(CNN) -- As a shivering and nervous new recruit to the British Army in 2007 -- wearing three layers just to keep warm -- Semesa Rokoduguni began to seriously question why he had left the tropical Pacific Island of Fiji. "Everyone just looked at me and burst out laughing," he told CNN's Human to Hero series. With limited grasp of the English language, Rokoduguni had to bite his lip and take his medicine to earn the respect of his colleagues in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, a tank regiment based in Germany. But fast forward six years and Rokoduguni has had the last laugh because when he is not patrolling the front line with the army in dangerous trouble spots such as Afghanistan, he is charging to the try line at the home of rugby union Twickenham.
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Semesa Rokoduguni is an up and coming star of rugby union
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The 25-year-old Fijian has signed professional forms with top English club Bath
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He has starred in the annual Army-Navy match at Twickenham for past two years
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Rokodoguni has served on the front line in Afghanistan with his tank regiment
Fame and no little fortune may await Rokoduguni but his thoughts are always with his fellow servicemen and women who are risking their lives in @placeholder.