Lucky Saints are new kings of Under-14 Schools Sevens

SINGAPORE – The Under-14 Schools Sevens tournament crowned a new champion on Sunday (Apr 16) as St Andrew’s Secondary School beat arch-rivals Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 12-10 in the Grand Final held at the National Stadium.

Captain Lucius Yau’s converted try made the difference at the 55,000-seater venue as the Saints hung on to dethrone their opponents, who made it a grandstand finish when Cedric Teo scored a try with less than two minutes to go.

Giants of the local schoolboy rugby scene, the two schools had met on three previous occasions in the series this year to earn the right to play at the stadium ahead of kickoff of the second day of action at the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens.

ACS(I) beat St Andrew’s 17-14 in the first round final but lost the second 12-33, before they drew 7-7 in the third.

The Saints proved they had the mettle at the fourth time of asking, taking the lead after three minutes through prop Jabez Lim, though they were pegged back by Kaylen Chin’s try and entered half-time level at 5-5.

The decisive moment arguably came when centre Lucky Anthony broke through in the second half from inside his own 22 to score under the posts at the other end, paving the way for Yap to calmly fire in the converted try.

Anthony, who moved to Singapore seven years ago from Batangas Province in the Philippines, pinpointed his team’s composure as the key factor for victory.

“It was a good pass from my teammate Ryan Distor and once I broke clear, I just kept going for the line,” said the 14-year-old.

“We were very calm heading into the final, our tackling was solid and we kept our structure in defence and attack. The atmosphere during the final was simply amazing and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in this amazing stadium.

“I hope I can represent Singapore one day and play in this iconic stadium again.”

ACS(I) coach Kyler Wong was not too downbeat despite the loss, and chose to focus on the positives.

“It was a close final and we basically ran out of time in the end,” he said. “It’s not every day (that) you get to play in a final at the National Stadium. We told the boys to enjoy the match and I’m sure this experience will help them in the future.”