Amidst all the recent uncertainties enveloping the team, a certain positive has emerged in the form of a Bangkok trip taking place from 3rd to 7th Jan. This is definitely a big step forward for the starlets of the team who are going to get a first taste of real varsity 15s rugby compared to the curtain raiser carnival like 7s tournament earlier in the year. For the seniors, its a testament of their hard work paying off for their incessant lobbying for the team to carry on as a priority with the school administration.

Unconfirmed reports has it that the school is planning to distribute stocks of oversized Polo Tshirts for the travelling team up to Bangkok. It was initially earmarked for the Dragon boaters who were expected to bulk up massively due to their new $40k training regime. However, after many months, the NTU Rugby boys remain the only ones in school capable of filling out the XXXL shirts. Whatever it is, a big thank you to the school.

The editors are really fortunate to catch up with a few from the travelling team to share their sentiments. Here is what they have to say;

'I am relishing the chance of sharing rooms with Salsa King as I've heard alot abt his moves, both on and off the dance floor. In Bali, we're used to pushing two single beds together, more room for maneuvure la..I did it in hall and I'm planning to do it in bangkok, then I'll be literally banging cocks!!haha" Prakarsa said with a sly smile creeping up his face.

' With me and Stormy rooming together, you can be sure the guys will be up to no monkey business in Thailand. We are the Bouncers of the trip and we'll make sure we keep everybody in check with our no nonsense attitude." Azuan said with an air of authority.

'As the captain of the team, I should be rooming with Coach Tan. But as we all know Coach Tan is married and definitely straight, I would rather take the chance and go for someone else who's more, I would say open to experiments, someone like Ah Lan Jiao. Its not everyday we get to go Bangkok and I do not wanna waste the trip. Its not always about rugby." Arjun replied, his eyes never leaving the catalogue for Thailand's famed Ladyboys.

This trip is a good chance for the NTU boys to bond in more ways than one. With 30 of them touring, it can be expected that lots of fun will result out of this. E-rugby has commited a team of roving reporters to follow this squad up to Thailand and you fans can be assured of a detailed reporting when the tour ends. Till then, prepare your pompoms for a grand farewell at Singapore Budget Terminal next wednesday.

As some of you in the circle may know, the renowned Salsa King of NTU and Singapore, Kevin Ang has abashedly proclaimed his desire to whip himself into shape, turning himself into a War machine during the holidays. Now that we are into the final week of the holidays, let us take a look at how this ex- SAJC captain, most (maybe only) famous for his fearsome C1 crashes, is squaring up under intense scrutiny by the media.

Few months back, Gaybriel was kind enough to sacrifice the stretching of his anal walls, in exchange for the gym instructor putting Kevin Ang onto the priority list of NTU's Planet Fitness. Till date, the book in/book out book has still yet to register the famed signature of our SK. Perhaps he is wary of working out in public areas, for fear of the NUS and SMU spies that are constantly around. He even sat himself in a salon and booked himself a 5-hour package for his hair to be straightened to look like Jay Chou in his latest movie.

"If I look like Zhou Jie Lun, nobody will realise i am SK!" he explained simply.

During the recently concluded Inter School Touch Rugby Championship, SK, who was leading team NBS, arrogantly predicted that with the talent of Tze the Pageant faithful, Undroppable Qing, Stormy Normy and Matchstick Hoe, it will be impossible not to win the gold. Of course, everything went according to plan, until he realised that statistically wise, he hasnt contributed anything for the team. With anxiety building up, he took on a tiny girl half his size, side stepped her and dived for the tryline. He would have gotten up and gave her the "suck it" sign but he was in too much pain having pulled his hamstring executing such an effortless move.

According to the world class doctors in Football Manager 07, a pulled hamstring requires lots of stretching and a minimum of 2 weeks of rest. Looks like SK's season is over before it even started. He is set to miss out on the South East Asian Tri-nations held from 3-7 Jan and is probably going up to BKK just to get some shopping bags and clothes to fit his Jay Chou image.

The career path of this young starlet looks suspiciously like a recent graduant from the team, Allan Ong, more fondly known as Ah Lan Jiao. He too was plagued by injuries and only managed his debut for NTU in his final season, but that is another story altogether.

If you have the love for sports or the innate desire to be a sportsman, then you should continue reading this article. My written contribution to the Nanyang Tribune is no less than a sounding call for all NTU students to fully appreciate the current plight that the NTU rugby team is undergoing. Make no mistake that this article is written with the intent of seeking undue sympathy from all sectors of the Nanyang Community but rather a well-grounded perspective of a varsity sportsman playing a game otherwise known as “the gentlemen’s game”.

Rugby is often associated with rough knocks, thumping tackles and whatever adjectives that are conveniently connoted with VIOLENCE and PAIN. Sure, we do put in the hard tackles and endure 80mins of pain (mind you, much of the pain stems from the fear of losing, if any) through every match. Every piece of action is accompanied by its rationale and that is, simply: to protect our brothers on the field. I’m not exactly your layman well-buffed, macho rugby player that struts around your resident Nanyang gym and occasionally look into my reflection to admire the veins popping out of my biceps. I’m 70 kilos of fat and meat. I’m just your average joe and in fact, I do suffer the rigors of playing rugby overtime especially when I’m not well-built enough for the game. Altruism or an excessive thirst for aggression would be a probable thought popping up on your minds right now.

My point is, NTU Rugby isn’t about whatever ill-conceived misconceptions that your hall seniors have been telling you about. Rugby manifests NTU players’ passion for sports. We love our game, to the extent that the team has set up a blog to instill a sense of communal bonding within the team or even lending a hand at teaching Inter-Hall Rugby newbies the finer pointers of this wonderful game. The game bonds players from all walks of life through every pass, kick and run that the team executes in style. Rugby has seen such a strong following in campus over the years that almost all the 16 halls in NTU were seen training intensively for the much anticipated inter-hall rugby tournament in December.

The interest in the game has garnered support from several sectors of the campus population over the years. What is surprising though is that the school department overseeing the NTU rugby team has refused to acknowledge the welfare of its players. It seems that Rugby’s current status as a non-core sport is a well-justified reason for its limited funding. From their point of view, the fact that our annual competition consists of only 3 universities has reduced the significance of the game and thus a lower priority for support. Core sports such as Dragonboating and Soccer has their prestigious tournaments, namely the PM Cup and the SR Nathan Cup. It is therefore understandable for the school to plough $20k into the development of these sports. Mindful of our less than illustrious tournament now that the age old IVP has been scrapped, NTU Rugby has been lobbying for the continued support of the SRC to provide us with basic amenities like priority of field and subsidies for jerseys and coach, only to be rejected time and again. Mind you, working with a low budget annually for the past couple of years has earned us the top 2 positions in the previous Inter-Varsity-Polytechnic tournaments ever since their inception. Over the years and currently still, the team is still adorned by many outstanding National and previous age-group players eager to do their part to bring glory to their school NTU. Why is it that time and again the players are denied the opportunity to showcase their obvious talent and establish their status as the powerhouse of the country?

The team is unfazed by the recent decision of the school authorities to withdraw totally their financial support to Rugby. Such is the character of the NTU rugby team that we will prevail and toil in the field, be it rain or shine. Our coach comes down free-of-charge for every training session to align our efforts to his strategy and to ensure that our competitive fitness is well nurtured. NTU seeks to strive as a World-class University with state of the art facilities. Everyone student pays $12.50 per annum to utilize the benefits of the Sports & Recreational Centre. The 30 NTU rugby players would be delighted to have their well-deserved $40.00 each to pay for our logistics, as has always been the case in previous years. Would the $1200 requested be too much a price to pay for success? Or is winning the PM Cup and SR Nathan cup the sole benchmarks of success for NTU? I beg to differ.