They’ve conquered the Olympics, lifted World Cups, and faced down some of the fiercest competition in the rugby world.
Yet on a humid afternoon at The Kallang, Nathan Hirayama, Ruby Tui, and Jerry Tuwai found themselves grappling with something entirely different: pickleball paddles.
Image courtesy of The Kallang Group
“Oh, for sure,” Hirayama blurts out without hesitation when MS News asks the trio if the sport responsible for the familiar “tok, tok, tok” sounds echoing across Singapore is harder than crashing into bodies at full speed for a living.
This is the former Canada Sevens captain we’re talking about, by the way. And the man who once led his team to victory at the 2017 HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens on this very turf.
Olympic gold medallist Tui, of New Zealand’s Black Ferns, concurs. “Anything with a racket?” she says, half-laughing, half-sighing. “Oh, man.”
Image courtesy of The Kallang Group
Fortunately for them, they’re not just here to dabble in pickleball.
Hirayama, Tui, and Tuwai are in Singapore as ambassadors for HSBC SVNS Singapore 2026, taking on a packed few days of community-focused engagements around the tournament.
We’re chatting with them on a quiet Friday morning (30 Jan) at the “Beach Club”, a laidback, seaside-style rest area set up right next to the pitch at the National Stadium, which, by the way, is open to all HSBC SVNS ticket-holders.
While the main action unfolds on 31 Jan and 1 Feb, bringing together the world’s top men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams from powerhouses like New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and France, the trio’s time in the Lion City stretches well beyond the stands.
During their visit, they’ve been meeting fans and leading youth-focused coaching clinics, moments that have proven just as memorable for them as they were for the kids taking part.
For Tuwai, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and former Fiji Sevens captain, one interaction stood out.
“Yesterday during a coaching clinic, this kid kept shouting, ‘Jerry! Watch me, watch me!'” he recalls with a grin. “It felt like Fiji. I saw myself in that kid. I was that kid.”
Source: @dragonsrugbyclub on Instagram
Hirayama says the scale of youth participation in Singapore still catches him off guard.
“I’m blown away by the number of kids playing rugby here,” he says. “It’s not like that back home [in Canada]. There just seem to be so many programmes, and the turnout is always huge.”
Tui, meanwhile, has noticed how closely — and respectfully — Singapore fans follow the sport. “They follow so passionately, but they’re also really polite,” she says. “It honestly feels like coming back to see friends.”
One common question visiting athletes and performers get here is how they cope with the heat, something Singaporeans are famously quick to complain about.
But for Tui, Hirayama, and Tuwai, it’s not even a concern. In fact, they love it.
“Can you imagine playing rugby in the snow? I’ve done that. It’s not nice,” Tui winces, while Hirayama agrees it beats taking the field in “freezing” Canada.
That’s not to say the heat isn’t intense. Some venues, she admits, can feel “like playing in an oven”, but that challenge is part of the appeal. “If you can get through the heat, you can get through just about anything.”
Tuwai, unsurprisingly, feels right at home. “I love it because it’s just like Fiji,” he grins.
Of course, it helps that the facilities at the National Stadium are, as Tui puts it, “world-class”. “I just hope Singapore knows how amazing this event is. It’s one of the best.”
Drawing just as much enthusiasm from the group is another topic visitors often fixate on: food.
Tui and Hirayama recently made a trip to Newton Food Centre, where they tucked into seafood, carrot cake, and chilli crab. But when asked to name a favourite, one dish comes up instantly and in unison.
“Satay!”
“It’s such a tourist answer,” Tui concedes, aware locals might “roll their eyes”. “But where I come from, satay doesn’t taste like that. It’s so good.”
Tuwai, meanwhile, hasn’t tried it yet, but that, the others insist, will be fixed before he leaves.
While success stories like the trio’s are often held up as proof of what’s possible, sport isn’t always seen as a “safe” or conventional career path, particularly in Singapore.
But Tui, Hirayama, and Tuwai are quick to steer the conversation away from career outcomes and towards what sport gives people, regardless of where they eventually end up.
“I think all three of us would say it’s one of the greatest things you could do in the world, being a professional sportsperson,” Tui says. “The feeling of someone you’ve just met saying, ‘I’ve got your back,’ and being willing to put their body on the line for you… you don’t experience that very often in life.”
For Tuwai, rugby’s impact is deeply personal. Growing up in Fiji, he says the sport shaped who he became.
“Rugby changed me,” he says. “The values stand out, especially respect. When you bring that into young kids’ lives, it doesn’t just make them better players. It makes them better human beings, and it makes the community better.”
Hirayama adds that the lessons stay with you, even if you never play professionally.
“You’re going to have setbacks: injuries, not getting selected, things not going your way,” he says.
Sport teaches you resilience, and how to see things through. Those experiences help you no matter what you end up doing.
These days, all three remain closely connected to the sport, just in different ways.
Tui is currently on sabbatical after 14 years playing for New Zealand, spending time on commentary, ambassador work, and advocating for the growth of the women’s game.
Hirayama, who has stepped away from international competition, is balancing ambassador roles and rugby development work alongside his job as a firefighter in Vancouver (“A real-life Superman,” Tuwai quips).
Meanwhile, Tuwai himself continues to travel extensively through the Pacific with World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby Plus programme, focusing on coaching and youth development.
Taken together, it’s a reflection of how they now see rugby: not just as a game, but as a sport built around community, connection, and shared experiences — the same spirit that underpins HSBC SVNS Singapore 2026.
While the rugby may be the main draw, the weekend is designed as a full-day, family-friendly experience.
Around the matches, the National Stadium precinct and Promenade will host a range of activities for ticket-holders, including meet-and-greets, stage performances, and hands-on sessions where kids can try touch rugby or get a feel for the sport.
There’s also a dedicated Kids’ Zone with supervised drop-off activities, gaming stations for older children, and plenty of food options scattered around the venue.
Tickets for HSBC SVNS Singapore 2026 are valid for both days of the tournament and are priced from S$69 for youths (ages 4 to 17) and S$99 for adults. Family and group packages are also available, starting from S$49.80 per person for groups of five.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit The Kallang’s website.
Also read: Meet the S’porean who wants every visitor at The Kallang to feel included & cared for, ticket or not
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Featured image courtesy of The Kallang Group and by MS News (photography by Aleena Jaison).