Hong Kong’s men’s Sevens team will look to continue their winning ways in the second leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Korea this weekend, after a convincing cup win in the first leg held in Hong Kong earlier this month. Coach Gareth Baber has named a largely unchanged squad with forward Mark Wright coming in for James Cunningham in the only change to the side.
“JC [Cunningham] picked up an injury in the first leg and was out of training for a couple of weeks so we felt he wasn’t just right for this leg. Fortunately we were able to call Mark up. Mark is really combative and likes the contact area. He’s hugely experienced having been in numerous Asian Games and qualifiers and he has huge respect amongst the guys and provides good leadership on the pitch. That experience will be important considering we are away in a very tough pool,” said Baber.
Hong Kong are in the ‘pool of death’ sitting atop group A with hosts South Korea – who will test Hong Kong’s mettle playing in front of their home crowd – Japan and Chinese Taipei. Sri Lanka tops pool B ahead of China, Malaysia and Singapore.
“It’s a tough pool. With the way the seedings work from the first tournament Japan ended up with us and Korea. It will be challenging but for us to get the most we can from this competition we want to play as many tough games as possible. Win or lose we want to be challenged,” Baber said.
Baber knows the team will have targets on their backs after claiming the season’s first silverware: “If we show the same form as we did in Hong Kong, we will be fine. Having won we have laid down the challenge for other teams in terms of our levels and from my experience of the Series the other teams will respond to that.”
Japan have strengthened thier side, after crashing to the plate competition in Hong Kong, bringing rangy back Jamie Henry into the side as well as a new group of untested youngsters as they look to build depth for the 2020 Olympics.
“We have to keep our momentum going from the opening leg. Yes we won but it was only the first tournament and we were at home. It was a good start but we need to keep our heads about us and make sure we do enough to stay a step ahead of everyone else,” Baber concluded.
The men’s Series results will determine the Asian teams participating in the Hong Kong Sevens’ World Rugby Sevens Series qualifiers in 2017, with the top two teams advancing to the 12-team qualifier next April. More importantly this year’s Asian champion will also earn an invite to the World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Singapore.
Hong Kong Men’s Seven Squad for Korea Sevens:
Max Woodward (Captain), Mark Wright, Michael Coverdale, Christopher Maize, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka-To, Ben Rimene, Alex Mcqueen, Tom Mcqueen, Rowan Varty, Ryan Meacheam, Salom Yiu Kam-Shing.
Additional reporting and image: HKRU