Hong Kong Raised Nancy McGillivray Selected for England’s Red Roses

Congratulations to Nancy McGillivray who becomes the first player raised in Hong Kong to be selected for the England Rugby senior women’s squad.

McGillivray grew up in Hong Kong playing mini and youth rugby for DB Pirates and age grade for the HK teams. She had two seasons with Kowloon rugby and then headed off to university in the United Kingdom.

Nancy McGillivray England squad March 2023

Rugby Week 2023

After the individual creativity of Art Week, the wonders of team creativity are on display as Rugby Week 2023 scrums down.

Unfortunately, the traditional rugby week curtain-raiser Kowloonfest has been postponed again until 2024 – the old and venerable taking longer to recover and reboot post covid.

This year’s action starts with, perhaps the best rugby of the week, the Hong Kong 10s at Hong Kong Football Club on Wednesday 29 March. Proper scrums and brutal power forward play are features of the Tens, especially on Thursday night. It’s perhaps the closest we in Hong Kong can get to seeing modern rugby up close and personal. Select teams packed with talent and big names, new and old, from around the world put a physicality and rawness to images seen on television that really needs to be experienced in person.

Amidst the Sevens partying,  a rugby tournament takes place… After November’s empty stadium, harsh crowd restrictions and drab atmosphere – can the Sevens recover its allure as one of the world’s great sporting/social events?

Here are the dates for your Rugby Week 2023 diary.

Kowloon Fest
When: postponed to 2024
More info: www.rugbyfest.org

Hong Kong Tens
When: 29-30 March, 2023
Where: Hong Kong Football Club
How much: $120
More info: www.hkfc10s.com

HK Sevens
Date: 31 March – 2 April, 2023
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950
More info: www.HKsevens.com

Women’s Rugby World Cup – Day Two Whangarei

After the excitement of opening day in Eden Park, has a full stadium been so quiet when Australia were 17-0 up… The action on day two of the Women’s Rugby World Cup moved to Whangarei where the remaining six teams took the field for the first time.

northlands stadium

The Northlands Stadium is a unique stadium with a large hill opposite the main stand from which you can enjoy the game picnic style.

Large groups of Welsh and American fans have made the long journey to support their team, although the fans of the day award goes to these three Japanese fans who flew from Japan for their match against Canada and will fly back after the game – Chapeau!

Japan fansAmerican fans Rugby World Cup 2021More photos from day two can be found here

Welsh fans

Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 Announced

The Hong Kong men’s sevens squad for the Rugby World Cup 7s in South Africa (9-11 September) has been announced by Hong Kong Rugby.

Hong Kong will kick off in the 16-team pre-round competition against Uruguay with the winner facing tournament favourites and new World Sevens Series champions, Australia.

Hong Kong head coach Paul John has named an experienced squad and commented that “We want them to enjoy the experience – this comes around every four years – and we earned the right to be here and this is a reward for that”

Hong Kong men will be making their eighth appearance sevens Rugby World Cup, two of which were hosted in Hong Kong (1997 and 2005).

All matches are streaming on the World Rugby website

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 Captains

Hong Kong Men’s Rugby World Cup Sevens Squad
  • Russ WEBB (co-captain)
  • Seb BRIEN (co-captain)
  • Salom YIU Kam-shing
  • Michael COVERDALE
  • Cado LEE Ka-to
  • Alessandro NARDONI
  • Hugo STILES
  • Harry SAYERS
  • Max DENMARK
  • Liam DOHERTY
  • Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST
  • Callum MCCULLOUGH
  • James CHRISTIE

Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
Additional reporting: RugbyAsia247

World Rugby Announces Upcoming Locations of Rugby World Cups

At its Annual Meeting in Dublin, World Rugby confirmed the locations for the next three women’s and two men’s Rugby World Cups:

  • England to host Rugby World Cup 2025 (women’s)
  • Australia to host Rugby World Cup 2027 (men’s) and 2029 (women’s)
  • USA to host Rugby World Cup 2031 (men’s) and 2033 (women’s)

World Rugby also confirmed a new partnership approach towards hosting the Rugby World Cup that looks to as they put it “stimulate the dynamic development of rugby globally and increase investment in the women’s game”. It was also confirmed that the 2025 Women’s World Cup will expand to 16 teams.

After the announcement, World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Today, we have approved three exceptional Rugby World Cup host nations – England, Australia and USA – providing unprecedented certainty and an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate the growth and impact of rugby globally. It is great for rugby, for fans and for the host nations.”

“Today is a landmark moment for the sport and exciting development for fans. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making this dream a reality as we look to deliver a truly global sport for all.”

“We are thrilled to be hosting Rugby World Cup 2025, it is going to be incredible,” said RFU Chief Operating Officer, Chief Finance Officer and former England captain Sue Day. “As we have seen from other home World Cups in cricket, hockey and netball, a Rugby World Cup will further advance all women’s sport.”

Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan said: “This is a historic day for rugby in Australia. We’re beyond thrilled to be welcoming not one, but two Rugby World Cups to our shores. It’s a game-changer for rugby in this country, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalise and secure the future of the sport here and see the game we all love grow and thrive for years to come.”

“I speak for the rugby community and fans across the United States when I express our sincere gratitude to World Rugby for their trust and endorsement of our vision to grow this incredible sport exponentially across our country.” added USA Rugby Chief Executive Ross Young. “USA Rugby will now venture into a new era and ensure the sport’s most treasured event is a springboard for creating lasting, sustainable enthusiasm and passion for rugby from coast to coast.”

The postponed women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 will take place in New Zealand later this year with the final held at the iconic Eden Park in Auckland on xx November 2022.

wrwc22021

If readers are interested in news and ticket information about future Rugby World Cups the sign up here www.rugbyworldcup.com/newsletter.

additional reporting, images: World Rugby

Surprise, Surprise… Not! Sevens Postponed Again

To no one’s great surprise the Hong Kong Rugby Union have announced that next year’s Hong Kong Sevens will be postponed, from April to 4-6 November 2022.

The HKRU commented, “It’s basically because the prevailing quarantine and travel restrictions are too difficult to bring in international teams.”

“We’re very disappointed for the rugby community here in Hong Kong and the fans around the world who look forward to the event. But equally, public health is the number one priority and we respect that.”

When asked if the postponement will affect Hong Kong’s reputation in the rugby world: “I don’t think it’s so much affecting Hong Kong’s reputation in the rugby world.”

“I think for all of the major sports events, the ‘M’ Mark events, it’s important we retain our respective places in the global sporting calendar. I think the thing that we are all really concerned about is ensuring that we can get back to hosting these events so that we don’t lose slots on the calendar and Hong Kong retains its place as an important destination for international sports events.”

HK Sevens – Rescheduled 
Date: 4-6 November, 2022
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950 (tbc)