A LEADER ON AND OUT IN THE FIELD

"You've got to get your first tackle in early, even if it's late," said Welshman Ray Gravell of rugby.

Of the extensive collection of rugby one-liners in the world, this is probably one of the most entertaining, and yes, bare-to-the-bone and truthful ones.

While it may come as a surprise to the less well-informed, rugby in its earliest form actually spawned from a game of soccer. Back in the 1800s, during a game of soccer at a school in England, teenager William Webb Ellis flagrantly disregarded the rules, picked up the ball and ran with it. After his audacious display, it became exceedingly obvious to William's classmates that there lay a thrill outside of 22 ruffians chasing a soccer ball. It was so much of an epidemic that the whole school adopted the new rules and word quickly spread.

Thus, a new game was born, where 30 ruffians chase after an oval-shaped ball. The game was named after the school where it all began, which was in turn named after the town it was in: Rugby.

3rd Sergeant (3SG) Aaron Teo Yu Ming of 30th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers, has been one of those "ruffians" chasing after the rugby ball since he was 13 years old. He has been playing the sport for about seven years now. Part of the once indomitable Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) rugby team, the Operations Sergeant went on to play for Raffles Junior College and is now a cornerstone of the SAFSA rugby team.

Curiously, 3SG Teo's relationship with rugby began much the same way as it did for William. He explained: "Initially, I was in the soccer team, but that didn t work out. After that, I moved on to rugby and have been in love with the sport ever since."

He added: "It's an adrenaline rush every time I step onto the pitch. I love the physicality; I m a pretty big guy by local standards so playing rugby does actually work in my favour sometimes." At 182cm and 95kg at his peak, very few people would dispute that matter-of-fact statement.

While he may not look it, 3SG Teo was signed up for the physical training phase (PTP) at the start of his Full-time National Service. "I enlisted with the PTP batch and truth be told, I am glad for it. The longer training has toughened me both mentally and physically and now whenever I get on the pitch I feel I am better for it," he said.

"Leadership in the Army is similar to leadership on the rugby field. You have to be vocal and motivating and be an example to others as well," enthused 3SG Teo.

"At the end of the day, what matters is giving it your all and knowing that you put in 110 percent of effort. That is what the Singapore Armed Forces has given me and that is what I do every time I step onto the rugby field."