National rugby sevens teams seek double gold at KL SEA Games

SINGAPORE — They may have fallen short of the Singapore Rugby Union’s (SRU) two-gold target at the 2015 South-east Asian Games, but the national men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams will be looking to make amends in Kuala Lumpur in August.

With less than six months to the Aug 19-31 Games, the SRU has once again set an ambitious goal for its men’s and women’s teams — who won the bronze and silver, respectively, in 2015: To sweep all the titles on offer in Malaysia.

“Our goal is definitely to improve on what we achieved last time,” said SRU general manager George Danapal. “The competition is pretty even in the men’s category between us, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. We are definitely looking for two gold medals.”

SRU vice-president Jonathan Leow said: ‘‘Basically, for the men and women’s teams, we have looked at the changes and strived to ensure the support structures have been ramped up to ensure the best shot at achieving our target of two golds.

“The men’s team have regrouped and we are now working with an expanded squad in preparation for next month’s Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy in Doha, Qatar , and moving forward towards the SEA Games.

“The women’s team are on track as well with preparations, having just come back from the Darwin 7s where they finished fifth out of 12 teams, which included top sides from Sydney and also the Australian National Development team. We have taken the lessons from 2015 and have refined it this year to give our teams the best possible shot at attaining the gold medal.”

However, the men’s team will need to pass its first test in Doha, where they will be aiming to finish at the top of the 11-team table to earn promotion to the top division.

Team Singapore were relegated from the top flight last year after a disappointing campaign at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series, where they won just two out of 15 matches.

They will face Jordan and Pakistan in Pool A of the Doha tournament, with familiar foes Thailand and the Philippines – gold medallists at the 2015 SEA Games – among the teams competing in Doha.

While the women’s sevens side had already earned their ticket to Kuala Lumpur after finishing fifth in the Asian Sevens Series’ top division last year, the men will be aiming to seal their spot with a good result at the Sevens Trophy.

“The UAE (United Arab Emirates) are the powerhouse in the competition aside from Thailand and the Philippines,” said Singapore vice-captain and scrum-half Teng Chong Yao, 24.

“Our target is to win the league (trophy). Compared to last year, we’ve had good numbers at training and people fighting for positions on the team. The management has also brought in manpower with a new coach and two assistant coaches coming in.

“There’s also more young blood in the team, with the average age now at around 24. The team is looking sharp, particularly in fitness and skills.”