Once told she couldn’t run after cervical prolapse, S’pore’s Angelina Liu makes rugby comeback

SINGAPORE - On July 15, Singaporean rugby player Angelina Liu will make her second outing at the Nottingham Touch World Cup in what is a miraculous comeback for the 42-year-old.

In 2018, Liu gave birth to her second child but, in the next 24 hours, one of the happiest days of her life quickly turned into a horror show. After spending the night in hospital, she returned home and felt well enough to do some household chores.

But after a few hours, she felt an intense soreness in her lower body.

While taking a shower, she was mortified to see an organ protruding out of her private parts.

The former national rugby sevens player told The Straits Times: “It was very scary to see. I didn’t know what to do. I (called) my brother in a very shaky voice, ‘you have to send me to the hospital’.”

Doctors at the Parkway East Hospital eventually diagnosed her with a cervical prolapse, which often affects women after menopause or childbirth. The condition occurs when the muscles in the pelvis become weak, leading to one or more of the organs bulging into or out of the vagina.

Liu’s heart sank when the gynaecologist delivered the devastating news – she would never be able to run or carry her newborn ever again.

She said: “I was in shock. All along, I’ve always been an athlete and a sportswoman. I played football growing up, I was a runner for school and I was also a bowler. I was very, very, very down at that point.”

Shell-shocked and in disbelief, Liu sought a second opinion from her regular gynaecologist but was given the same prognosis.

Undeterred, her desire to remain active saw her looking for ways to manage her condition.

Initially accepting that rugby was a distant possibility, she pivoted to pilates, swimming and eventually light jogging.

She added: “Every time I jogged, I just went straight to the toilet to check (if anything came out). I did it again and again and it was okay. So I went faster and longer and within a few months, I felt better. The prolapse just stopped.”

Even though Liu was already comfortable carrying her baby and running with her dogs, her gynaecologist warned her to stop jogging to avoid risking another prolapse.

Instead of heeding that advice, she stopped visiting her physician while continuing to strengthen herself with kegel exercises. With encouragement from her teammates, she rejoined training with the Bedok Kings Skyllas, her local rugby club, in June 2019 – nine months after her initial diagnosis.

Now fit and healthy, she is set to don Singapore colours again at the Touch World Cup from July 15 to 21 as part of the over-27 team – she first competed in the tournament in 2007.

She is training four times a week and hopes to claim Singapore’s maiden silver medal at the quadrennial event.

Her love story with rugby started in 2003 as a second-year National University of Singapore student. She represented Eusoff Hall in touch rugby at the annual inter-hall games and subsequently trialled for the national rugby development squad.

At the 2015 SEA Games, she was part of the national women’s rugby sevens team who clinched a silver medal.

Competing alongside and against athletes 10 to 15 years her junior who are quicker and fitter will be a challenge, as she has to “really push myself and do a lot more to match them in terms of fitness”.

The veteran is also setting an example for her younger teammates off the pitch, as she was in 2024 awarded the Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership programme scholarship worth £5,000 (S$8,600).

Launched by World Rugby in 2018, the programme aims to develop women leaders in rugby worldwide.

Liu’s ultimate goal is for Singapore’s women’s team to win the SEA Games gold medal by 2029, when the Republic hosts the biennial event.

The former teacher, who is now a financial consultant, added: “I hope to transfer the skills and knowledge from this scholarship to drive women’s rugby in Singapore. In our context, women start rugby very late. Some people don’t even know women play the sport.

“We need a new pipeline of players which is a struggle because of the perception of rugby by parents. We don’t teach it in schools unlike other sports from a young age. That’s something that I take upon myself to try to change.”