Singapore CC 50th International Rugby 7s Tournament
1997

Results

Day 1

Day 2

Team

Squad: Nick Penny (Watsonians, Edinburgh, Scotland 7s - Captain), Dominic Byrne (Manly, AIS U21), Mark Challander (Sydney University), Neil Crooks (Gala, Scotland 7s), Michael Griffin (Sydney University, AIS U21), Nick Humphries (Manly), Chris Malone (Manly, AIS U21, Australia U21), Tim O’Brien (Manly, AIS U21), John Slater (Manly AIS U21, Australia U21), Nick Timmins (Manly)

Officials: Tony Mason (Chairman), Alan Wright (Hon. Secretary), Bill Calcraft (Coach), Tony Jarman (Hon. PR/Press Secretary)

Memories of the tour by team captain Nick Penny

• Meeting a great bunch of Aussies including a very young Chris Malone and a great bloke called Nick Humphries - the Penguins seemed to have most of the Aussie U21 team, which I was delighted about - a real bunch of mongrels;
• Meeting Bill Calcraft for the first time and realising that the Penguins was more than just 3 old, very enthusiastic posh boys (Mason, Wright and Jarman);
• Sweating more than I ever had and then being presented with the heaviest cotton rugby jersey possible!
• Tough games throughout but taking great pleasure in beating both Loughborough and Cambridge (albeit the latter on try count);
• A hard fought semi final against Petone and ultimately a comfortable win in the final against Palmyra - we went out with the foot to the floor in the first half and they were burst by half time;
• Being taken by the club for a real posh dinner after day 1 - the temptation to drink too much was too much for some!
• Celebrations Penguin style afterwards;
• Flight home the following day after attending the Aussie Legends Kangaroo Court and making the fatal mistake of calling the Green and Gold Jersey the Green and Yellow jersey - queue me getting destroyed by a group of boys including Mark Ella!
• A long flight home sitting between Tony Mason and Alan Wright - both produced enough CO2 to merit their own carbon footprint! I did find it fascinating and found both to be amazingly interesting, generous, funny and more enthusiastic about what rugby should be about than anyone I had met.

Photos