ROLL OF HONOUR

ARFU Women’s XVs Championships – “SRC Players Do Nation Proud”

1 to 9 June 2008

Kazakhstan

Seven players from the SRC Women’s Rugby Section represented Singapore in the recent Auckland Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Women’s XVs Championships held in Kazakhstan, which saw Singapore coming in 4th in Asia.

It was a punishing tournament, with 30 hour long journeys and a match every other day. Despite that, Singapore emerged victorious in their first match against Kyrgyzstan, winning 38-0 the day after we arrived. The second game, the grudge match against Japan, saw Singapore missing the equalizer and the chance to be Asia’s 2nd by only inches, with the final score of 10-17.

As SRC Women’s Rugby Section player, Karen Yeoh puts it, “This one game, this game which was to put our little red dot of a nation on the world map, was not to be. We lost. There were tears, not the kind that signal regret or shame, but tears because it felt like it was so close (look down at the length of a pinky). Like you could smell it and touch it, because inside our hearts we truly believed it could happen and we’d given everything we had.”

By the third game, fatigue from the previous Japan match might have set in and Singapore was defeated by Uzbekistan. No doubt we came back as 4th, it was the best result the National squad has ever achieved. The other nations have witnessed what the Singapore team could do and we are now a force to be reckoned with.

And as the up and coming young player, Sophie Gollifer sums it up, “Overall I feel that we did what we travelled thirty hours to do, play rugby, love it and make our mark.”

By Saudi Tan

Women’s Rugby Section