The first Unions Cup 2024, which was contested by Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand, came to a close over the weekend with a surprise defeat of the hosts Singapore by Chinese Taipei, but Singapore were crowned champions based on superior points difference after all three national Men’s XV sides won and lost a game a piece.
Photo Credit: Singapore Rugby Union
The Friday night 5 July 2024 final Unions Cup 2024 match saw a closely fought contest with a nervy last ten minutes seeing Chinese Taipei upset the odds after they had lost to Thailand mid-week. The tournament was Chinese Taipei’s first international rugby in five years when they lost 72-17 to Sri Lanka and the first for Singapore since they were beaten 29-21 by the Philippines in Taipei in June 2019.
Historically, Chinese Taipei led the head-t0-head record over Singapore 7-5 coming into the match, but the hosts had beaten the Thais in the opening round. Thailand had actually led the head-to-head over Singapore too with 11-7 wins and two draws – but the last time they played was in 2019 in Bangkok and Singapore had won 43-17 which was their sixth win in a row over Thailand.
When Singapore last played Chinese Taipei (also in 2019), Singapore also claimed the win (and had beaten Chinese Taipei in 5 of the last 6 match-ups).
With the levels of the teams being pretty close in the Unions Cup, it meant each game was enthralling and made for some exciting rugby at Jurong West Stadium, especially compared to some of the mismatches in the divisional rugby we see from Asia Rugby every year.
In 2025, the Philippines will join the Unions Cup and add another dimension to the tournament, we are unsure if the same round-robin format will stay in place.
Ultimately this has been a great idea for a regular tournament from the unions involved and we hope it expands to include women’s rugby in the future (and even age-grade rugby?). The Unions Cup was the first annual regional tournament for the Singapore side since the annual Malaysia Rugby Union Cup in the 1970s and 80s.
Singapore Rugby Union GM Sidney Kumar said online, “The week-long inaugural Unions Cup comes to a close. It was definitely an experience having to host 2 other participating unions at home and deliver 3 quality test matches. The team at Singapore Rugby Union was challenged to put on a show both on and off the field and I think we largely delivered. As always, we will learn and improve and get better.”
- Singapore won the Unions Cup due to a superior points difference of +19.
- Chinese Taipei points difference of -3
- Thailand points difference of -16
According to reports in Singapore, the national team will play 56th-ranked Malaysia in September 2024 for the “Causeway Challenge”.
