Singapore men’s rugby team clinch inaugural Unions Cup

SINGAPORE – Despite a 19-16 loss to Chinese Taipei on July 5, Singapore men’s rugby 15s team coach Suhaimi Amran was still satisfied with his side’s overall performance at the Unions Cup.

After all, the national 15s team were returning after a five-year hiatus from international competition. Yet, world No. 55 Singapore still clinched the inaugural tri-union tournament courtesy of a superior goal difference of 19.

Singapore opened their campaign on June 29 with a 30-8 rout of Thailand, before the 79th-ranked Thais upset world No. 66 Chinese Taipei 18-12 three days later. The Taiwanese finished second with a goal difference of minus three, followed by Thailand on minus 16.

Suhaimi told The Straits Times: “It would have been lovely if we won the last game but winning wasn’t the main outcome that we were looking for. The process that the boys have been working on all week was to achieve consistency in our performances.

“Winning the Unions Cup is secondary and obviously we have a lot of things to work on and we can only get better from now.”

At the Jurong West Stadium, Singapore got off to an encouraging start as Ray Peh flew through the Taiwanese defence to score the game’s first try on the 17th minute.

But things quickly unravelled for the home outfit in the second half, as they conceded three tries including one just 45 seconds after the restart.

While three successful penalty kicks from Marah Ishraf kept the score close, Singapore still trailed 19-16 with 90 seconds to play.

That was when the Republic were offered a lifeline as they were awarded another penalty kick. But instead of kicking for goal for three points to earn a draw, the Singapore players decided to kick for touch in the hopes of snatching victory by scoring a try, which is worth five points.

Marah, 30, said: “The team made a collective decision to go for the corner. We wanted to get five points from that, but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned. That’s just part of the game and we wanted to go for the win.

“It’s a mix of emotions but at the end of the day, we won a cup and it’s something we should be happy about. There’s still room for improvement for next year’s Unions Cup but I think it’s a good step forward.”

Peh, who earned his first two national 15s caps at the tournament, described it as a “bittersweet victory”. Over the past two years, he overcame multiple injuries including a torn shoulder ligament.

The 21-year-old said: “I feel quite proud because this is my first try for my country on my second cap. After all the work I’ve put in over the last few years, I’ve finally managed to put some points on the board for Singapore.”

While most of the players will return to their respective clubs in the Singapore Rugby Union National 15s League after the Unions Cup, they will likely reconvene in September for a “Causeway Challenge” with neighbours and 56th-ranked Malaysia, said coach Suhaimi.

Marah, who joined the national team in 2014, added: “Playing against Malaysia is always a good rivalry. It’s actually quite exciting to play against them because they are in the top tier of Asia rugby.

“If we can compete against them, that means we can put ourselves among the best in Asia.”