barrier, an odd feeling of nostalgia when it came to being locked in my haunted maids quarters (my private hotel room) and worst of all being at the mercy of the Kazakhstani sanitation system.

“We will hardly have time to breathe” quote by Capitan WANG after reading the itinerary, and boy was she right. After having Kazakhstan’s rich yet delightful culture shoved readily down our throats we soon got into a harsh yet productive routine. This included rising early greeting the sunrise followed by a shower; in some cases in pairs… (errr to save time), a light yet heated breakfast and then our scheduled daily training or every alternate day important match preparation.

During match time we pulled together but it was off the field that I felt we really bonded. Do not be fooled by the letters O.T.O.T. This was often a time to invade one another’s personal space or to steal your roommates tiger biscuits which she denied you earlier. Constant video game wars were on the keep up the competitive spirit while there were long queues and battles for the physios attention. Overall I feel that we did what we travelled thirty hours to do, play rugby, love it and make our mark.

Kazakhstan Unplugged

2008-06-11T01:20:00.009+08:00

by Karen Yeoh

everyone who's asked me about Kazakhstan since my return has received out and out whinging about the conditions and the less than cheery temperament of the Kazakhs. but that's the stuff that's easy to talk about. the incessant Nyets (no, said is a most forceful fashion), the squalor of the roadside loos, the 30 hour journey from Singapore to Bangkok to Almaty to Taraz and having to re-live it in reverse after 3 exhausting games in "sizzling" heat.

but what each one of the 24 who stood on the field with Singapore etched across their hearts, the two who paced sidelines clipboard-in-hand trying to outwit and outplay, the two who sprinted to the side of each fallen warrior and the one who had the unenviable task of being go-between, logistics head and all round manager, find difficult to discuss is the games. in particular, The Game against Japan.

having grown up in Singapore, land of always colouring inside of the lines, of respecting authority and all others, friend and foe alike, the team approached the game against Kyrgyzstan with the necessary respect. we knew we were tactically sound, that we were fit and 30 hour roadtrip or not, we were ready. while everyone spoke of us being superior "on paper", we knew that on paper doesn't mean anything when you've laced up your boots. because rugby isn't about what's on paper, it's about what's inside your heart. so we kept our heads down and steered clear of mountaintops. just let our play speak - and speak it did. I am certain that the elation we felt when the tries were scored (I actually recall hugging derel after one of the tries and I don't do hugs) and when the final whistle blew was second to none. that win, that very resounding win, our first win as a national 15s side, was a long time coming and victory had never tasted sweeter.

when the next day dawned, the elation was still there, but shelved away because we had Japan on the horizon. Japan, who we'd met just six months ago in Kunming. who we lost 20-7 to. many of us remember the 2nd half of that game last year, the way we dug deep and held them and how we actually won that half. but a game is two halves and that's reality.

as we ran off our Kyrgyzstan-induced tightness at training, we all knew that the most important game of our lives was about to go down in less than 24 hours. and yes, it always feels that way, every game to come is the most important game ever, every kick, every pass, every tackle, every ruck, and every run is the most important ever. it's difficult to explain this passion to someone who doesn't play, but if you're reading this blog, I think it's safe to assume you identify with what I'm saying. when you're on the field, only that oval ball matters.

so here's the difficult part, this is the part that will plague us for years to come, the part that isn't easy to share. Japan. they scored, we scored, they scored, we scored, then they scored again. 17-10 just loomed in the sea of our sub-conscious. we knew this game of ping-pong was not over yet. I have never seen such hunger in the eyes of my teammates, I have never felt such courage that seemed to surge out of us in tidal wave proportions, I have never felt such faith and such solidarity in the team. in that last 15 minutes, we maintained possession, when we lost possession, we rucked them over and reclaimed it immediately. we never let them out of their 22, heck, we never let them out of their 10. we were literally on fire. this was it, the last 15 minutes of the rest of your life. and when those words were shouted, when that battle cry was made, it felt right. this was it, this was The Game. and we all believed it would happen. the try would be scored, we'd fight back. this was not to be our end. we picked and we went and crashed and repeat.

when the final whistle went, it felt like we'd played for all eternity and yet it also felt like we'd only played 5 minutes. this one game, this game which was to put our little red dot of a nation on the world map, was not to be. we lost. there were tears. not the kind that signal regret or shame. but tears because it felt like it was so so close (look down at the length of your pinky. yes, that close). like you could smell it and touch it. because inside our hearts we truly believed it could happen and we'd given everything we had. It felt like we'd played the best game we've ever played, dug the deepest we could dig and still it was a loss - and we'd just have to live with it. it was crushing - like being winded by a 200kg prop running full tilt and hitting you from behind.

I don't think we'll ever feel the same again. not because we're crushed. but because the result doesn't reflect what we all saw that day - we could have taken them. and we will take them. so it didn't happen that evening, when the sun was low on the horizon, when the air was dusty with the smell of burning leaves and the ground reverberated with the sound of our studs that seemed to say "no, we will not be reasonable. we will not roll over and let what it says on paper be right. our hunger will be our strength and our hunger alone will outweigh any experience or supremacy you may have over us." yes, we've seen it. and we believe it. and we will do whatever it takes, over the coming months, to get that ball that 1 more inch across the line. the message has been sent, it is clear as day, we are a team of fighters, and we're going to just keep on fighting.

maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was their superior size, maybe it was the weight of the Japanese loss we carried inside our hearts, when we played Uzbekistan, we just couldn't find our groove. from the moment they scored their early try, it felt like a game played on the back-foot. they capitalised on our handling errors and try as we might, we just couldn't run our usual lines of attack. we just couldn’t counter. I know we could have given them a fight, but we played terribly that day - it was like an off day of monumental proportions.

so here's the money shot, if you ask me what I brought home from Kazakhstan, I'd have to say I brought home faith.

I have faith that we have what it takes to traverse those levels and earn our rightful place. I have faith in the same fire that burns in all of our hearts, I have faith that if we really try, on that field, all differences can be cast aside and we can be one. And I have faith in the things you cannot see, like hunger and passion and the steely inner strength that has been forged inside all of us on this tour.

dig deep down for that purpose.

2008-05-09T12:13:00.013+08:00

by Lee Tao Jing

after my mother realised that my return to home at wee hours was due to my stitching at the hospital.

mother: when are you going to stop playing rugby?

me: when i cannot play lo.

mother: you mean when you break your leg?!!!

me: i mean when im too old to play. (and yes when i break my leg and recover i will continue playing hahaha)

*mother walks away and the end of conversation*

my sister recently had joined my mother in our conversation of rugby consisting of solely "when are you going to stop playing rugby?"

but she is more open to it just that she wonders when i will put all my focus to work instead.

I think its essential and good that now i can take a step back and think about why i started playing rugby ( with all the attachments along with it)?

I can think about my play, the good and the bad. What to improve on immediately when I step back again.

We talked about it. Rugby is like a drug we don't feel right after staying out of it too long. We feel lost when there are no trainings and we don't know what to do in our spare time. I just want to keep fit and lose weight. Or simply I love the game.

As a player we strive to excel in our positions.

But when as a team we can work towards our goal in Kazakhstan.

Hang on teammates. We are counting down now. A change of mindset can create a whole lot of difference. For the third time going up, we need to believe WE CAN get something out from the tournament and win.

Or on a smaller scale for me, I want to be the best prop in the tournament.

What is yours?

My fellow forwards: Let us aim for perfection and dominance in our set pieces.

Scrums and lineouts are our pride. We are the forwards because we know that we can do the scrums and lineouts better than anyone else. The set pieces affect the morale of the team and everything else good or bad continues from there.

Let's keep in our mind to hit up. Make the opposition work. When anything fails we must keep possession and we will be fine. In defence, make our calls. We will move up with "ready up! 2,3,4!"

Let's remember to talk to our scrumhalfs. They too need our support and it can get a little lonely trailing behind the ball alone and caught between both sides. LISTEN to them, with our standoff, they can be our best guiders when we just recover from a ruck/maul.

My fellow backs. Look no where else when you are heading to that try line and have no fear when you are penetrating the opposition line. The forwards will be behind you.

We have the plan. Now it is the fine tuning. Let's communicate with one another. We need to play like we had trained together for a million years.

Apologies forwards I could not join you guys to hit the damn scrum machine at CCAB.

But no worries I will be back.

(And yes i got you. Be back with a difference.)

It's all in the S

2008-04-01T18:37:00.009+08:00

Angela Zheng

Still reeling from the Sevens experience.

To sum it all up:

Speed

Support play

Swerve runs

Side Stepping

Superb atmosphere/crowd

Stadium

Sportsmanship

Spirit

South Stand

Streakers

Shiok!

Shall update on our games on another post !

Go, Team!

2008-03-25T10:48:00.005+08:00

Angela Zheng

In less than a day, we leave for HK.

In less than 24 hours, this promising young team of 10 will embark on an unforgettable journey.

Grouped together with Canada and Arabian Gulf, we are definitely the smallest pack of them all. But 7s is a game of speed and wit. Rugby is about precision. Making the right decision at a split second. Making a good angled run at the right time. Making a difference when you are on the pitch.

In the light of recent trainings, our support play is generally forming up. All of us are aware of the calls being made and are really working hard to be there for one another on attack and defence. Space is the key word on attack. Never never never... what? :p

One of the external factors that we really need to take note of is the slippery conditions during competition. Slippery balls does not equate to slippery hands. When the weather’s good, we can afford to space out, using width and depth. If the weather is bad, we need to be closer to each other. Yes, to provide some warmth and reassurance as well.

Recently, I learnt about intrinsic motivation. It refers to the motivation that comes from inside an individual. The pleasure and satisfaction that one gets from the task itself. I believe that it is very important for each player to understand and learn how to cultivate this brilliant ability. Yes, you can be motivated by monetary rewards, by cheers from the spectators and/or even by a coach’s nod of approval. Ultimately, when skill levels and experience are on par, it all boils down to yourself as a player. Your ability to bring yourself out of the plateau, your ability to encourage yourself especially during fatigue and your ability to bring yourself to another level without any external help.

We all play for the passion for the sport. Each and eveyone of us, without a doubt. What keeps us coming back? What keeps us fighting? What keeps us going on and on? If you lost it, find it and find it quick. We need a team with burning desires and flames of passion. From this moment on, we are one.

Good night, and good luck team.

S-Ball? Pos? P&G? Or Square? Just ROCKET!!!

2008-03-18T11:52:00.011+08:00

Lee Tao Jing

The 2 primary roles of the Forwards are: Ball Retention and Going Forward.

These are short and simple commands that are very much appreciated by a prop like me.

Whenever my vision decreased to the width of my shoulders, and all I see (is bodies piling) and hear is (players screaming). I will hold on to these basic principles dearly.

"Our possession is pressure to the opposition" (Quoted from Peerose)

Here are my thoughts on our first XVs game with the U14s boys:

Initially, I felt that we were not well prepared for the game. We have the knowledge; we know what we need to do but are we conditioned enough? Moreover we had only been training together for about 2 weeks. (But its okay I know our asses will be kicked and we will warm up by doing fitness when the 7s squad returns).

On the whole, I thought if everyone held on to the basic principles mentioned for the full 80mins, its will be a much controlled game on our side. The boys were nimble to react on our mistakes such as chucking of balls instead of setting up a ruck and lack of communication in defence.

The team's common problem is that we do not get into the game mode immediately. We take too long to warm up. However,we played much better in the second half and were paid off by tries coming in our side too.

In defence, we were not aggressive and quick enough to move up and pressure the opposition. I think fitness plays a big part here. I was "sprinting" but I was just not getting near to the opposition (from kickoffs, some of the times only I emphasize.)

However in attack, we had possession most of the time and we manage to apply some of the new moves/ play patterns we learned which I think is very encouraging.

There were some quick rucks and momentum going on and now I am convinced that ROCKET really works! We had brilliant inside passes that enable us to gain further ground. Occasional S ball and Post gave us more penetration into gaps. However, we need to keep this momentum going and retain the good flow ALL THE TIME.

And please do not be deceived by Gina's size because one occasion when I was keeping close behind her preparing to ROCKET over her. But she just went on going past 3 layers of walls/ defenders with her screw-driving techniques. Good job la Gina!

In set pieces like scrums, I thought some of our hits /engages were good but we did not keep our pressure/drive on the opposition. However when we kept the drive and pressure on we manage to move the opposition back. We need full on focus in every scrum and its not easy when fatigue sets in.

For lineouts, the throws' consistency can be improved and we managed to disrupt some opposition's throw ins when we contested in lifting.

We had more communication during set pieces and kick offs then in rucks. I think its because we can catch our breath then haha.

The best play of the game in my opinion: From our lineout, we went into a driving maul which outsiders could not even see who has the ball. Pris then detached from the maul and went diving straight for try.

Apologies for the lack of highlights on the backline. I have always secretly admired (not a secret anymore) how you all can penetrate and make line breaks with their speed, strength and excellent ball handling.

Please understand by the time I pop my head out of the scrum and make my way to the next breakdown, the backline action is almost over =)

Nevertheless I have complete faith in our backline especially the senior players.

Also, I though the scrumhalfs did a decent job despite all the pressure and shoutings from both sides and some of you are not very experienced.

Hey scrumhalfs do not be shy okay you guys have to shout back at us even louder. We understand the pressure. Really! Especially the forwards we need directions sometimes. Call our names!

I am fortunate to have almost full game time and I am glad I survived. But after the game I felt I lost 10 kgs and at some point I felt I could puke water as I was too greedy I gulped down gallons of water during break.

There is a lot of things I want to achieve but only when I have fitness of miss wing a.k.a wolverine a.k.a Duracell Bunny. She can go on at the same intensity for the full game.

Some of us played 7s after the game. I am always easily excited by the space available to run in 7s =)

-Waves to Weiyi- Your strength in scrums is in having really quick leg speed. Do make use of it to drive opposition back from quick feed on your side. Anyone interested please take on Weiyi she is a good scrummager. I am embarrassed by it as I am almost 10 kg heavier than her haha.

And Juan your quick hook and sweep of ball leaves us the opposition no chance to disrupt the scrum.

Glad to see the 7s scrums and engagement has improved in a short period of time.

I must say it is good to have Peerose back. The last time we had him we had only 2 weeks but he pushed us to another level. This time we have more preparation, new ideas and new goals (Eg. lineout throws at the last jumper) from him. We have a lot to look forward to. We know what we need to work on from the game and with more trainings with one another we will get somewhere.

Remember to check out for mystery bruises from the game and ice them =)

P/s front-rowers: Any secret remedies for sore necks?

tao.

Re:

2008-03-13T18:41:00.004+08:00

Rainy season, gloomy days.
Fitness sessions, I feel damn suay.
Up down up down, 10 sets more!
My lungs are tired, my legs real sore!

Dead and Resurrected

2008-03-11T11:46:00.003+08:00

Angela Zheng

As how angel would sum it up in one sentence.

The first cut for the National 7s squad has been made, congratulations to one and all.

Trainings for 7s have started for close to a month now. We have been working hard on our passing and catching, basic attacking drills and defence patterns. It’s a nice change to train on astro turf albeit complaints about unknown black substance and prolonged knee pain.

Last night’s training was the start of a physical regime that will encompass endurance running, countless push ups, core exercises, burp ups, speed running, have I said endurance running? And the infamous death slopes.

As much as fitness is a taboo word in my dictionary, i thought it’s about time we started doing more of it. Afterall, it’s all about who can outwit, outplay and outlast in 15 mins. We already have brains.

However, it would have been better if the programme was told beforehand. Mental preparation is always a good thing.

We did mini games after. It was rather frustrating for me because there seemed to be a lack in focus in game plan. The back line is packed with strong ball carriers, speed and is potentially devastating. The forwards are strong and hardworking but somewhat lacking in experience. We need to bring up the volume and communication, guys. Like what has always been emphasized during training, playing for a 40,000 strong crowd will be deafening and if we don’t start talking now, it would be unthinkable in two weeks time. To be able to perfect team dynamics and make use of individual strengths is something I hope to see.

The fortunate thing is that we realised what we had to work on. Weiyi had asked for us to practise our scrummage after training. It was heartening to see a positive learning attitude and eagerness to impart knowledge to team mates from everyone.

If anyone is interested, this is what was done.

1. Tryline to tryline is 1x. 3x = 1 set. Do 1 set within 60 seconds. Do 10 sets with 10 seconds break in between.
2. Push ups, Sit ups, Burpee + star jumps : 50x, 40x, 30x, 20x, 10x
3. 10 sets of dynamic leg raises with range from 90deg, 45deg, 30 deg and 6 inch from the ground (read: 6 feet under)

Here’s to a better looking team in the red and white jerseys. No offence.

dicks