Singapore scored a last minute try for the second match in succession at the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division I tournament at Tainan Rugby Park, this time to beat hosts Chinese Taipei 23-22 on Thursday.
Less than 48 hours after John Forrester's conversion secured a 20-20 draw with Sri Lanka in the opening match of the round robin tournament, Singapore once again came from behind at the death to this time celebrate victory.
Chinese Taipei had been leading 22-16 following Chang Wei-Chang's drop goal, but Singapore rallied to drive the ball down field for hooker Gaspar Tan to dive over the line, cutting the deficit to a single point with the conversion to come.
This time, though, Forrester would not be the hero for his side as the fly half - Singapore's first choice kicker - was in the sin bin. Instead it fell to centre Mohammed Ismail, who calmly slotted his kick between the posts to seal the victory.
Dream start for Chinese Taipei
Singapore had initially looked as though they were still feeling the effects of their heroics in coming from 10 points down against Sri Lanka as Chinese Taipei delighted the home crowd by scoring from the kick off through veteran centre Wu Chih-Chien.
They did gradually begin to increase the pressure on Chinese Taipei, but were restricted to two penalties before reverting back to their plan against Sri Lanka and looking to their forwards to wear down the opposing defence reaped rewards.
Some good work by the back row of Ben Wheeler, Andrew Bennett and Rong Jing Xiang ultimately led to a try for full back Gareth Pritchard, which Forrester converted to make it 13-5 in Singapore's favour.
Their lead at half time, though, would be just a point after Chinese Taipei's backline finally found some space in the Singaporean defence, Wang Jen-Hsi beautifully wrong-footing the opposition to send wing Wang Kuo-Feng over for a try under the posts.
Chinese Taipei made the better start to the second half, increasing their lead when Wang chased down an up and under that went unclaimed by Pritchard, the centre picking up the loose ball to coast over the try line untouched.
Fingers crossed for Singapore
Forrester clawed Singapore back to 19-16 with a penalty but then was sin-binned in the 34th minute - followed two minutes later by the host's hooker Chiu Po-Chih - before Chang edged Chinese Taipei into a six-point lead with his drop goal.
There was to be no home win for Chinese Taipei to celebrate though and it is instead Singapore that sits atop the standings with eight points from their two matches with Sri Lanka second on three points and the hosts bottom with their losing bonus point.
Singapore will now have to watch from the stands on Saturday, crossing their fingers that the Sri Lanka-Chinese Taipei match ends in a draw or a victory for the hosts as this will then see them crowned Division I champions.
The title, though, is not the only prize at stake because the Division I winners will also be promoted to the Top Five in 2009 to replace the relegated Arabian Gulf and come face to face with defending champions Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Kazakhstan.
