Inter-Hall Games 2011: Touch Rugby

Written by: Azrin Nazir
Edited by: Jocelyn

Photos by: Wei Haoyang

Sunday mornings are usually quiet and relaxing affairs after a busy week of school. That was, however, not the case for KE’s Touch Rugby Team. Assembling at the Sports and Recreational Centre Field, both the Males and Females team sought for honour and glory for the hall. Both the guys and the girls would be playing 5 matches over the course of the day against the other halls. Each game consisted of two halves with the guys playing 10 minutes per half and the girls 8 minutes per half with a 2 minute break in between.

Jan 31st touch rugby (f)

Touch Rugby (F) Carnival

Overall: KE 4th position

KE vs SH
2-0

KE vs EH
1-4

KE vs KR
0-1

KE vs RH
3-2

KE vs TH
0-2

Writer: Lin Hui
Photos: Yong Liang and Eddie
Editor: Ong Qing Liang

Red shirts highlighted the presence of the KE Touch Rugby team as they approached the Grand Stand across the green field. The atmosphere tensed with the arrival of each of the various halls’ female Touch Rugby teams. While the players came from various sides of NUS, they were all there for one common purpose – to defeat the other halls.

some quick pointers

With a “GO KE!!”, Gehui, Jenny, Jeana, Alycia, Ginny and Sherry positioned themselves on the field and started the first match of the day against Sheares Hall. Without any waste of time, our girls pushed Sheares back with our rapid offense. Barely a minute into the game, Alycia showed her prowess by breaking through Sheares’ defence and earned KE’s first point of the day. Sheares was clearly shaken by Alycia’s speedy exploit of their defence error and lost their intimidating front. After a fumble by them, our girls gained possession of the ball and kept the momentum going. After a few 3-ups, Gehui began running along the 5 metre mark and suddenly dived at a half gap in the centre and scored! Being 2 points down, Sheares felt the pressure to score and pushed forward relentlessly. However, our girls’ defence held tightly all the way to the try-line. Sheares just could not find any gap to break through. As the time ticked away, their will to fight wilted away and began committing costly mistakes that decreased their chance of catching up. When the referee blew his whistle to end the game, everyone on the sideline flew out, screaming for joy. It was a great start to our Touch Rugby campaign.

confusing the opposing team with our swtiching

With a high morale, our girls entered the battleground against Eusoff. With five IVPs on Eusoff’s side, our girls knew they were in for a fight and what a fight they got! Armed with fast runners and sheer guts to rush at the opponents, Eusoff took an offensive approach and took KE aback. Ginny nearly tripped when she dashed to touch but received a harder one in return. Eusoff managed to secure a point after 2 minutes into the match. Our girls’ defence was not able to hold the onslaught of Eusoff as our girls were thrown off guard and allowed Eusoff to score at the 6th minute and again at the 8th minute. Our girls retaliated by punching hard at their defence but they did not gain much ground as Eusoff backed five metres very quickly and shot up again to get a touch. When the referee ended the first half, the score was 0-3 in favour of Eusoff. Although the score was demoralising, there was no doubt in the girls’ minds that they still had a fighting chance. After a quick pointer and reminder, the girls were back on the field. In the 2nd half, the girls made excellent efforts to break Eusoff’s quick defence whenever possible. Very quickly, Eusoff was pushed back to their try-line and our girls tried to make full use of the remaining touches. The ball was passed from one end to the other and then switched back again. In the midst of this confusing display of ball passing, a gap slowly appeared in Eusoff line. Ever-so-sharp Jenny spotted the gap and passed the ball to Geri who dived for the small hole and planted the ball on the line. The whole team went wild when the referee awarded a point to KE. It was an encouraging sight as the point was not scored by our IVPs, but by seniors who showed fantastic chemistry and teamwork. Kudos to Jenny and Geri! Eusoff was not letting KE off so easily and managed to sneak in a point minutes later; ending the match with a score of 1-4. Although we lost by three points, that one point was a major poke to Eusoff’s ego of having a “no-try policy” for opposing teams. Our girls may have lost but it felt like they had the last laugh!

jenny with a close attempt

It was noon and the blistering heat was baking everyone on the field. KE was up against Kent Ridge (KR) in the third match. The two teams clashed once the ball was touched. Our team gained ground quickly and our two IVPs, Gehui and Alycia, began playing around the wing. However, KR’s stubborn defence did not allow them any opportunities to score. Just when the game started slowing down, a wing of KR suddenly broke through our line near midfield! Geri immediately dashed hard for the opposing player. Everyone held their breathes when Geri dived and touched the wing as she bent to plant the ball. However, Geri was a millisecond too late and a point was awarded to KR. By the second half, the weather had become insanely hot and it was draining the energy of all the players on the field. As fatigue set in, both teams made frequent mistakes and the match took a messy turn. Substitutions were made one after another and players would return to the sideline gasping for air and gulped down bottles of water. Displaying fine foresight, Alycia slowed the game down to a walking pace for our team to recover. KR, clearly exhausted too, could only watch as Alycia walked in front of them with the ball. The match ended shortly afterwards with KE losing narrowly by a solitary point. Back under the comforting shade of the grand stand, Ginny, Alycia and Musa immediately reflected on the match and ironed out some mistakes ahead of the next game.

After an one hour break for lunch and some well-deserved rest, the girls began warming up for the fourth match against Raffles. This time round, they took a longer time practising lateral passing and loops to set their gears going. Refreshed and warmed up, the girls were more than ready to beat Raffles and played at a whole new level. This time, the match was slower and more organised than the previous one. A lot more communication was heard and the team displayed skillful ball handling. The Raffles players, on the other hand, were too anxious to get the touch and were unlucky to give a penalty to our girls at the try-line. Without allowing them to re-focus, our girls kept switching positions. In the midst of this flurry scene, Jenny waltzed between two defenders graciously and planted the ball fluidly onto the ground. Raffles was dumbfounded and Mcvin could not stop smiling! Three minutes later, Alycia was seen breaking through a half gap and dived in for the kill, earning a second point for the team! Everyone in the team was fired up, eager to thrash Raffles. Hui Min even managed to send a worn out Raffles player off the field after bumping into her during a touch. A surprise happened when the game neared the end of the first half. Our girls were pressuring Raffles on their end of the field and Jolene, who was the left wing, instinctively waited outside the defence zone of Raffles. The team telepathically sensed that and quickly passed the ball to her. Upon receiving it, Jolene ran with all her might for the corner. Watching two defenders close in on her, she dived and scored beautifully! Multiple jaws dropped on the sidelines and several priceless “Oh my god!” expressions were seen. When the initial surprise was over, everyone shouted and screamed for joy! Extremely well done Jolene! Raffles did not give up and put up a harder fight against our girls in the 2nd half. Raffles dived and scored 5 minutes after the start, bringing the score to 3-1. Our girls were not letting their lead disappear that easily though. They held Raffles down when they crashed forward, letting them gain only a few metres with each touch. Luck was on Raffles’ side as their wing swiftly side stepped around our line and ran for the try-line. Gehui gave chase but was too late and the score edged towards 3-2. Hope was up for Raffles and their captain kept shouting “1 more! This is ours!” They brought out their fastest runners and tried all means to level the score. However, our girls’ defence had become a concrete wall and protected the try-line from Raffles barrage. Our girls claimed the match moments later when the referee blew his whistle. I dare say that was their best match yet. The 3 points scored were the results of beautiful teamwork and every player giving their all.

go ginny!

u can't catch me!

alycia with a beautiful dive!

jenny scores!

and jolene breaks free!

For their final match of the day, the girls were up against Temasek Hall. As soon as the match started, the two teams were locked in an evenly matched tug-of-war with several attempts to break through by both sides. #15 of Temasek got around Jenny but Alycia sprinted for her and saved a potential point for Temasek. They tried executing loops around the wing but our girls drifted quickly and foiled their plans each time. There were a few close touches by Jolene and Sherry and there was even a loud slap on a Temasek player’s back by Jenny (which could be heard at the other end of the field). In the second half, Temasek took the match up a notch and played very offensively and pushed our girls to our end of the field. There were many more attempts from them to score as they kept playing along the 5 metre mark. Inevitably, a gap was formed as our girls were dragged away from their zone and Temasek scored the first point of the match. Our girls were no pushover too and punched hard at their defence each time. Unfortunately, Temasek slipped their way through the girls’ defence and scored again. The girls fought back even harder this time. A lot of passing and switches were made to exploit any weak spots in Temasek’s defence but it was too tight and our girls had to fall back to defend again whenever we ran out of touches. The game finally ended 0-2 to Temasek. Together with scores from the previous matches, KE achieved a commendable 4th position overall!

Much grit and tenacity had been displayed and everyone played their very best. Considering most of the girls only picked up touch rugby last semester, their performance on the field was nothing short of astounding. It would be impossible to attain 4th if not for the commitment and dedication of each member to the sport. Ginny has created a very promising team and we would definitely expect more from them in next year’s IHG installment. To all the girls in the Touch Rugby team, Ginny has this to say: “I am very VERY proud of the team. We have achieved the goals we have set to achieve and we have improved tremendously!” GO KE TOUCH RUGBY!

the ke7 touch rugby team! well done!

touch rugby captains 09/10 and 10/11!

jan 17th touch rugby (m)

Touch Rugby (M)

KE vs SH, 0-3
KE vs RH, 0-1
KE vs EH, 2-3
KE vs KR, 1-2
KE vs TH, 0-4

Great effort guys!

Writer: Ginny Quek
Editor: Ong Qing Liang
Photos: Thio Simin

The day dawned bright and clear making it a good day for the touch rugby male carnival. The first match of the day was KE vs SH. The boys went onto the field hyped up and excited, eager to put their skills to the test after the long months of arduous training. The starting 6 were, from left to right, Deshawn, JK, Jialun, Cunzhi, Nicholas Lim and Eddie.

warming up for the games

pep talk before the match

From the beginning, it promised to be an exciting match as SH were last year’s defending champions and had one club player on the team. In the first half, SH made many attempts to score but was foiled several times by the heroic saves made by the team. Eddie was one who made such a save by dashing across to touch a guy who has broken through the defence and was running towards the try line.

fearless eddie

In the 2nd half, the line-up was changed with Mcvin and Johan replacing Cunzhi and Jialun, Lin Hui and Nic Chai replacing Nic Lim and Eddie respectively. The second half was far more exciting with many dives and attempts to score by our team. On one occasion, Deshawn tried to score by making a dive but was touched at the last moment. SH, however, did not have an easy time trying to score either. There was once, SH tried to score but was stopped by Cunzhi and they also made a blunder by putting the ball down at the 5-metre mark instead of the try line thus turning the ball over to KE. All in all, our guys up a good fight but ultimately lost to them with a score of 3-0.

great job guys!

After a break of 25 mins, the next match was KE vs RH. It was a much anticipated match and the guys were all psyched up after going through their mistakes made in the previous match and they were determined to win this game. The first 6 were the same as the previous match. In this game, our guys played a brilliant game of defense showing marked improvement from the previous game. They prevented RH from even reaching the try line thus preventing them from even trying to score. Eddie also made a beautiful dive in an attempt to score but was unable to as two guys converged on him to stop him. It was, nevertheless, a dive that was perfectly executed.

pushing forward

In the 2nd half, the whole line-up was changed, from left to right, Nic Chai, Chin Ee, Mcvin, Johan, Desmond and Ming Zhou. The game started off very well with the guys gaining ground rapidly all the way to the try line and they attempted to score by making a dive at the wing but was foiled by the RH defence. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our defence, RH managed to score a try, ending the game with a score of 1-0.

great defence!

Following that, it was KE vs EH after a break of 25 mins. The starting 6 were Deshawn, Desmond, Cunzhi, Jialun, Nic Lim and Eddie. This was, undoubtedly, one of the most exciting matches of the day. The game started off very well with a speedy crash-up gaining a lot of ground as Cunzhi outran one of the defenders causing the whole defence to chase after him in order to stop him from scoring. In this game, KE once again upped their defence and were very fast frustrating the efforts of EH to score although there were many close shaves. During one play, Jialun made a long and accurate pass to Guan Long (who had subbed Ming Zhou) at the wing who then tried to break through to make a try and he almost succeeded but was touched at the last moment by the defender. It was exhilarating to watch and a collective groan went up from the supporters when Guan Long narrowly missed the try. In summary, the 1st half was an awesome game of defense on both sides ending with a 0-0.

In the second half, the line-up was changed to Deshawn, JK, Johan, Cunzhi, Lin Hui and Guan Long. The game did not exactly get off to a good start as there was this really big (and rough) player from EH who got into a slight scuffle with Johan when he intentionally collided into Johan while trying to make a touch. He got off with a reprimand by the referee. Minutes later, the situation was reversed when Johan also collided into him and both of them had to leave the field. He was then replaced by Jialun. Not long after, Cunzhi scored, making it KE’s first try of the day!!! The EH defense were offside at the 5-metre mark and Cunzhi seized the opportunity, making a dash for it and side-stepping all of Eusoff’s defence to score, making the score 3-1. With this try, the spirits of the guy’s team rallied and they played even harder to even out the score. At the very last min, JK, with his well-known penchant for speed, outran all the defenders and made a try! With JK’s try, the game ended with a score of 3-2. Despite the reputation of EH being a sports hall (and ultimately claiming the touch rugby crown), we proved a worthy opponent, losing with a narrow 1 point margin.

jk scoring a try

The 4th game of the day was KE vs KR. It was a highly anticipated game as our guys had a high chance of beating them. The first six were Deshawn, Nic Lim, Cunzhi, Jialun, Desmond and Guan Long. KR tried to score many times at the 5-metre mark by doing switches but our defense proved to be more than a match for them, denying them time and time again. On one such occasion, we launched a counter-attack and Cunzhi broke through the defence with his speed and tried!! It was an amazing sight as he blew past all the defenders, leaving them in the wake of his run, too surprised to react. KR then went into offensive aggressively and managed to score a try by diving through the outstretched hands of our defenders.

touch rugby indeed!

The 2nd half started with Eddie, Lin Hui, Cunzhi, Mcvin, JK and Deshawn. KE mounted an impressive defense and prevented KR from even advancing past the halfway mark. This greatly limited their offensive play. The match ended 2-1 in KR’s favour. However, it is beyond a shadow of doubt that our KE warriors fought bravely.

The last match for the day was KE vs TH. By that time, our guys were pretty exhausted as it has been a long day for all of them. But nevertheless, they went onto the field determined to give their all for this game. The 1st six were Ming Zhou, Desmond, Mcvin, Johan, Nic Lim and Eddie. When the game started, TH went in aggressively, hoping to clinch an easy try but was prevented from doing so as Eddie made an extremely good save by diving to touch the attacker. Ming Zhou then tried to score when he spotted a gap but unfortunately got touched by the defense at the last moment. All the supporters watched with bated breath, willing him to get past the defenders but it was not meant to be. However, the supporters rallied and continued cheering on our guys enthusiastically. TH then changed tatics by placing a player at the wing to create an extra man but out players were too alert and instead forced them to commit a touch-pass awarding a penalty to KE.

The 2nd half started with Ming Zhou, JK, Jialun, Cunzhi, Chin Ee and Guan Long. There were many attempts made by our team to score, the most notable one being JK’s effort to outrun all the defenders. He almost succeeded but was touched at the last moment. Th won the match with a score of 4-0 but our guys definitely made them work hard for every single try! While our guys may have lost numerically, they definitely won by a landslide in terms of effort and team spirit!

After the last game, the team gathered for one last talk at the tree they had affectionately coined the ‘Tree of Wisdom’ to share their experiences of being in Touch Rugby the past year. All of them agreed that they had learnt much and it was undisputable that they have improved much from previous years. As I always say, it’s not the destination but the journey that matters. Listening to them share their experiences, I am convinced that they have all gained something from being in the sport. Be it having made new friends, picking up a new sport or just being in a team, it is my belief that every single one of them walked away having gained something. This could not have been achieved without the dedication of the seniors, the commitment of the juniors and the passion of everybody! So well done guys!! You are a winner in our eyes!

u can finally retire Mcvin!

Jan 17th – Touch Rugby M & F

KE Touch Rugby Team

MALES

Touch Rugby (M)		Saturday, 17/01/09
	King Edward VII	Eusoff Hall
Score	0	2
	King Edward VII	Kent Ridge Hall
Score	2	2
	King Edward VII	Temasek Hall
Score	1	4
	King Edward VII	Sheares Hall
Score	1	5
	King Edward VII	Raffles Hall
Score	0	6

Men's Team

FEMALES

Touch Rugby (F)		Saturday, 17/01/09
	King Edward VII	Eusoff Hall
Score	0	3
	King Edward VII	Kent Ridge Hall
Score	0	4
	King Edward VII	Temasek Hall
Score	0	3
	King Edward VII	Sheares Hall
Score	0	2
	King Edward VII	Raffles Hall
Score	0	0

Girls' Team

Writer: Nicholas Chai
Editor: Janice Fan

IHG Touch Rug     

 

  Touch-rugby. When I first heard of it last semester during IBG I had no idea how different it would be from the conventional contact rugby. But when I was down on the MPC holding a rugby ball for the very first time, I knew instantly  that it was not a game of brute strength like how its conventional brethren had implied, but a sport which challenges speed, skills, wit and team cooperation to the maximum.

       The most baffling thing however, was that there wasn’t much continuity in touch-rug in KE Vll, especially for the men’s team. Despite this there were still a few seniors who believed in the KE Vll team, namely Jia Lun, Mcvin, Dominic and Musa, and were determined to lead a new team consisting mostly of fresh blood to contend in this year’s IHG.

      The male and female touch-ruggers set off for the field at 7.30 a.m, with the female team led by Ginny Quek, a freshman. I had cold-feet the night before the match, knowing that teams from other halls were stronger and more experienced than we were. But then four months of training boiled down to that very moment and words of encouragement from our captain Jia Lun and McVin kept echoing in our heads, and there was no turning back.

     For the guys, the first match against Eusoff Hall kicked off at 9.30 a.m, followed by Kent Ridge Hall, Temasek Hall, Sheares Hall and last but not least the defending champion Raffles Hall. Eusoff Hall is known for its athletic history and strong sportsmen, but despite the immense pressure we had our players managed to hold their ground against Eusoff, making it a tough match for both teams. The final score was 0-2, with Eusoff scoring two tries against us.

     Our second match against Kent Ridge Hall was an adrenaline pumping one. Spirits were up in this second match as our star-player Jun Kiat (JK) who was also playing as a winger managed to score a try against the defending KR team well into the first minute of the game. KR didn’t allow us the time for a breather and broke through our defences a minute later. Both teams were eager to score and JK made us proud again by out-running KR’s winger the second time during the second half of the game. KR pressed on and they were quick in breaking through our defences again. It was a well-played game, as our captain Jia Lun had put it that we had managed to tie with KR.

      On the girls’s side, a tough game was played. It was a gruelling match for them against the Raffles touch-ruggers but our team held on to their defences and stood their ground. Despite not being able to score a try against the Raffles girls our team left no loopholes in their defences for the attacking team to break through. With a team of girls consisting of mostly freshmen who had no experience in touch-rug, captain Ginny Quek (who’s also playing touch-rug for the first time in her life) had managed to rally the team together with her enthusiasm (plus extremely loud shouting) and forced the advancing team back to the 5 meter’s mark.

     Against Temasek Hall a try was scored yet again by JK, and against Sheares one by Cun Zhi. It was a heart-lifting moment as Cun Zhi had managed to plant the ball at Sheares’ trial line. It was the moment as he caught the Sheares defenders off guard and swerved pass them like a speeding rocket on the loose. The match against Sheares was extremely difficult as they had many fast players who broke through our defences.

      At the end of the day, it isn’t winning the IHG title that matters; it is the spirit that counts. As our humble captain Jia Lun had put it, we tried our best. For the past four months, the team has trained feverishly despite dedication to other Hall CCAs as well. It was through touch-rug that freshmen (like myself) who have never held a rugby ball in their life ended up putting their heart and soul into a new sport. It was through touch that I saw the perseverance, patience and trust our captains Jia Lun and McVin have in their juniors. Join touch-rug, be a man. IHG, we will be back next year.