The MCKK Premier 7's 2013 was the third edition of the annual, invitational[1]Malay College Rugby Premier Sevens, which involved teams from Malaysia premier schools, states champions and international schools. Brunei International School and Hong Kong Sports School joined in the fray as international participant, other than Vajiravudh College of Thailand.Singapore withdrew their participation this year and is replaced by Maktab Rendah Sains Mara Kuala Terengganu[2][3][4] It was held from 22 till 24 February 2013. The defending champions, Sekolah Sukan Tengku Mahkota Ismail were shocked by their first defeat in the tournament after two undefeated editions which led to its failure of retaining the NJ Ryan Cup. However, it wrapped up this edition as Bowl champion.[5] After two editions, the host, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, finally were crowned as the new champions, defeating Sekolah Menengah Sains Hulu Selangor in Cup final with score 19–7.[6][7]
Competition format
The tournament were played as 7-a-side match in accordance with variation of International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens rules. Due to popular requests by the participating teams, the tournament format of eight groups to three have changed to six groups of four. This resulted in each team playing an additional game during the preliminary rounds which entailed the Tournament to be held over three days with six preliminary matches being played on the first day with the remainder played on the second day. Six games will played on Friday starting at 4 pm followed by 30 games on Saturday, starting from 8 am for the preliminary rounds. The teams will then be ranked and grouped into four categories - Championship, Plate, Bowl and Shield. A total of 24 matches for the knockout stages will be played on the final day of the tournament. For each match duration for all the matches will be seven minutes for each half of two with a one-minute break in between. For the finals, 10 minutes will be given for each half as well as an additional one-minute between the interval.[8]
Group stage
The group stage concluded with much surprise. The most surprising being the poor showing by two seeded teams, namely two-time defending Champions, Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail of Johor, and Cup Semifinalist Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Shaikh Hj Othman Abdul Wahab [ms] of Sarawak, which resulted in both schools missing out on the Cup Quarter-finals.
