Friends Of STAR

2010 NATIONAL PREMIER SCHOOLS RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Venue: Padang A, Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahan, Ipoh

Date: July 29, 2010

Teams: Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman vs. Maktab Sabah

STAR rugby over the past few decades has admittedly been lackluster and without much to show for. Nary a championship of any significance, or a legendary game that gained the acclaim of many. Sure there have been shouts to fame and what comes to mind is Tamunif's Staroba Orange that terrorized the National Inter-Club tournaments, albeit with a sprinkling of true blue Starians and a mainstay of "other" old boys and the occasional state inter-school championship, but all in all, STAR has a rather barren rugby trophy cabinet. A scrutiny of the records would mean having to go back as far as 1975 when STAR won the MSSM National Inter-School Championships, or to 1981 when STAR U-15 won the Datuk Dr. Sulaiman Daud 10-a-side Championship.

For an institution that outwardly labels itself a rugby school, such an incongruity is unbecoming and a glaring anomaly. Is it because the spirit and legacy of Kok Kee Chai is no more? Or has striving towards academic grades displaced the importance of a balanced education that includes the personnel excellence and character building of a successful sports program. Today, that imbalance has been righted and the stars are all back in alignment.

Today, I bore witness, to a phalanx of STAR boys lining up the length of the Padang in their glorious whites. Cheering their mates hoarse, in a cacophony of anthems that resonated across the field. For those that remember the large expanse of the school greens, the pavilion where many of our sporting exploits was celebrated, the smell of STAR's sacred grass, all colluding towards whatever memories that would jog us back to the yesteryears of our school life, it was a scene that would surely raise the heckles on the nape of many of an old boy's neck on end.

The final of the Premier Schools Rugby tournament between STAR and Sabah College was played under a glorious morning sun and a beautiful blue horizon. The fields were soggy from the night's rain and as Pet and I made our way to the team tent on the opposite side of the pavilion the nostalgia of it all pervaded my senses. The game had just commenced and on the sidelines were brother old boy's from across the years. The man himself was also present. Mr. Kok Kee Chai , my rugby master. The one who taught me the game, the one who instilled in me the love of the game. I have always had a tight tense feel to any STAR game, and today was no different.

The pattern of play in the early quarter mimicked tennis rather than rugby, with both sides returning lob kicks to one another. One could not help but feel anxious everytime a Sabahan's arcing kick flew into STAR territory, but when each kick was caught cleanly and booted with even greater assertiveness by STAR's backs, my anxiety waned and I began to feel confident. Such confidence was soon shattered when STAR's hooker was sin binned for retaliating. My anxiety returned and such was the see-saw feeling between a growing and an abating confidence that I had throughout the game.

The STAR coaches, Nahar Badak and Cikgu Azhar, were wearied with the kicking style of play and shouted orders to run the ball and sure enough a try was soon scored from a ruck in the centre off the field. The ball was played through the hands of the back line for the open-side winger to evade a couple of touch line tackles and score near the corner flag. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the tempo of the game had been set.

The Sabhan's were unfazed and took the play back to STAR and they soon scored a reposte. After a scrappy melee within five meters of the STAR touchline a clearance kick by the STAR stand-off was attempted but was charged down by a Maktab Sabah player. It knocked forward straight into the hands of a team mate who proceeded to score a try right under the post. Many on the sidelines were shouting forward-pass, not realizing that a charge down does not constitute an illegal pass forward. With the easy conversion, the score stood at five points to seven in favour of the East Malaysians.

Five minutes before the end of the first-half, STAR scored a similar try to its first, with the right-winger able to touch closer to the posts. The conversion was successful and STAR led twelve points to seven, which stood right up to half-time.

It was then at the break, that I really understood the value of a good coach. It was then when our anthem "Rouse Up" made any real meaning. With the boys huddled around him, Nahar laid bare the souls of the players, he extolled the need to keep an even composure, and he promised that to the winners would go the spoils. It was Nahar's rouse up that made my hair stand on end for the second time today. It was full of passion and laced with emotion. For those that were not there to witness the spectacle, check out Al Pacino's "Inch-By-Inch" soliloquy on YouTube, to get a sense of the occasion.

The opposing coach must have been equally compelling, for they too started the second half with much vigour. The Sabahan's game-plan also markedly changed to a forward dominated play. It was all pick-up and drive, pick-up and drive that left STAR haphazard allowing Sabah to score their second try after about nine phases of play, crashing through the touch line defense. For me, it was a classic display of forward play and was the try of the match. However, the try was not converted and that brought things to a head with the score level at twelve all.

By then, I was on the edge of my seat. The tension was palpable around me and as play was camped in STAR's half of the field, all were ruminating each missed tackle as the Sabhan's foraged for another try.

Today, I lay testimony, to the tenacity and steadfastness of STAR rugby team. Each player valiant under pressure, and stout in defense. All stood strong and from the depths of STAR's twenty two, the winning move started. From a loose play, the ball was again passed through the backs with the left-winger advancing the ball past the halfway line before being summarily tackled. From the ensuing ruck on the left side of the field, the forwards picked-up and drove to about the opponent twenty two and from the platform the ball was passed out to the backs. With ball in hand, the STAR back opted not to pass and made a diagonal beeline for the right flag. Close to the the touch line, a Sabah defender took the player out with a neck-wringing tackle that was deemed illegal and a penalty-try was awarded. Whoops of joy reverberated around the field, as any many old boys and current boys alike, jumped around like a mad hatter.

But all was not over as the Sabahan's mounted a last minute fight back. The action was all within five meters of STAR's touchline before the referee blew the final whistle signaling STAR's victory over the boys from the Land Beneath the Winds.

Today, I quivered in a shared moment with all those around me. Nahar, my batch mate from 1987, our team prop then and whose ass, because I was a wing forward, I had to shoulder in many a scrum, and who today was the team coach, stood misty eyed as the players surrounded him in embrace. He may deny it, but I saw him remove his glasses to rub his eyes. Tears of joy no doubt.

My first reaction was to walk up to Tamunif, pat him on the back and shake his hand. All I had to say to him was that today's achievement was a culmination of his efforts. It is my conviction that if we did not have people with the same selfless benevolence and the actual determination to do the doing, STAR rugby would not have attained such success. He has done much and sacrificed more, expecting nothing other than the success of the school in return.

There are others too. Coach Azhar, who is responsible for molding the team since last year, a person who brings a wealth of experience as an accomplished player himself. He has a big claim on the victory and his players need to acknowledge that.

I was there today, when the rugby team stood in a victory line, with the captain front and centre. Lined behind them, all their schoolmates, a uniform of a solid white background. We stood facing them and with our voices in unison, "Rouse Up" was rendered. Our anthem. Our victory anthem.</p>

Khairul Shahrin Khalid, Wing Forward, Batch 1987