Rokoduguni happy to soldier on for England

British sport in general and rugby union in particular cannot resist drawing parallels with the military.
Indeed England have gone so far as to incorporate the design of the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for military bravery available to armed forces personnel throughout the whole Commonwealth, not just Britain, into their new kit.
Yet unlike so many of the people making the comparisons, Semesa Rokoduguni -- who is set to make his England debut against world champions New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday -- has first-hand knowledge of Army life.
The Fijian-born 27-year-old wing is a serving soldier in the British Army and was deployed with his regiment, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, to Afghanistan in 2011.
Rokoduguni had only spent a week in the country when a marine he was on patrol with lost both of his legs after stepping on a landmine.
Since joining up with the England squad, after impressing for the past two years with club side Bath, Rokoduguni has been explaining the realities of service life to his new team-mates.
"They've been asking me questions about the Army and what it's like being out there," Rokoduguni said Thursday after being included in England coach Stuart Lancaster's starting XV.
"I told them it is pretty similar to what you guys feel -- the only difference is that here there is always a next time.
"Next week you can come back stronger and better.
"Out there in Afghanistan you have to be on top of your drills every single time because if you mess up that can cost someone their life."
- Similar pressure -
While not overstating the links between war and sport, Rokoduguni believes his military life has been good training for top-class rugby.
"It is similar to the pressure I felt out there in Afghanistan, especially in the field," he said.
"Out there in Afghanistan you had to be spot on with your drills, be punctual, dress correctly and be disciplined. You had to be alert every single moment.
"That sort of mentality fits in well on the rugby pitch. You need all those key points out there on the field.
"If you're not there on time you miss the opportunity to score a try and it can cost the team."
It was while playing for the Combined Services that he was spotted by Bath and given the chance to play top-flight club rugby -- not bad for a boy unable to make the bench of his school side in Fiji.
"Rugby wasn't really part of the plan. The plan when I was 19 was to join the Army, earn a living, send money home, support the family, go to half pension then full pension, then go back home," Rokoduguni explained.
"But things changed; rugby started popping up and I was doing well, first with the Army, then with Bath and my goals started to change. Now the international call has come.
"I take pride from representing the Army and England. It's a massive thing, especially on Remembrance weekend.
But not all of Rokoduguni's colleagues in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are elated by his decision to play Test rugby for England.
"Some of the lads have said, 'You deserve it, you've done well'," he said.
"But my unit is a Scots unit, so I think my team-mates are saying, 'Why are you playing for them? You should be playing for Scotland!'."
Source: AFP