ACS(I) reclaim C Division rugby title with emphatic win over arch-rivals St Andrew’s

SINGAPORE – Rarely have Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) gone into a National School Games C Division rugby final as the underdogs.

The traditional powerhouses have featured in every final from 1993 to 2025, except 2020 and 2021, when the Games were not held.

They have emerged triumphant 25 times out of the 31 finals during that period, before St Andrew’s School (Secondary) won 17-14 in the 2025 title decider.

On Aug 24, the two arch-rivals met again, with the Saints installed as favourites, especially after they came out 24-10 victors in their pool-stage meeting on Aug 4.

But in the final, it was ACS(I) who put up a dominant display in the 33-5 victory at the Jurong West Stadium to reclaim their title.

It was the much-coveted revenge that ACS(I) had been training for, and one that their captain, Jenson Lim, who was part of the losing side in 2025, said the team “really wanted to win back”.

The 14-year-old said: “It’s honestly an amazing feeling since we have trained super hard this entire season, the boys managed to cross the final hurdle as a team.

“After last year’s loss, words truly cannot convey how much I really wanted to win it back this year, especially since my seniors entrusted me to win it back for them.”

ACS(I) coach Adrian Chong, who has been with the school for 27 years, believed that his charges “knew what they were capable of” and had wanted them to give a good account of themselves in the final.

“We know what (our players) are really capable of, but unfortunately, during the pool game, they didn’t turn up,” said the 59-year-old.

“They really endeavoured to make sure when they got another chance (to face the Saints) to give a good account of themselves, and I think with all the hard work they put in, today was a showcase of what they are really capable of.

“We’ve talked (about it) for the whole week, that the result is immaterial if they were able to give their best on the field for each other today. That’s all that counts.”

And ACS(I) made it count on Aug 24, starting the stronger of the two sides and drawing first blood in the fifth minute, when Elijah Saiful Saroni danced past the Saints’ defence to score a try. Fly-half Preston Lim converted successfully.

It got worse for the defending champions 10 minutes later, when Ryan Ho stole the ball, and like a hot knife through butter, split the Saints’ defence for another try which Preston converted for the 14-0 lead.

Chen Zhuo Xuan reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time with a try, but Aryann Atul Ghadge failed his conversion attempt.

ACS(I) again started the second-half on the front foot, with Jenson scoring a try which Preston converted. With the hefty 21-5 lead, the ACS(I) supporters in blue and gold were upbeat, chanting “one more try”, and Jenson duly obliged with his second try.

It was all ACS(I) at this point and Preston finished off the rout with a try and conversion at the dead, much to the delight to the fans, who were chanting Chong’s name during the trophy celebration.

Saints coach Sam Chan rued the errors committed by his boys.

“We didn’t really show up today to play, we didn’t stick to the game plan and made a lot of mistakes,” he said. While he admitted the team had felt the weight of being defending champions, the 54-year-old said: “Today ACS(I)... were more hungry, and they made fewer mistakes.”

His captain, Tai Jun Yew, summed up his team’s performance with one word: Disappointed. The 14-year-old backliner said: “I’m feeling quite disappointed with our team with this performance and we could have done better.

“We were just trying to come back the whole game but couldn’t... We will work harder to come back from this.”

In the earlier third-place play-off at the same venue, St Joseph’s Institution beat Raffles Institution 42-19 to take the bronze.