Written by: Chang Zhe Ming
Edited by: Cheng Kai Wen
Photos by: Eusoff Works
Well-rested from the Chinese New Year break and well-prepared after months of training, our trug boys are back to defend their title once again. The touch rugby IHGs this year are held in the carnival format, meaning all the games will be held across two Saturdays, with match after match from morning till evening.
On the first day of the carnival, we faced King Edward VII Hall, Sheares Hall, Temasek Hall and Kent Ridge Hall. The trug guys got to the field way before their first match to warm up and squeeze in a last bit of practice.
EH vs KE7 (12 - 1)
The guys kick started their season against KE. Though not as tough a matchup as the likes of Temasek or Sheares, this was still an important match as it set the tone for the rest of the season. We start with a lineup of experienced seniors and they quickly take the lead with nice interplay between Shern and Keng Han before Nicolai makes the catch out wide and scores. Out comes the next line, featuring new face Tantham. After regaining possession, Tantham receives the ball and makes an incredible run all the way to the try zone for our second point.
After a great start, we continued to pile on the points, taking a 7-0 lead into halftime. Still, despite the one-sided game, coach Kenny knew that we could offer more, and urged the team to make quicker transitions.
KE fights back in the second half, making a slew of defensive stops before stealing back a point. However, two quick points from Beh and Yui give us back the momentum. From there, the game went on unhitched, other than Shern throwing the ball right into Ben’s face… ouch. It ends 12-1 to Eusoff, a dominant performance but with plenty to reflect over.
When the ball doesn't hit Ben's face, he scores!
EH vs SH (5 - 2)
Between the previous game in the morning and this one in the afternoon, the team talked about what they could’ve done better, with the experienced seniors giving lots of advice. The game started off slow, both teams fumbling more than usual as the rain made the ball and field slippery. It was not until 5 minutes into the game when our captain Robbo managed to dodge the defense with some deceptive movement and dove in to break the deadlock.
However, Sheares came right back with the equalizer, and continued to pile on the pressure as we struggled to bring the ball out of our half. Thankfully, we managed to survive the half with some good touches.
Vice-capt Darren's impressive draw of the defender before passing the ball out.
Kenny’s halftime team talk focused on hustling defensively and keeping the offense simple, and that was what we did. Though Sheares managed to take the lead through a questionable try (the player’s feet were out of bounds), Amadeus evens up the score immediately before Ray gives us the lead on the right wing. Tantham and Beh then opened up the gap between some solid defensive possessions, and we came out with a 5-2 win.
EH vs TH (9 - 4)
As the rain persisted and winds grew, the spectators started to shiver in the 25 degree cold. However, the weather never fazed our boys, who came out roaring against Temasek. After some intense defending and aggressive drives, Shern squeezes through a gap in the defense to give us the lead. “C’mon, I’ve been doing this for 4 years!” he exclaimed, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. We capitalized on Temasek’s mistakes and led 3-0, but they managed to pull one back after a defensive lapse on our end. Robbo makes it 4-1 at the break.
The boys continued to bring the heat in the second half as Darren scored with a dive on the very first possession. We got our second of the half from a highlight play, Robbo faking to the right before throwing a no-look pass to the left, right into the path of a sprinting Yui, who catches and dives in one motion. Not letting our foot off the gas, we continued to push and got some important stops, with Amadeus and Ray impressing with their hustle and energy.
Temasek managed to score a few tries, but we held them off and went on a run of our own in the last minute, with Shern breaking his man’s ankles and scoring the last try of the game, handing us a 9-4 win.
Yes everyone, it is our poster boy, Shern's 5th run at IHG.
EH vs KR (9 - 1)
Our final match of the day was against KR. Chen How suited up for his first match of the day along with Jie Rui, who almost opened the scoring after catching a long pass down the right wing, which was unluckily overruled for a forward pass. After some patient probing from our middles, Yui was able to find a gap in the defense for a touchdown, before Robbo did the same a couple of minutes later.
However, KR managed to pull one back after their player ran half the length of the pitch for the touchdown. The spectators got a good laugh after they celebrated with the SIUUUU but we’re quickly back in business. Darren showed his experience with a smart sidestep to evade the touch and score the try, making it 3-1. We came close again as Ben drove in but couldn’t hold onto the ball, but he made up for it by converting his next chance.
Robbo slipping through and doing a perfect one-hand dive!
We continued to dominate the rest of the game on both sides of the field. Jie Rui finally got his try as he converted Darren’s long pass to the wing. Chen How got in on the action too as Yui set him up for a touchdown. He also made an impressive defensive play earlier that half, sprinting back from high up the field to stop a KR fastbreak. The game ended a 9-1 win, the icing on the cake capping off an impressive carnival day.
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