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Ruggers Galore

Last weekend was just cool. My first time at the Singapore Sevens and had the wonderful opportunity to meet with handsome, burly and simply gorgeous ruggers from various nations like New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Fiji, South Africa etc. Of course, it was a total feast for the eyes! ahhaha....okok..I'm not all that superficial. RIGHT!

I was attached to Ponsonby - New Zealand team. Heard that most of the All Blacks players hail from this team and I was excited to meet them. Even though this year's team consists of mostly amateurs, yet they displayed such finess in their game. The way they spin the ball, dodge, tackle etc just blew my mind away. But of course, they are soon-to-be professionals so they had better show some standard! Hehe..but they truly lived up to their reputation.



Don't mess with these big boys when they mean business!





One of the many light hearted moments Coach had with his boys

Above and beyond their skills, what actually impressed me most was their gentlemenliness (if there's such a word). Beneath those bulging biceps/triceps/quadraceps and other ceps actually lie a very alluring and gentle spirit. Got to interact with them to know what I'm saying. Even in a game, there's hardly dirty & rough play although I witnessed moments whereby a few players actually lost their cool but generally, the team was just cool from the start to the end. I had the privilege to watch them play upclose and personal at the sideline together with the coach and team manager and they were just like a close-knitted family. The Daddy with his boys! Haha..whether they won or lose, they knew how to take things in their strides.


Kipps (nickname) - one of the gentle giants in the team.


This team showed me that rugby is really a game for gentlemen.

Then of course, there were other noteworthy teams around too but since I spent most of my time tagging along with Ponsonby, I didn't get to see how the other teams performed. Nonetheless, I thought all teams put up a strong fight especially the Japanese team (Kumuri). What this team lack in younger players, they made it all up in their tenacious and gusty spirit! They went onto the field and was all ready to CHIONG! They hardly won any of their matches but the enjoyment and satisfaction they had were evident. There was no pressure whatsoever to live up to any expectations and they just played to the best of their abilities and that to me is just inspiring and commendable. KUDOS KUMURI!

Then I had a few moments of comic relief from the 2 jokers below!

Oddball #1 : Guy with the 'best' sense of fashion

for Singapore Sevens 2008

Oddball #2 - The Queen made her grand entrance!

I look forward to the next Sevens and I do hope I can be with Ponsonby again! Hopefully next year, they will put up a greater fight and regain their reign over the Albitt Cup from the Vipers! :)







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