SINGAPORE - Schools rugby powerhouse Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) successfully retained their B Division boys' rugby title with a 17-12 sudden death extra-time win over traditional rivals St Andrew's Secondary School, at the Ministry of Education Physical Education & Sports Education Branch on a hot Thursday afternoon.

After a closely-fought first-half, the boys in yellow and blue stripes went into half-time with a 5-0 lead, after hooker Benjamin Lim drove the ball over the line after seven minutes. They then extended their lead to 12-0 after a try by flanker Muhammad Nur Solihin and the conversion by centre Tristan Yeow in the second-half.

Undeterred, the Saints rallied and clawed it back to 12-7 through Philip Distor Joseph's try and captain Viviyan Philip's conversion. With four minutes to go Samuel Lee's try levelled the scores, though Viviyan's subsequent conversion miss meant the teams went into extra time tied 12-12.

The Saints were eventually made to pay for the miss, as ACS(I)'s winger Benjamin Poey sealed the victory with a lung-bursting run three minutes into extra-time, to the delight of onrushing team-mates and the despair of his opponents.

Benjamin said the victory was the perfect response to their shock 0-22 loss to their rivals earlier in the season.

The 16-year-old said: "The will power we had, we gave everything we had and we were not letting everything go to waste. I think that's what led to victory."