Singapore-history-1 Rong Jing Xiang of Singapore is held by the Fijian defence during the first round of the 2002 Malaysian Sevens at the Kelana Jaya MPPJ Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

You may not realise it, but rugby union is a significant sport in Singapore, with the game continually growing in popularity over the last two decades.

As of February 2015, there were over 12,000 registered players, with more than 2000 women playing the sport. There are also 15 formally organised clubs, including four registered women's sides.

Club rugby in Singapore is played in three divisions – the Premiership, the Championship and the Conference. School Rugby is also hotly contested over three age groups – the C division (under-14s), the B division (under-17s) and the A division (under-19s). There are also a few schools that have a primary-school-level rugby program where they compete in an under-12 competition.

The governing body of rugby union in Singapore is the Singapore Rugby Union, which was founded in 1966 and joined the International Rugby Football Board (now World Rugby) in 1988.

Currently ranked 59th in the world, Singapore has enjoyed past successes in both the 15s and Sevens versions of the sport.

A year after taking out the silver medal at the 1977 SEA Games (their best finish), Singapore took part in the 6th Asian Rugby tournament held in Kuala Lumpur and emerged with its best-ever result to this day (a third placing behind powerhouses Japan and South Korea). To achieve this they beat Thailand in a cliff-hanger of a play-off for third 16-15.

Singapore-history-2 Desmond Wee of Singapore on the charge during the 2002 Malaysian Sevens quarter-finals at the Kelana Jaya MPPJ Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images)

Singapore also excelled in the Sevens version of the sport during this period. The national team, under Natahar Bava, achieved its best-ever Sevens results during 1978-1980 at the Hong Kong Sevens. In 1978, Singapore lost to Middle East champions Bahrain 0-10 in the Plate Finals, but in 1979 the nation achieved its best-ever rugby Sevens result when it qualified for the top-8 teams Cup quarter-finals, losing eventually to Western Samoa 4-16. In 1980, Singapore lost its Plate Final to Japan in flooded conditions.

In 2002, Singapore scored a historic first win over Japan at the Hong Kong Sevens.

Fast forward to 2008, and the Singapore Rugby Lions were crowned champions of the ARFU Rugby Division 2 following a draw against Sri Lanka and a one-point victory against Chinese Taipei in 15s rugby.

The following year Singapore joined the elite of Asian rugby (Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong) for the first time and even kept tournament-winners Japan to a 30-point deficit, the smallest winning margin of any of Japan's games.

In December 2008, Singapore achieved its highest world ranking of 48 and sat highest among the Southeast-Asian teams.