SINGAPORE – It was a disappointing afternoon for the Singapore men and women’s teams after both fell at the final hurdle in the South-east Asia Sevens finals at the National Stadium on May 3.

The men fought bravely in a close match against Causeway rivals Malaysia before falling 14-10, while the women were humbled 42-0 by Thailand.

Singapore men’s captain Charlie Teng insisted “nothing went wrong”, adding: “Losing never feels good but losing at home just makes it worse. But I always say to the boys, it’s either we win or we learn, don’t take it so hard.

“I think we just had to be disciplined to execute our game plans.”

It was an improvement for the hosts, who beat Thailand in the third-place play-off in 2023, and, when asked whether it was a positive step forward, he said: “Of course, but we don’t want to be nit-picking now.

“We’ve been training hard for the past few months, and we’re just trying to find the right combination out there.”

The Singapore men’s team conceded an early try after a defensive error and never really recovered against the Malaysians, who held the upper hand throughout despite the close score.

Malaysia vice-captain Zulhisham Rasli said: “There’s no secret formula actually, we just trained hard as a team and had focus and discipline in all areas.

“The Singapore team were a very good team, they gave us a hard time to get a try but we managed to defend their great attacks.”

Meanwhile, in a repeat of the 2023 decider when Singapore lost 22-7 to Thailand, the visitors were again comfortable winners in the final this time.

Singapore women’s captain Victoria Chew said: “The goal we had was to reach the final and play at the National Stadium. (The second final in a row) shows that we can consistently be one of the top few teams in South-east Asia, (even though) it was a very different team compared to last year.

“At least half of us are new to the SEA Sevens series, so to get to have that kind of team dynamic and still come to the final is something that the team can be proud of.”

The Singapore women’s team will next play in the Asia Rugby Series and Chew believes that their latest display will be “a building block” towards their next tournament.