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Rugby Women aim for sevens heaven

SINGAPORE — An unprecedented double is what Singapore’s national men’s and women’s sevens rugby teams aim to achieve at this year’s SEA Games on home soil.

SINGAPORE — An unprecedented double is what Singapore’s national men’s and women’s sevens rugby teams aim to achieve at this year’s SEA Games on home soil.

And to help the women’s chances, the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) has roped in former national women’s coach Gene Tong and ex-players Wang Shao Ing and Kristy Teh, all of whom were part of the silver-medal-winning side at the 2007 Games.

Tong reprised his role as head coach in January, and Wang and Teh are his assistant coach and team manager, respectively. Tong, who is a regional training coordinator for Asia with the sport’s governing body, World Rugby, was happy to help Singapore’s quest for gold.

“I watched the girls play and felt they needed a hand, and the SRU was looking for a coach,” the 41-year-old told TODAY at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium earlier this week. “The key parts of my role involve improving the skills and performance level (of the team) for the Games, as well as developing a pathway for coaches, and mentoring Shao Ing.”

The 18-strong national women’s squad are expected to be among an estimated 200 Team Singapore athletes at the One Team Singapore@Orchard Road Pedestrian Night event this evening for the countdown to the June 5 to 16 SEA Games.

At the 2007 SEA Games — the last time sevens rugby featured at the biennial event — the Singapore women lost 19-5 to Thailand in the final, while the men’s team took the bronze.

SRU vice-president Jonathan Leow stressed that a successful campaign this time is the boost women’s rugby in Singapore needs. He said: “Winning at home will be a great milestone ... as our local players will have heroes to emulate.”

But Tong knows a lot of work needs to be done ahead of the SEA Games sevens rugby competition, which takes place at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium from June 6 to 7.

Based in Nanjing, Tong will fly into Singapore for 10 to 12 days each month. In April, he will lead the team on a training and competition tour to China ahead of a centralised training camp in May. The priority now is improving the players’ physical strength and skills, and working with the Singapore Sports Institute on their mental tenacity.

Singapore’s biggest rivals are Thailand and the Philippines, but Tong believes his players have improved “by 30 per cent” since January. “Singapore will definitely cause some ripples (at the Hong Kong Women’s Sevens in March), and our opponents will be watching us closely,” he said. “Thailand will be a challenge, but we can do well, even though our track record against them hasn’t been very good.”

Added Singapore Polytechnic lecturer Wang, 38, who retired after last year’s Incheon Asian Games: “Thailand are very fast and fit. They’ve played together since 2010 and are at their peak. The Philippines are also physically stronger and younger than us.”

Included in the SEA Games squad are Jeslyn Tay and Darelyn Tan who are pulling in double duty in sevens rugby and the national touch team, which are competing in next month’s World Touch Cup in Australia.

Others, such as Alvinia Ow Yong, made the switch from touch to sevens rugby last year in order to concentrate on the SEA Games. She said: “This is a very rare chance for me to play in front of a home crowd ... it’s a good time to showcase rugby to Singaporeans.”

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