Singapore went to Japan the Land of the Rising Sun for a crucial warm up match for this year’s A5N Division 2 Tournament to be played on the first week of June in KL.  The Japan Trip provided a chance for the Singapore players to show their ability to stay on task with tough opposition…

Singapore went to Japan the Land of the Rising Sun for a crucial warm up match for this year’s A5N Division 2 Tournament to be played on the first week of June in KL.  The Japan Trip provided a chance for the Singapore players to show their ability to stay on task with tough opposition.  Singapore’s Captain Daniel Marc Chow lead by example and was supported by a very good ball carrying display from Peter Mc Feely.  Reiner Leong has been a great find this year and is showing he is more than capable to play Rugby at the elite level.  The game was valuable for the players and the areas of concerns have been highlighted. 

The first 26mins of the game was played at a high tempo and Singapore showed some a very strong defensive game which had Japan going backwards and making several handling errors.   The video clip will show a Try to Peter Mc Feely off a well worked Lineout Move shocked the hosts with the accuracy and impressive ball carrying ability of the (Irish) Singaporean Player. The lead up to this play was a very accurate Lineout throw from Gaspar Tan and a clean catch and delivery from Gabriel Lee.  Other tries were scored by Reiner Leong and Suhaimi Amran.  A fourth opportunity to score a Try was missed with the final pass being dropped.

The Singapore Team showed some very promising signs that our team in moving in the correct direction but unfortunately with the number of injuries especially to Inside Centre, Andrew Bourke and not having enough game time playing against very good attackers.  This left our defence in the Midfield without a clear leader.  Japan had a very good team and at the After Match the Japanese Representatives announced that the Team was specially chosen to be the Team for Japan in the IRB Rugby World Cup Hosting year.  The chances are a high number of these players will be in the Japan 2019 RWC Team.
We wish Jamil Zaini a speedy recovery. Jamil not only dislocated his thumb but broke the bone which will require surgery.  Jamil has had several very good performances playing in the Singapore Jersey in 2013 and it is a big loss for the Team