Take16: Chill My Fellow Sportsmen!

As you all should now, there has been recent commotions going on surrounding a couple of incidents that have occured through out this whole frantic naional season. The better known of the two would be the Anglo-Chinese School Independent (ACSI) Vs St. Andrews School (SAS) rugby Under-17 final. What happened after the closely-fought match was that one ACSI player was left with a broken nose from a post game fight at the bus stop. Another suffered a bloodied nose and a broken tooth after receiving a fist to the face from a SAS player.
 I have to say though, that I commend ACSI's fighting spirit. Coming from 7-3 down to pip SAS 8-7 is no small feat. And yes, losing even with a 4-goal cushion in hand really is extremely frustrating and, from the agressors point of view, it was pretty understandable. It's hard to take such a blow to the face (no pun intended).
Whether it was an air of complacency or just a lapse of concentration that cost them the match, I feel the SAS players, amongst all other rugby-related skills, should learn to lose graciously. As cliched as the term goes, violence never solves anything. The asssiliant learnt this the hard way, as the boy was suspended from all lessons, banned from school rugby activities for six months, disqualified from not receiving the school colors and on top of that whole lot, he would never be allowed to represent the school ever again. Ouch. Huge punishment. 

However, there seems to be another side of this story. In a private letter set by SAS principal Belinda Charles to the St. Andrews officials, claims that an ACSI player 'batted the head of an SAS player' and 'taunted him as a loser'  have been made. this player also made degaratory comments about the SAS players mother. To me, all deja vu really. Just click the link to find out why.

Other than that, such incidents, no doubt, have greatly affected the whole local rugby scene, especially since Singaporean parents have that label of being overly-protective. Many rugby teams in the future might lack players on the squad as these parents, giving meaning to the local term 'kiasu', pull their children out of the aggresive sport of rugby. After this incident, coupled along with the occasional broken bone or dislocated joint will surely deter potential 'ruggers' of the future.

Thanks for reading, and the second part of the post tomorrow.