The finals of the Hong Kong C Grade Rugby 7's were held at Happy Valley Sports Ground on 16 April 2016. Congratulations to our C grade rugby team in their first competitive season. We entered the inter-schools rugby 7 competition for the first time and broke through to the final 8 teams
At the knockout event on Saturday, we won against the Hong Kong University Graduates Association College (HKUGA), then defeated St Joseph's College at the semi-finals. The championship final was between CSS and La Salle College, and our much smaller squad played their hearts out to tie the game at 12 - 12. Unfortunately for us, the rule when a tie is reached after extra time is that the team to score the first try (in this case LSC) wins the match.
Fielding the first rugby team to represent Creative Secondary School, the team were eager to make a big impact. This is how it went down.
Game #1 - Cup/Plate Knockout: CSS vs HKUGA
Score: 33 - 5
Game #2 - Cup Semi Final: CSS vs St. Josephs
Score 12 - 0
Game #3 - Cup Final: CSS vs La Salle
Kick-off. After a period of strong possession from CSS, La Salle capitalised on a loose pass to open the scoring with a long-range try and a conversion, 7 - 0 LSC. CSS answered immediately with an excellent line break through Mueez Gafoor, with an offload on the try line to Aidan Lam in support. Conversion by Aidan Lam to equal the game at 7 - 7.
Creative wins early possession and frustrates LSC through slick passing and recycling the ball exposing gaps in the defense, Aidan Lam makes a break around the outside and dots down under the posts, conversion missed, score 12 - 7 to CSS. Half-time.
Possession goes back and forth. The ball is turned over a number of times with errors on both sides. Creative looks to be in control at times but fails to finish some strong opportunities. In the final play of the game, a late penalty sends CSS back 10 meters and a LSC speedster goes around the CSS defense to score in the corner, conversion missed 12 -12. The game goes into over time. Five minutes to decide the outcome. Both teams are anxious not to turn over the ball with errors but the pressure of a final sees the CSS boys pinged for some uncharacteristic handling errors and a late offside. Neither team is able to break through the other's defense line and the clock ticks over to full time. Final score 12 -12
Competition rule states that the scorer of the first try of the game will be the winner in the case of a draw after extra time. A hollow victory is awarded to LSC.
Beaten only by the rulebook, the boys can be immensely proud of themselves and how they played during the whole competition. They have burst onto the school rugby scene, turned heads and put Creative Secondary School firmly on the rugby map in Hong Kong.
Congratulations to:
Karan Singh (captain)
Richy Wong (vice-cap)William Smith Aidan Lam Owen Aidan Lam Owen Owen Werne Samuel Shore Mueez Ghafoor Connor Young Axyl Clarkson Zan Chin Anirudh Sathish Morgan Powell An excellent first season and we are truly on the map. Well done students and a big thank you to Mr Barnaby for coaching our boys.
