SAS IASAS report
By David Dickson Photos by Anthony Selley
In a repeat of last year’s IASAS final, SAS played JIS for the coveted Rugby gold medal. It was expected to be a fascinating game of rugby. The JIS team was formidable and had steam-rolled the opposition using their massive size and weight. SAS had won their round robin games, but in nowhere near a convincing manner as JIS; both team had come to the final undefeated, having played a 12-12 draw in their pool match. The game started at a fast pace with the huge JIS team attempting to beat the smaller and faster SAS team with brute force. SAS literally tackled everything that JIS threw at them, with the SAS team attempting to play a fast open game. JIS scored first, and SAS replied with Max Shaulis scoring after a blistering 40-metre run up the right sideline to equal the score 5-5, when the teams went to half time. Shortly after the break the JIS scored a converted try, the score now 5-12. Once again SAS came back at JIS forcing an error as the JIS backline
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SAS NewsFlash – March 2010
dropped the ball. Andrew Milne, who had tackled everything in sight, showed he could also score tries, swooping onto the loose ball to sprint to the try line and score. The score was 10-12 and was anybody’s game. JIS went on the offensive and kept SAS pinned into their own half with SAS defending grimly. Eventually, the relentless pressure of JIS caused SAS’s defence to break. JIS scored twice in the last three minutes to give a final score of 10-24 – a score that was not at all indicative of just how close the game had been. Throughout the tournament, the captain, Austin Cox, led from the front. The vice captains - Harry Fischer, Max Shaulis, Connor Murray and Brandon Lay (who played every minute of every game)- also led by example. Seniors James Bowers, Ed Sperling, Dylan Howell, Todd Shell and Nico Daily gave everything they had --and then found something extra. Sophomores Ciarin Ross, Stephen Nowak, Scott Rozen-Levy, Will Pazos and Andrew Milne, showed that they were ready to not only step up to Varsity but to show
they were capable at IASAS and played with heart and maturity. The All-IASAS players were Max Shaulis, Austin Cox and Harry Fischer. Max Shaulis had topped the scoring at IASAS two years running. Congratulations must go to the entire Varsity team, not just the IASAS players. SAS had a very successful season, not only finishing with the silver medal at IASAS, but also receiving silver medals at the Singapore International 7s and the Centaurs U18 10s. Thanks must go to Mimi Molchan, Tomo Tanabe, all the parents who supported the rugby team throughout the season, and a special thanks to the lady Eagles touch team and the tennis players who came along to cheer at Jakarta! At the second season awards night, Max Shaulis was named MVP, Connor Murray received the Coaches’ Award and Andrew Milne was named as captain of varsity rugby for 2010-2011.