CSS are treble Rugby 7 Champions!!

Our warmest congratulations to our Girls B/C grade, our Boys C grade and Boys B grade Rugby 7 teams for their fantastic championship winning achievements in the Hong Kong Rugby 7s tournament.

As Conor McGregor once said, "We are not here to take part, we are here to take over!" A collective arrogant vision we pictured, a self-fulfilling prophecy we achieved, the Maroon & Grey stunted the doubters and sent our opponents into the abyss. An astonishing achievement from top to bottom - the combined B&C Grade Girls Team, the C Grade Boys Team to the B Grade Boys Team. We achieved the impossible; climbed our Mount Everest; slew our past demons and won our tournaments in emphatic fashion.

The C Grade Girls have had a mixed bag of experience throughout the 2018-2019 season. Plagued by misfortunes, one of our key players (Natalie Smith F1Bo) had to withdraw from the Hong Kong/Kowloon pool stages the day before due to a training accident, whereas the team was also forced to forfeit 2 matches due to clash of schedule with Creative Week. Both physiological and psychological demands of the team were constantly tested and pushed to the limit, yet they still managed to prevail and scramble for an overall 10th position. By early May 2019, the girls' team entered the "Chan Shu Kui Memorial School Rugby Sevens Invitation Tournament 2019" (陳樹渠紀念中學欖球邀請賽 2019) with significant reinforcement from the B Grade girls. With a good balance of fearless and experienced players, the combined B&C Grade Girls Team marched into the tournament hungry for success. The girls made a storming start with triple runaway victories and topped things off with a dramatic comeback to topple HKUGA College (港大同學會書院) in the final to complete an unbeaten tournament. In the end, the team cruised through the day tallying up a total of 16 thrilling tries and crowned as victor.

In contrast, the ride to the top for the C Grade Boys was less bumpy than expected. Throughout the HK/Kowloon group stage, they did not meet any real challenges until the final duel against the Lasallian to battle for top seed position. The C Grade boys struggled to perform against the athletic powerhouse with the final result of 17 - 5 and finished second in their regional competition. On the other hand, as every cloud has a silver lining, there is always the prospect of another chance. The boys held their collective chins up and entered the All HK Rugby 7s Tournament with a mandate for vengeance. Under Mr. Elvin Tao’s coaching effort, the well-drilled C Grade boys coasted through Day 1 playoffs as a full dress rehearsal for the Day 2 finals.

The boys entered the Cup/Plate semi-final with high morale against their local rival - QualiEd College (匯知中學). With accurate team passing and precise decision making by Liam Young (F2Bo, C Grade Captain), the boys stretched and dismantled Qualied’s defence system with 3 unanswered tries. A shot for silverware finally on the horizon again, the C Grade boys entered the final against HKUGA College (港大同學會書院)anxiously as they have missed out on the top spot several years in a row. The game was tense. Both sides defended heroically with last-ditch tackles and spurned good chances to take the lead. Upon the dying minute of 1st half, our boys finally broke the deadlock. Young carried the ball with two hands and split the defence like the Red Sea with a cheeky dummy-pass to send himself over the white line. As pressure continued to pile onto HKUGA in the 2nd half, their inability to break past the 22 metre line due to a dogged CSS defence soon became their Achille’s heel. The Maroon & Grey capitalised on a HKUGA mistake by executing a perfect scrummage set piece from the blindside and the C Grade captain struck gold. Gurmanraj Singh (F2 Ja) converted the try with a perfect drop kick from the touchline to firmly put the final nail in the coffin for HKUGA. 12 - 0 was the final score and the victorious C Grade boys capped off a remarkable season by breaking their finals voodoo in fine fashion. This free-scoring C Grade team has put on over 150 points over the season against teams including S.K.H. Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, St Joseph’s College, HKUGA College, QualiEd College and La Salle College.

The road to vengeance for the B Grade Boys followed the same fate as the C Grade Boys. On May 19th, the opportunity for the Maroon & Grey to taste sweet revenge was handed on a silver platter in the All HK Rugby 7s Cup/Plate semi-final against La Salle. With the writings on the wall, the Lasallians were destined to feel the wrath of the Wolfpack. The boys played with great conviction and fluidity against their arch nemesis that failed to get out of second gear on a hot afternoon in King’s Park. With several well- engineered tries by Connor Young (F4Bo) and bulldozing runs by Axyl Clarkson (F4Ja), the Lasallians were shell shocked and struggled to cope with our match intensity. Upon the final whistle, Morgan Powell (F4Ju) swan-dived over the white line to silence the crowd and send the depleted opponent to meet their maker with an emphatic win 34 - 0.

As the All HK Rugby 7s title holder of 2017-2018, the boys entered the Cup final against YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College (港青基信書院) both anxious and excited. The boys marched onto the field, ready to wreak havoc in the absence of their defence- meister - Richy Wong (F4Ba) due to a knee operation. Both Thomas Enk (F4Ju) and Axyl Clarkson (F4Ja) filled the void of Richy and dished out numerous towering tackles to drive their attack backwards. With aggressive counter-rucking and bone crunching tackles, the boys managed to keep YHKCC at bay by half time. With the assist of Connor’s accurate kick off, the boys were able to swing the tide into their favour in the 2nd half and pinned down the opponent inside the 5 metre line. YHKCC were rattled and dished out several uncharacteristic tackling errors that led to a penalty try. As momentum began to shift, the boys sensed fear from the YHKCC camp and found a chink in the armour through pressurizing them with fast defensive line speed. Continuing with several laser-guided kick offs and grubber kicks, the boys were able to suffocate their opponent with 3 rapid tries within 5 minutes where Enk effortlessly finished off a classy team try with an aerobatic dive over the corner flag. In the end, the Maroon & Grey scored 24 unanswered points to defeat YHKCC 24 - 0 in the Cup Final and complete their title defence campaign in style.

Honorable Mentions:

C&B Grade Girls Team:

1. Natalie Smith F1Bo 2. Anna Mimi Edene F2Bo (Cap.) 3. Keira Muir F1Ca 4. Emma Wearne F1Ba 5. Sharon Chan F2De 6. Chiara Bridget De'Eb F2Ja 7. Groshong Anna May Dacuycuy F2De 8. Jeevan Dhilon F3Ju 9. Sandra Nasayau F3Ja 10. Janine Castor F3Ba 11. Rhiannon Jenkins F3Ca 12. Ameerah Khadijah Binti Ashrafswandi F3Ba

C Grade Boys Team:

1. WONG Sze Sen Danny F1Ba 2. EDENE ROY CHRISTIAN JUNIOR F1Ja 3. GALLOWAY Joshua Johnson F1Bo 4. CHURCH Leonardo John Cinco F1Ja 5. DURAN Julius F1Ja 6. PatrickEscario Carey Ashly Carey Ashly F2Ja 7. Thomas Young Liam F2Bo (Cap.) 8. Sweet Skylar Cruz F2Ja 9. Gurmanraj Singh Dhillon F2Ja 10. Richie Jenkins Rhys F2Ca 11. Girvan Mackenzie Wing F2Ju 12. Ha Ching Chak Jonathan F2Bo

B Grade Boys Team:

1. Ng Cheuk Hei Anson F3Ju 2. De’eb Thierry Georges F3Ja 3. Lau Yik Lun Brian F4Bo 4. Connor Michael Young F4Bo (Cap.) 5. Au Tsz Yiu Ivan F4Bo 6. Ng Wai Yui Regan F4Ca 7. Fong Wai Hang Alex F4De 8. Clarkson Axyl William F4Ja 9. Powell Morgan Thomas F4Ju 10. Enk Thomas William F4Ju 11. Wong Sze Nam Richy F4Ba

Photographers: Ms. Anna May Groshong & Ms. Jennifer Leung (Connor’s & Liam’sMother) C Grade Boys Rugby Coach: Mr. Elvin Tao B Grade Boys / C&B Grade Girls Rugby Coach: Mr. Daniel Chan

CSS student cheerleaders & Parents

Credit: Mr. Daniel Chan & Mr. Elvin Tao