In the wake of SMU's latest press release(http://www.smu-rugbynews.blogspot.com/), NTU Rugby Editorial Team managed to secure an christmas special exclusive with the rebel himself, live from Hong Kong via teleconferencing.

NTUrugbynews: Merry Xmas Rong! Hows the holidays in Hong Kong?

RebelRong: Its not a holiday for me, Im actually here training with my bros at the HKFC.

NTUrugbynews: Thats good, are you preparing for the upcoming inter university tournament?

RebelRong: HERH! what do u think? Talk to the 16" biceps!

NTUrugbynews: What do u have in response to "Who is Rong? Sherman is young, fit and hungry for his first IVP title. I have faith in Sherman. I'll put my money on him. Hell...I'll put money on myself if I am playing. I myself can't wait to don the NUS colours and play against him. Afterall, we are the future of Singapore Rugby." by ex SAFSA player - Darius Sit

RebelRong: HERH! Darius who?

NTUrugbynews: How about the hype about SMU latest sensation - the Shermanator?RebelRong: HERH! Hahahahahaaaa.....(Laughter lasted longer than we expected). What hype? what has he gotta to back himself? HERH! I represented Singapore more than he celebrated his birthday. Hahahahahaha

NTUrugbynews: So is it safe to assume that you are 100% ready for the upcoming season?RebelRong: Hahahaha Im 120kg of pure muscles now! hahahaha

Weeks of pre-season training under the vicious monsoon storm, the NTU warriors will officially kick start their pre-season preparations for the upcoming Tri-University Rugby Championship with a friendly match against St Andrew's Old Boys Association this Saturday 29 Dec 2007, at St Andrew's Village.

In what is turning to be a permanent annual friendly fixture for NTU rugby, it is the first time that the warriors are taking on the old boys instead of its current school teams. In this highly anticipated opener, NTU will be revealing its new look 15-a-side squad to the public. The squad which will be making the trip down to Potong Pasir this Saturday will include several St Andrew's very own school boy stars - Vice Captain Sidney Kumar,Captain MS Model-Ang Tze Shien and making his comeback from retirement - Daniel Potato Thiam. In addition to these players, school boy legend - Chris Dinosaur Cheng will also be directing the warriors from the sidelines as NTU's Forwards Coach.

Despite the need to start the pre season on a high, NTU Captain Ang is willing to take a gamble and try out several new signings made during the recent transfer window at mainly the loose forwards and outside backs department. "We need to let these players have a run and see what are they capable of then we can fit them perfectly into the team we need. This friendly is as important as any other friendlies that we will be having as part of our preparation for the tournament." a optimistic yet cautious statement made by the captain.

Players who will miss the trip to the village are - Adam Mat Solo Chan, Rebel Rong and Arab Hafiz

In this week's Search for Missing Players, we will highlight 2 key players who have been missing for the longest time and have yet to report back for training. They are currently unreachable by any means of communication - from facebook to Morse code.

First in line, legendary raffles school boy winger turned hooker returned winger - K.K. Kuan. Also known by his peers as KKK in short came to NTU with a illustrious history as a combined school winger in his days. Gifted with a special talent, he was converted to play at hooker in his junior college days. Last season, KKK was once again featured as a winger for NTU in the win against SMU, scoring what turned out to be the winning try in the process.

However in recent months, NTU Rugby and the media lost sight of KKK. The last we heard from him was when approached by NTU Rugby to play in the SMU ringEmail 7s tournament, he snubbed the contract offered and the reason given was that the contract did not include a driver to send him home after trainings. After several failed attempts in contacting KKK, NTU Rugby has enough support to believe that KKK has indeed gone missing. Rumours has it that a tip was made through the NTU hotline citing that KKK has been kidnapped by a certain rival university for trying to do the very same thing to one of their key members. Photographic evidence was also provided.

The second player's existence which is in doubt is none other than "Rugger who should have been a Soccer player" - Lao Ying. He has undoubtedly the biggest boot in NTU but has yet to master the art of precision kicking. Lao Ying 14 minutes of fame came when he kicked his way to the inter hall gold medal for Hall 6 last year, destroying then-powerhouse Hall 1, breaking a 6 years stronghold on the competition.

Sadly, the last time Lao Ying appeared in public was at the SMU 7s tournament in which he was denied an opportunity to kick at goal for a penalty. Since then, he too has been uncontactable. Even when the ultimate lure for players to return was casted, Lao Ying did not show up at the recent barbecue. Management strongly believed that the absence of french fries on the evening's menu may be a possible explanation. Sources has provided photographic evidence of his existence but our reporters were unable to track the player down as he is believed to be using some pretty good covers.

If any fans or members of the public spot these two players, please kindly call our hotline. All calls will be kept strictly confidential. As the search for the missing eagle and player goes on, please stay tune for the next edition of Search for Missing Players.

1700hrs, 04 December 2007, the first public team training session after the exams break was held at the NTU Rugby Training Facilities in Nanyang Avenue. Players who first arrived at the facilities went through a brief weights session with newly hired forwards coach - Dinosaur Cheng.
Following that, the players took to the field to put on a fantastic display of sharp passing and running in a game of touch for the fans and media who were present. Both ang mohs (real and fake) were looking extremely fit and were up to the tasks in both offence and defence. However, the highlight of the day was the defence capabilities of both "Dancing Indian" Mitran and "The Big Hairy Chested Arab" Hafiz in which the number of turnovers and stolen balls by them denied the opposition from having successive phases of play.

To round up a wonderful first day of training for the team, our players were push to their physical limits with 50m sprints at the end of the entire session.
A breathless Team Captain Tze said after the game, "its an awesome session, I am proud and grateful for the boys who turned up. If this is what it takes to win the championship, we will do it!"

After 3 gruelling hours of planning and discussion over some burgers, hotdogs and whiskey, NTU Rugby Team announced the new committee which will take charge of matters for the 2008 rugby season. New positions that were introduced into the existing committee are a second vice captain, and 3 Quartermasters.

Captain and his Wingmen of 2008
Captain : Ang Tze Shien (aka Catwalker) [Top right]
Vice Captain: Peter Walker (aka Fake Ang Moh) [Bottom Right]
Vice Captain: Sidney Kumar (aka Real Indian) [Bottom Left]
Quartermasters: Xin Ping (aka Hall 2's Ferguson), Nicholas Koh (aka Weeper for whiskey), Melvin ( aka needs a cardiac fibrillator at all times)

NTU Rugby would like to extend its congratulations to the new committee and wishes them all the best in leading the team in the championship race this season. NTU Rugby would also like to thank the former captains for their efforts over the past season and it was a job well done!

Catwalker Tze with his already well prepared speech after the results were announced. "This season will be a special one for us. We need to bond the team even more, train harder together, put in 101% effort for this season. I believe its time for NTU to step up and give our fans what they all have been waiting for. With the talent we have in our squad, we can win gold if every single member of the team puts in the effort."

Senior players were please with the results. Bryanboy Yik was giggling happily when Tze was announced as the captain. "I think Tze is damn awesome la, hes responsibile, handsome, and best part, we share some same perculiar interests! Hee Hee"