Singapore national rugby union team
 |
|
| Union | Singapore Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Coach(es) | James Forester, Casey Mees |
| Captain(s) | Gaspar Tan |
| First international | |
 Malaysia 13–26 Singapore  (6 November 1972) |
|
| Largest win | |
Singapore 85–0 India  (26 October 1998) |
|
| Largest defeat | |
 Hong Kong 164–13 Singapore (27 October 1994) |
|
The Singapore national rugby union team represents Singapore in international rugby union. They have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, though since the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Singapore have been participating in qualification competitions.
The Singapore Cricket Club is said to have been one of the first rugby clubs in Singapore when employees from the British East India Company brought the game to Singapore.
For many years in the 1800s and early 1900s the Singapore team that played against other Malayan states was made up of expatriates who were working in Singapore and army servicemen based in Singapore at the time. With such a large core of servicemen making the "national team" of the time, a Singapore "Civillians XV" also played many games representing the island state.
Up to the 1960s, this representation of Singapore Civilians represented the national team that competed in the annual Malaya Cup competition that saw states from around Malaya (now Malaysia). This was for the forerunner to the modern day Agong Cup that is currently organised by the Malaysian Rugby Union. This side was made up predominantly of expatriates from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
In 1969, How Wai Chew and Leow Kim Liat, who were both at the time just out of school, were selected into the Singapore Civilians, making them the first local-born players to play for Singapore at any level.
This same day also saw the birth of the Under-23 national team when it played against Malaysia in the Anchor Cup curtain raiser match to the England game. The Under-23 team was made up of all national local boys from the Armed forces, Police force, local clubs and schools.
Singapore participated in the 1975 SEAP (South East Asian Peninsular Games). However, Singapore lost to both Thailand and Malaysia and emerged 3rd with a bronze medal.
In 1977 Singapore took part in the SEAP Games held in Malaysia. Singapore beat their 1975 performance by winning the silver medal after beating hosts Malaysia, but losing to Thailand in a rain sodden finals match.
In 1978, Singapore rugby achieved its best ever performance in their history annals under coach Natahar Bava. Singapore won a historic MRU Cup victory in the annual MRU (M'sian Rugby Union) tournament after 44 years of participation under the label of Singapore Civilians. The Singapore team beat the RNZIR (Royal New Zealand Infantry Battalion). Later that same year Singapore took part in the 6th Asian Rugby tournament held in Kuala Lumpur. They emerged with their best ever result to this day with a 3rd-place finish behind powerhouses, Japan and South Korea when they beat Thailand in a 16-15 3rd placing game.
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Wikipedia