Jayne Chan has been representing the Singapore national 7s teams since 2017 and has won silver and bronze SEA Games medals, possibly the first Singaporean woman to play at the Dubai 7s, and in 2026 had a trial with the NRLW. We talked about her rugby origins and her rugby goals for the next few years.
Jayne Chan – Rugby Origin Story
Jayne’s introduction to rugby is one that is common in Asia, especially for women, with a relatively late introduction to the sport after transitioning from another contact sport.
“Before I started rugby, I was playing basketball for school and for the Singapore national age-grade teams. I had played in the U16 and U18 age groups, but then, when I got injured on my right knee, I didn’t make it to the women’s senior team.
I had a lot of free time on my hands, and one of my friends, Amanda, who was at my school, Singapore Polytechnic, asked me to give rugby a shot in January 2017. That’s the first time I picked up the rugby ball, and I think I got quite lucky that the skill sets from basketball paired really well with rugby, the stepping, acceleration, finding space, and the contact.
I was fast-tracked into a lot of the systems, and that year I debuted in the SEA Games as well, in August 2017 in Malaysia. I was in the squad by early May or the end of April – so it definitely took me by surprise. My former national coach saw something in me that I didn’t, and she was the one who really gave me all the opportunities for me to find myself as a rugby player.
Was she aware of rugby before she gave it a go, and what about it appealed to her?
“I didn’t know about rugby before Amanda introduced it to me, and I didn’t know that we had female rugby teams.
I think I’ve always liked contact sports, and I’ve always been aggressive, even on the basketball court. I could take contact, and I never really shied away from that. But also because I’m small, when you’re playing basketball, you kind of have to milk the calls, but it was often me who always ended up on the floor.
I really liked how aggressive rugby is when I first went in. I think in the community, the camaraderie that the rugby girls had was definitely a big part of why I stayed in the game as well. I think all the seniors back then at the club kept me going, and I think it really has to do with the people around me who really made me stay.”
Like so many we have spoken to in Singapore, Jayne played and plays with BAC Bears, which broke away from Black Rugby Club. “The older and senior girls created our own club, but it’s pretty much just the same girls who were at Blacks that came over to BAC.”
Representing Singapore in Rugby 7s
We asked Jayne what tournaments and memories have stood out for her in her nine years of representing her country so far.
“One that really stings still is the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. We didn’t podium that year. A lot of us who played in the 2019 SEA Games still feel the ache that came from that. There was no one to blame – the teams were all good, and everyone’s evolving every year. I think it was just on us that we didn’t perform the way that we wanted to, and I still remember to this day, after day one, the last game against Indonesia, and we lost!
I remember coming off the pitch, and please excuse my language, thinking to myself, “Did we just fu$%ing lose to Indonesia?” I still remember clearly the day when that happened. That carried over to day two. I don’t think any of the girls who played in SEA Games 2019 have rewatched the games from that tournament – it was that traumatic? That was definitely one of the biggest losses over the last nine years, and I still feel it after all this time.
One moment that really was a true testament of Singapore rugby, or Singapore women’s rugby, was in 2022 when we played the Asian Rugby Trophy Sevens event, because we were relegated before COVID, and we had to win the tournament to try to get back to the main series.
Those of us who stayed on from pre-COVID knew what it meant to bring us back into the Asia Rugby Sevens Series. We played the UAE in the semi-finals, which went into overtime – one of my teammates scored a try to level the game, but I missed the conversion. Thank God, our girls managed to pull that through. It still blows my mind.
And then in the finals, we played against India. We took a couple of minutes to find our footing, and I got a yellow card. What happened was funny. I went in for a tackle, but the ball hit my hand, and then they thought it was an interception, and I was shown the yellow. My teammates worked extra hard for me, but we won that year alongside the men’s team. So in 2023, we were finally back up there with the men in the main Series.
I think that was a true testament of Singapore rugby, and I think that was a big achievement for us girls, and we do realise what it takes to stay in the Series. Last year, it was expanded from 8 to 12 teams.”
More recently, in December 2025, Jayne and her teammates won bronze at the SEA Games in Thailand, and the next two editions will be hosted in Malaysia in 2027 and in Singapore in 2029. She had a great tournament in 2025, as did the veteran player Sam Teo, who scored a hat-trick in the bronze match.
“Sam (Teo) was on fire. I don’t know where that came from, but I think knowing Sam and having seen Sam play over the years, I mean, she debuted in 2009, so it’s been a long time. She isone of our seasoned players, a smart player, one of the hardest-working players out there. She sees things that some people don’t even see. So it was so well deserved that final; she just saw all the gaps that she could exploit, and she just went amazing.”
Growth of Singapore Rugby
Singapore doesn’t have girls rugby at schools, but there is a healthy and competitive boys school rugby scene. At the club level, there are four regular women’s clubs, but the pool of players is small.
We asked Jayne where she would like to see things going for Singapore Rugby and the biggest opportunities in terms of growing the game.
“Because we dont have girls’ rugby in school systems like the boys, I feel like the target age group should be around 18 to 23. That’s where we should be picking up girls a little bit more. If they start earlier, fantastic, because there are clubs out there that have that age group to train under, and there are U16, U18, and U20 leagues and competitions.
Our local Singapore age group would definitely be around 18 to 23 because at a younger age, it’s mostly expat kids playing rugby. There are only a handful of local Singaporean kids that I coach and I see around, but there aren’t that many.
I’m not too sure if it’s because of Asian culture that rugby is not seen as a girls’ sport, but hopefully, with how this sport is growing, and it is getting more attention and known that girls can do it too. Every sport has its own risk, right? And this may or may not be riskier. It’s also up to the coaches to prep all their players for games, tournaments, and anything that comes their way. But in the local scene, I know that SRU is trying to get itself involved in schools, especially the local government schools, but it’s a lot trickier with contact sports.
“I also understand that not everyone is on board with contact for girls at a younger age, because everyone’s still growing. I think they have been slowly trying to inject the idea of rugby or tag rugby, flag rugby as well, and 3v2 into the local scene, which hopefully does bring a bit more interest to some of the local girls to pick up rugby or find out a little bit more, because all the young girls are now on social media. All the clubs are also on social media. So they could very easily find us and reach out to any of the clubs if they really do want to get themselves involved.
It’s still a growing sport; we still have only maybe 200 to 300 girls in Singapore who are actually playing. So our pool is really, really, really small, but the struggle is still the stigma of girls playing rugby. I think that’s true across most Asian countries.”
Jayne Chan – Rugby Coach
Jayne mentioned she coaches the sport too, and she does so at the Singapore Irish club.
“I’ve been with them since 2020, and I grew up with a lot of these kids, like they were seven, eight years old when I first started coaching them. As much as I grew with them, they also grew up with me, and we have a good relationship on and off the field, where they trust me and I trust them in the things that we are doing, the systems etc.
I’m not the kind of coach or person to fault mistakes – it’s all about the effort, because at this age group, it is so easy to just give up, right? But for them, my one thing is that they cannot cut corners. You can slow down if you need, but you’re putting in the effort. You should never be cutting corners. This group has known me for like six years, and previously, when I had an ACL injury and was recovering, I coached a lot more that year, all the games every weekend, I just pretty much involved myself in coaching.
It definitely expanded my view on the game as well, because I needed to be the one analysing things. So I watched a little bit more rugby, and watched more Sevens, and I actually realised, oh, things are actually changing within the game. That it helped me implement things into my coaching, and then it also helped me as a player to see things from a bigger point of view.
Sometimes when we are playing, we kind of rely on our coaches to lay out the bigger picture for us, and I had the opportunity to do that. So it definitely helped a big amount when I was ready to come back on the field to play. It expanded my coaching side of things, and it also expanded my playing side. I would say, if anyone’s playing, try coaching.”
NRWL Trials & Rugby Goals
As far as we know, Jaybe is the first Singaporean to trial for the NRLW (Rugby League) in Australia. When we spoke with her, she was ‘down under’, and she explained how the opportunity came about and her goals as a player.
“Last year, after the SEA Games, I had a little self-reflection, and I was wondering if there were any international opportunities for me to pursue. Usually, people do that when they’re in their early 20s, and I’m no longer in my early 20s. I was just wondering, after my comeback from injury, and that I’m kind of at my peak, “where can I expand this with opportunities?’
One of my friends, Tom Chamberlain, told me that Women’s Rugby League was going to be starting up in Singapore, so I registered my interest in that. The coach reached out about building the base for that, and I was interested in expanding into Rugby League. I’ve watched the sport, I’ve just never played it. He had seen my videos, and he had seen me play, and he felt that I had potential. He made some calls, and I had the opportunity to come to Australia.”
Jayne attended the NRLW trial with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Women at Cronulla High School in March 2026.
She explained, “They helped me get in based on some videos they sent of me from the Asia Rugby Sevens Series and also the SEA Games. I heard the trials were only by invitation. So everyone had to send in their reels, and there were over 100 applicants, and around 30-33 players were invited.
I was playing against seasoned NRLW players, and I was just trying my best to, I wouldn’t say fit in, but not disrupt the game, and learn as I go, and just soak up whatever anyone was saying to better understand the game. I don’t understand all the rules, and with it being a trial, everyone wanted to showcase what they had.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get that many attacking opportunities in the first half, but I knew in the second half, my defence had to be on point, that no one was gonna get past me, because if I’m not gonna get the ball, I’d better show it in another way. I thought it went pretty well. I tackled some big girls. I wouldn’t say I folded them, but I definitely tackled some big girls.
It was a really good experience for me to know where the level is, and I can start building a little bit more. As much as playing Rugby League is still on the books, rugby is still my, well, not my first love, because basketball was my first love, but rugby union is definitely still in the picture.”
Jayne is looking to compete at the upcoming Borneo Sevens in March and is hopeful of securing a spot at the HKFC 10s with a team in April.
“I want to keep myself involved in the rugby union side of things, as well as trying to pursue things on the League side and see where it goes. This year and next year would be the time for me to give that a shot. I think I would beat myself up if I don’t try, because if it doesn’t go anywhere, then that’s fine. At least I know I put my best foot forward.”
There is also the Asian Games this year in Japan, which she is keeping an open mind about if Singapore attends and if she is selected.
What’s The Message You Would Send To Any Young Girls Or Boys Who Have Not Yet Played Rugby?
“For me, I want to expand my international opportunities, so I really would just see how things go. I just want to see what’s out there. I think I also need to look at the timeline and what I want to aim for right now.
But for anyone reading or watching this, that means they’re curious about rugby. So I would suggest they should try it out. Younger kids are still exploring different sports, and it’s always good to try different sports, because every team sport, every individual sport, brings another side out of you.
Rugby is one sport that brings out….. I can’t even explain it in words …it brings out something in you that you never knew existed. I don’t know who I was before I played rugby anymore. So give it a shot, because you never know who you will meet. Rugby events are among the best events you can ever attend. Playing rugby means you and your teammates grow through blood, sweat and tears every training, every game, it’s something that you can’t get anywhere else.
And the friendships you build, the friendships you build at home and across the world, or whoever you’re playing against, is something that is such a blessing, and nothing can replace that. You never try. You never know. And who knows, this might be the one thing that changes your life?”
All photos supplied by Jayne Chan.
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