UrbanWire

Top rugby nations in the world congregated in Singapore for the 2nd showing of the Standard Chartered Singapore Sevens, on 3 and 4 April at the National Stadium.

Organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB), Singapore was the 6th in 8 stops, which include Los Angeles, Hong Kong and London.

While the inaugural event was held in 2002, this is only the 2nd time the series had made its way to Singapore, as the 2003 instalment was cancelled due to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The hype for this year’s event was, therefore, great; and the players didn’t disappoint.

Even before the tournament got underway, there was already controversy, pitting rugby against soccer once more.

The Japanese soccer team with European-based players like Shinji Ono and Hidetoshi Nakata, was drawn against Singapore for the World Cup Qualifications. The fixture was scheduled for 31 March, just 3 days before the Singapore Sevens would take place.

As the organisers needed time to set up the National Stadium, the soccer match had to be played at the Jalan Besar Stadium which can only hold 6,000 people compared to the 50,000 capacity at the National Stadium. This caused an uproar among soccer fans in both Singapore and Japan; and the issue became a topic hotly debated in our major newspapers.

However, when one compares the quality of the sides that came for the Singapore Sevens, it becomes evident why the tournament was more important than a World Cup Qualifications match against Japan.

To put it in perspective for soccer fans: Imagine the Brazilian, Dutch, Italian, English, German, French and Spanish powerhouses coming down to Singapore for a tournament.

Nonetheless, some of the [rugby] coaches were hoping both rugby and soccer could benefit from each other. Japanese coach, Kazuhiko Honjo, said in the press conference he hoped the Japanese fans who had flown in to Singapore to watch the soccer team play, would also stay a bit longer to also support the rugby team. Other coaches, however, begged to differ, maintaining the sport’s superiority to soccer.

England’s coach Joe Lydon, who will be assisting World Cup-winner Sir Clive Woodward after the series, said, “I think everyone will be surprised to know that the most famous coach in England is not Sir Alex Ferguson but Sir Clive Woodward; and the most famous sporting personality in England is not any soccer player but Johnny Wilkinson.” Underscoring this, America’s Coach Mike Coyner pointed out there were more licensed rugby players in America than there were soccer players.
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The Sevens tournament has always been known for its party-like atmosphere and this year’s organisers did their best to ensure it.

Foster’s, the official beer sponsor made certain there was enough beer to go round for the crowd to have a good time. They even provided a pool where anyone who was spotted wearing anything with the letter ‘F’ could enjoy a dip for an hour. Fans were also entertained by the Foster’s kangaroo mascots who were playing up the crowd, and with the cameramen.

The tournament’s atmosphere was built on most importantly by the crowd’s enthusiasm. Wacky costumes were spotted, like a man dressed up as a Roman gladiator with a broom for a helmet. Even the rain on Day 2 couldn’t dampen the crowd’s spirits as they took out their raincoats and umbrellas, cheering their teams on.
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As the draw for the group stages was announced, there were some matches that immediately caught the eye.

In Pool B, England was drawn against the French. An England-France match-up would be tough in any sport, what more when the French 15s squad had just beaten the World 15s Champions in the Six Nation Cup a week before the Sevens started.

Even a predominantly English crowd, booing the French at every opportunity, did little to spur their side on. Against the will of the crowd, the French scored 1st as Martial Molinier found space in the highly acclaimed English defence for a try, which was duly converted by Oliver Toulouze. Then came the biggest surprise as Frank Lacquet scored a try that was again converted by Toulouze. This put the French up 14-0 and immediately brought back memories of the Six Nations game. At this point, the French were completely dominant.

But to the delight of the crowd, Rob Thirlby scored a try almost immediately after the French had scored their 2nd and Ben Gollings, the top scorer of the entire series, stepped up to convert.

This sent the French reeling and in the last minute of play, Neil Baxter caused the entire stadium to erupt as he slid in for the crucial try. England 12, France 14. English fans held their breath as captain Simon Amor stepped up to convert the try.

“Thud!” The sound of the kick resonating around the stadium was immediately replaced with a sigh of relief from the English players, much to the delight of the fans.

30 seconds later, the final whistle blew. The French did not win the match, yet they still were absolutely delighted to have come away with a draw and began their lap of honour as if they had won the tournament.
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In Pool A, New Zealand versus Argentina proved to be a potential cracker. In 2 previous tournaments, Argentina had ousted New Zealand: 1 in the Cup finals of the L.A. Sevens and another in the semis in Hong Kong.

After both Argentina and New Zealand had easily disposed of Scotland and Malaysia respectively in earlier matches, the attention turned to their match-up. And tensions were high.

New Zealand scored 1st as early as the 39th second of play as Liam Messam got through the Argentine defence to score a try before Amasio Valence converted it with a drop-kick.

Yet all was not lost as the Argentines showed exceptional fighting spirit, containing New Zealand for the rest of the match as Francisco Leonelli scored 2 tries in the 4th and 9th minutes; while Andres Romagnoli converted the 1st try for a well-deserved 12-7 victory over the defending champions.
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The Asian nations were completely overwhelmed by the might of the west, with host, Singapore, proving the most disappointing.

Singapore let in at least 50 points in every match-up in Pool C, as they were obliterated 7-54 by Samoa; 0-55 by South Africa; and 0-59 by Canada. With only a single try, they hardly showed any fighting spirit even with an entire stadium cheering them on. And although New Zealand beat Malaysia 50-7, who were sent packing by Scotland 0-54 and Argentina 0-43, at least they went down with a fight.

Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong showed more grit with Hong Kong bowing out 0-42 to France, before scoring 1st but eventually succumbing to England 5-26, and losing to fellow Asians, Japan, 12-27.

Japan fought hard but lost to superior teams in England and France, 0-28 and 7-35 respectively. South Korea managed a try against giants Fiji before being bested 7-31, while narrowly losing to Australia 14-19. They did however pull off a coup as they overcame America 19-7 in their last match of Day 1.
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Unlike other sports, the Sevens tournament still gave losers from Day 1 a 2nd chance at silverware as there were 4 different trophies to play for – the Shield; the Bowl; the Plate; and the Cup, the final being most coveted of all. Singapore therefore still had a chance at redemption.

The 1st match of Day 2 pitted Scotland, placed 3rd in Pool A, against the bottom team of Pool B, Hong Kong. The Asian nation continued their losing streak as they were crushed by the Scottish 0-31. This then placed Hong Kong in the semi-finals of the Shield section while Scotland was made it to the semis of the more prestigious Bowl category.

The next match drew Singapore against Korea, with the winner getting to take on Scotland in the next round. Young Hun Yang scored 2 tries in the first half to take a 14-0 lead as Singapore continued its poor run.

Come the 2nd half, a new Singapore side seemingly emerged, playing much better, as Andrew Kwong slid in to score a try. Unfortunately, it was not enough as they lost 5-14 to set up a tie against Hong Kong.

Canada then got 1 over neighbours, America, with a 24-7 victory; while Japan dominated Malaysia 29-0 to set up a match against the Canadians, with Malaysia taking on the U.S.A.
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England versus Argentina was 1st up and it turned out to be a thrashing as Argentina whitewashed England 21-0 to avenge their loss in the finals of the Hong Kong Sevens.

The English didn’t know what hit them as Argentina dominated them from the whistle with Romagnoli scoring the 1st try with a subsequent conversion . Later, Lucio Lopez Fleming and Federico Serra each scored a try with Romagnoli easily converting both.

Another rivalry would then come into play as the Islands of Fiji – famous for rugby legend Waisale Serevi – and Samoa, native home of wrestler-and-movie star, Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. ‘The Rock’, butted heads. Fiji, ranked just 1 spot above Samoa in the series, was the firm favourite for the match.

Someone tell that to Desmond Faaiuaso of Samoa who scored 2 well-created tries against Fiji in the 3rd and 5th minutes before Sailosi Tagicakibau gave Samoa an unassailable 15-0 lead in the 9th minute.

Nasoni Roko then scored a consolation try for Fiji in the 12th minute to put Fiji in the Plate semi-finals against England while Samoa set up a semi-final Cup clash with Argentina .

As for Australia, they continued their dismal form in the whole series as they were crushed by South Africa, 7-21.

The last quarterfinal in the Cup draw pitted France against New Zealand. New Zealand drew 1st blood through Sosene Ansei in the 1st minute of play with Valence converting the try, but the French showed they had more than French flair as they gritted their teeth to take a 10-7 lead courtesy of Toulouze and Lacquet in the 3rd and 4th minutes respectively.

Then New Zealand’s fantastic ability to attack showed true again as Valence and Ansei raced through the defence again to give New Zealand a 17-10 lead. But the French would not be denied and hard work from the entire team opened up the chance for Renaud Dulin to score a try and narrow the deficit to 15-17.

France then ran the New Zealand defence ragged and when Toulouze scored a try at the stroke of death, France celebrated another memorable match, which showed their continuing progress in the world of rugby.

New Zealand, so well known for their free-flowing attacking style, again showed the chinks in their defence as they failed to defend their 2002 title. Their only hope left of any trophy laid in the Plate title, where they would have to do battle with their greatest rivals, Australia, in the semis.
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Singapore took a 12-0 lead against Hong Kong in their semi-final Shield showdown, but bowed out of the tournament after the Hong Kong team, made up mostly of expatriates, regrouped for a 19-12 victory.

U.S.A. then edged out Malaysia 21-17, after surviving a late Malaysian fight back.

The 1st final was settled: The Eagles of America against the only Asian team to make it to a final, Hong Kong.

39 seconds into the match, the Americans were already leading as Todd Clever sliced apart the Hong Kong defence before scoring a try, with John Buchholz converting.

Then, Tyson Meek and Riaan Hamilton scored a try apiece as Buchholz again converted the tries to give America what would have seemed to be an unassailable 21-0 lead.

No one expected what would happen next as Robert Naylor started the incredible comeback from an Asian side, which had more Caucasian than it did native players, with a 9th minute try. Paul Dingley then scored another try in the 13th minute before Naylor and Fuk Ping Chan scored in injury time with Naylor converting 2 tries for a 24-21 victory that sent the crowd into delirium.
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The Bowl semi-finals were next as Scotland put the Koreans out of the tournament with a 31-7 victory while Japan could not match up to the Canadians as David Moonlight scored the killer try in the 11th minute for a 22-17 victory,

And in the final, Scotland showed their rugby pedigree with a comprehensive 34-5 drubbing of Canada. Rory Couper [2], Paul Boston, John Fitzpatrick, Andrew Turnbull and Colin Gregor all scored tries with Gregor converting twice, compared to Mike Damskin’s solitary try for Canada.
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The Plate semis had 3 out of the 4 seeded teams as 2nd seed England took on 4th-seeded Fiji in 1 semi, with New Zealand playing bitter rivals Australia in the other.

The English fans were greatly disappointed as Filimone Bolavucu, Saimoni Rokini and [Nasoni] Roko each scored a try while Gollings could only manage 1 for England. A disappointed England squad, who were hoping to take over New Zealand in the series standing, thus bowed out of the tournament, but not before saluting the crowd.

The next match was highly anticipated as New Zealand was looking for revenge after their 15s’ loss to the Australians at the World Cup.

Even Australian coach, Bill Millard, and team captain, Paul Warwick, confessed they tend to go harder against New Zealand, no doubt about it”. With the brother of World Cup winger, Lote Tuqiri, playing, one would say the odds of pulling off another upset were certainly in their favour.

The true class of New Zealand, however, shone through in this match with a 29-0 victory: Messam scored 1st in the 3rd minute with Valence converting, before Tanerau Latimer and Ansei scoring in the 5th and 8th minutes.

Even 37-year-old Eric Rush showed he still had the pace, which had earned him 29 caps for the All-Blacks and a spot in the World Cup team in 1995, as he sprinted 3-quarters of the field to score a superb try which Valence again converted.

Ansei then finished the scoring in extra time as the Australians were utterly beaten. The vanquished though showed the party nature of the Sevens tournament as they jumped into a swimming pool together with some spectators. New Zealand was now through to the Plate Finals against Fiji, ironically the native land to some of the finest New Zealand players.

4 minutes into the game, Mosese Dunadamu took advantage of a very poor New Zealand defence by racing past them and scoring a try. Jone Daunivucu promptly converted it. Before New Zealand could react, another error allowed Lemeki Duidomo to easily score another try for Fiji that Daunivucu converted yet again. Going into the 2nd half, Fiji was leading 14-0.

The veterans then stepped up for New Zealand. Immediately after the restart, Rush stepped to the fore as New Zealand’s slick passing movement allowed him to score: New Zealand 5, Fiji 14.

A minute later, Valence provided a moment of sheer brilliance as he turned a Fijian, before racing and pushing off his opponents for an excellent try: New Zealand 10, Fiji 14. In the 17th minute, New Zealand fans went ecstatic as 20-year-old Rudi Wulf, in a display of his youthful exuberance, skipped past the Fijian defence and put New Zealand in the lead for the 1st time in the entire match – 15-14, New Zealand.

As the clock ticked away, New Zealand looked as though they had done enough when with barely seconds left, Filimone Bolavucu scored the deathblow: making it 19-15, in favour of Fiji. And before New Zealand could pull themselves together, the final horn blew and Fiji had beaten the nation that has ever so often pulled away the best Fijian talents.
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Surprise Cup semi-finalist Argentina scored a solitary try through Serra, with Romagnoli converting, for a 7-0 victory over Samoa.

South Africa, on the other hand, had an easy 24-0 victory over France, with Marc de Marigny, Danwell Demas, Lucas Floors and Jaco Van Schalkwyk each scoring a try and Mzwandile Stick converting 2.

The Cup final was a ding-dong affair with each team trying to outdo the other. 2 minutes in, Santiago Gomez Cora gave Argentina a 5-0 lead with a superb try that got the crowd going.

A minute later, Stick showed what he could do as he received a kick to score and duly converted the try himself: South Africa 7, Argentina 5.

Not to be undone, Gomez Cora, in a rare display of soccer skills, kicked the ball ahead before bursting through the South African defence; and once again Romagnoli converted to tie the score at 12 apiece.

The Gomez Cora-Romagnoli combination again put the South Americans ahead in the match for the 2nd time with a try and conversion for a 7-point lead.

With only 7 minutes left on the clock, the South Africans became desperate and started to throw themselves forward. And just 2 minutes before the end, Floors received the ball in his own half before running at least 3-quarters of the field, avoiding a last-ditch effort at stopping him to score a sensational try. Stick converted, and the scores were level again.

The Argentines should have scored right off the blocks but what they thought was a try, was later disallowed due to a knock on which had taken place.

This allowed the South Africans to burst up the field and had it not been for a block by Francisco Bosch, it would have wrapped up the final.

A rather anti-climatic finale it was, though, as the 3rd seeds were fouled just before the line and a quick decision from de Marigny allowed him to jump over the goal line and clinch the title for South Africa.

South Africa is now joint-2nd with England in the series. They are only 6 points behind leaders, New Zealand, with 2 legs remaining.

For the 11,000-strong capacity crowd that was present, it was a brilliant sending-off and a magnificent run in to Bordeaux (May 28-29) and London (June 5-6) to decide the eventual champions.
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