bc magazine

Women’s XV Squad for Asian Championship Annouced

Hong Kong Women’s XV will play a home and away series against Japan to settle the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) after perennial contenders Kazakhstan withdrew from the competition. The tests will be played before the respective Hong Kong v Japan men’s fixtures with the women opening their campaign at home at 1:30pm this Saturday (7 May) at HK Football Club – entry is free, so head down and cheer on our talented women.

Coach Jo Hull yesterday announced her debut squad of 28 players for the ARC campaign, which will include the two matches versus Japan and a game against Singapore on 14 May. With Kazakhstan’s withdrawal, Hong Kong’s tour of Spain last December – the first and hopefully not last ever tour for the Women’s XV outside of Asia – looks even more vital in hindsight.

Hull agreed that that opportunity will now prove even more useful than initially expected, saying, “I think now is when we’re going to see the pay-off from the Spain Tour. We have pretty much been working non-stop since we came back with the group and the players have had time to reflect on the tour and the physicality and skill level required in the elite women’s game. The last few months have been focusing on implementing what we have been working on since Spain.”

Hull has placed a premium on experience in the squad with 18 of the players coming from the Spain Tour. Of the ten not present in Spain, five come in from the sevens programme in experienced campaigners Christine Gordon, Lai Pou Fan and Lindsay Varty, and up and comers Nam Ka Man and Lee Tsz Ting. Those five join several of their fellow HKSI elite athletes in the ARC squad, with 13 of the 28 players coming from the sevens set-up including captain Natasha Olson-Thorne.

Also returning to the squad after a lengthy recovery from injury is the influential Rose Fong Siu-Lan, a top class player who will be a massive addition to the side. “Rose has been working really hard and it is great to have her back,” said Hull, who previously coached Fong in the United Kingdom. “She is a quality fly-half who can help direct our game on the pitch. Saturday will be her first test match since her injury and I know that she is really looking forward to returning.”

Reflecting the dominance of recent Premiership seasons, the majority of the squad come from Gai Wu Falcons and league title and grand champion winners Valley, with 12 and six players respectively in the final 28. USRC Tigers have six representatives followed by Kowloon and Hong Kong Football Club with two each. Gai Wu No.8 Chow Mei Nam will captain the squad with Valley’s Adrienne Garvey as vice-captain, reprising their roles from Spain.

Hull continued “Our back row is a real strength. Our tight five, while not overly experienced in numbers of caps, has really improved in their fitness and in mastering the unique skillsets required for their positions while our backs are hugely experienced and have some real pace.”

Hull is particularly excited about the new culture developing around the team since the Spain tour. “We’ve seen a huge improvement in the work the team has put into their strength and conditioning, something which has been helped by our access to the facilities at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi).

“With the recent tests in Spain, this year’s inaugural Super Series competition, the growing competitiveness of the Premiership and the facilities at THEi, I would say that this is the best and most intense build-up the Hong Kong Women’s XV have ever had ahead of a competition. The training centre at THEi is a fantastic resource and has not only enhanced our performance but helped focus the environment within and around the team,” Hull added.

“We target to take two from two against Japan, but we fully respect what they bring to the table and we don’t say that lightly. We haven’t beaten Japan for a long time, although we have come close on recent occasions. We know Japan will be supremely fit and ferocious in the contact area. The key for us is how we match that physicality and how we manage the game beyond the set piece. We want the players to express themselves. The team are getting much better at playing what is in-front of them and playing with innovation and we want them to feed off the occasion and the opportunity to play Japan at home.”

Hong Kong Women’s Squad for the Asia Rugby Championship 2016:
Chow Mei Nam (captain), Adrienne Garvey (vice-captain), Natasha Olson-Thorne, Rose Fong Siu Lan, Colleen Tjosvold, Li Nim Yan, Karen So Hoi Ting,Amelie Seure, Chan Ka Yan, Cheng Ching To, Christine Gordon, Claire Forster, Ku Hoi Ying, Tammy Lau Nga Wun, Winnie Siu Wing Ni, Cheng Tsz Ting, Chong Ka Yan, Mak Ho Yee, Poon Pak Yan, Sharon Tsang Shin Yuen, Lee Tsz Ting, Nam Ka Man,Cheung Shuk Han

Hong Kong Rugby Union and Pieter Schats Plead Not Guilty

The trial of the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) and it’s Chairman Pieter Schats on Criminal Defamation reached the plea stage at Eastern Magistrates Court on 22 April, 2016 with the charges in the private prosecution read out to the defendants:

The charges read out were:

Information has been laid THAT YOU, Hong Kong Rugby Union a limited company registered in Hong Kong did on the 25 September, 2015 in Hong Kong deliberately and maliciously published, in the form of the article annexed here, defamatory libel knowing it to be false and factually inaccurate in breach of Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Cap 21 of the Laws of Hong Kong.

The article in the form of a letter written by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the letterhead of the HK Rugby Union (HKRU) was published to “All of our friends at World and Asia Rugby, Hong Kong Rugby Union Past Chairmen and Vice Presidents, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Rugby Club Chairmen and the Hong Kong Rugby and Sporting Community. It was also published on the HKRU’s website www.hkrugby.com under the title “Note from HKRU Chairman Pieter Schats.”

On or before the 23 September, 2015 the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) – the organisation responsible for the running and management of the sport of Rugby Union in Hong Kong – did approve and implement a new rule imposing ethnic Chinese player quotas on teams playing rugby in Hong Kong.

The HKRU on the 23 September, 2015 published on it’s website and caused to be published in the SCMP a news release entitled “Significant changes made to Hong Kong Rugby Union Domestic League structure”. Part of the text of that news release was: The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.”

Simon Durrant, the editor and publisher of bc magazine for 21 years wrote an article about the introduction of active racial discrimination, via ethnic quotas, into HK Rugby. According to Chapter 602 The Racial Discrimination Ordinance this is illegal in Hong Kong. The article entitled Active Racial Discrimination in HK Men’s Rugby was published on www.bcmagazine.net on the 24 September, 2015.

The HKRU letter dated 25 September, 2015 in full and specifically but not limited to paragraphs 3,4,5 is defamatory, disparaging and factually untrue. It besmirches and stains the integrity and reputation of Simon Durrant as a journalist and the factual accuracy of his article and in doing so the reputation and integrity of bc magazine – where Simon Durrant often recognised in public as ‘Mr bc’ has been the Owner, Publisher and Editor of bc magazine for over 21 years. Contrary to Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Chapter 21

The HKRU representative Mr Schats pleaded not guilty

Information has been laid THAT YOU, Pieter Lodewijk Schats as Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the 25 September, 2015 in Hong Kong deliberately and maliciously published, in the form of the article annexed here, defamatory libel knowing it to be false and factually inaccurate in breach of Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Cap 21 of the Laws of Hong Kong.

The article is in the form of a letter written by Pieter Schats, Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the letterhead of the HK Rugby Union was published to “All of our friends at World and Asia Rugby, Hong Kong Rugby Union Past Chairmen and Vice Presidents, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Rugby Club Chairmen and the Hong Kong Rugby and Sporting Community. It was also published on the HKRU’s website www.hkrugby.com under the title “Note from HKRU Chairman Pieter Schats.”

Pieter Schats letter dated 25 September, 2015 in full and specifically but not limited to paragraphs 3,4,5 is defamatory, disparaging and factually untrue. It besmirches and stains the integrity and reputation of Simon Durrant as a journalist and the factual accuracy of his article and in doing so the reputation and integrity of bc magazine – where Simon Durrant often recognised in public as ‘Mr bc’ has been the Owner, Publisher and Editor of bc magazine for over 21 years. Contrary to Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Chapter 21

Mr Pieter Lodewijk Schats pleaded not guilty.

SCMP article Hong Kong rugby to revamp domestic leagues in effort to strengthen national team - with ethnic quota rule intordution highlighted — SCMP article “Hong Kong rugby to revamp domestic leagues in effort to strengthen national team” with ethnic quota rule introduction highlighted.

The cases centre around the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s introduction of Ethnic Quotas to local rugby in September 2015 – as announced by the HKRU in a 23 September news release on their website and also published in the SCMP (linked here) on the 22 and 23 September.

The HKRU website version (linked here) was quickly amended after Simon Durrant’s article (linked here) that ethnic quotas and racial discrimination are illegal in Hong Kong was published on the 24 September.

A day later on the 25 September Mr Schats published a note to the global rugby community (linked here) which according to Mr Durrant is defamatory and factually inaccurate.

Both cases were adjourned for three weeks.

Seru Rabeni Memorial Game

Saturday 16 April 2016 saw a gathering of players, supporters and friends, all wanting to pay their respects to, and celebrate the life of, this great man.

The Memorial started out with a video of tribute highlighting Seru’s rugby career which began in Fiji, and expanded across the globe. Playing in both the Sevens and 15s format, Seru ran on the pitch for his country Fiji, many times. He then went on to play in New Zealand for the Highlanders, in the UK for Leicester Tigers, in France for Stade Rochelais, as a player/coach in the USA for Lindenwood University and finally did service in Hong Kong for both Discovery Bay Pirates and Hong Kong Scottish.

Hong Kong Football Club pitch saw players from HK Scottish, HK Football Club, HK University, DB Pirates, Valley Fort, Typhoons and Kowloon join together to create teams to play in 3 Memorial games. The first game was a Social friendly; played by many who had “much experience over many years” (the two wingers had 116 years between them). Much heavy breathing and hands on hips was witnessed. This was followed by the Ladies 10s which was competitive, even though it was a first ever game for some.

Finally, a Performance game was played between DB Pirates/HK Scottish (“Pirate Islanders”) and a HK Barbarian team. Players gave their all, some crunching tackles and impressive line breaks. Seru would have been proud of both their performances and the camaraderie on the field. The only thing missing was the Big Man’s laughter coming from the pitch.

The HK Barbarians were victorious in the first two, close games but the Pirate Islanders managed to take a well-deserved win in the third.

A good turnout resulted in good sales of memorial shirts as well as playing shirts, with funds raised going towards the Seru Fund. Currently being administered by DB Pirates, monies donated will go towards projects close to Seru’s heart. The Fund will seek to support work going on in Seru’s home village in Fiji and help complete the building of a school. For more information about the fund please contact [email protected]

Some of the Fund is also planned to form part of a scholarship, to identify and bring a Fijian teenager to Hong Kong to school and play rugby, and hopefully give them a springboard to a brighter future.

In life, Seru was able to bring together people from all corners, to play the game he was so passionate about. Thus, it was most fitting that the same could be done after his passing.

Watch the opening tribute and all three games here:
Opening and tribute to Seru Rabeni, DB Pirates vs HK Barbarians (social men’s game)
DB Pirates vs HK Barbarians (ladies 10s’ game)
Pirate Islanders vs HK Barbarians (men’s performance game)

Photos: Sharon McEneff

HK Sevens

Dear bc readers

As editor, I apologise that our Sevens coverage hasn’t been as comprehensive as in past years. Especially as during the last domestic rugby season bc magazine averaged around three articles per week on local rugby.

The reason is, and I’ll quote the HK Rugby Union’ s PR mandarin Sean Moore “I will continue to omit you from my press release distribution and invitation to rugby union events”. “I believe that my decision is defensible based on the negative spin consistently applied to those efforts”

Negative spin – that means for bc magazine to get press releases and notification of rugby events and media accreditation to matches for our rugby photograher we must write sycophantic “HKRU is wonderful” advertorials.

bc magazine exposed the HKRU’s introduction of ethnic quotas and active racism to local rugby via a new rule announced last September. The rule was quickly amended after bc’s article was published and a defamatory and factually inaccurate cover-up campaign mounted against myself and bc by the HKRU and it’s Chairman Pieter Schats.

It should also be stated here that World Rugby the sports global governing body refused to condemn the HKRU’s introduction of racism to local sport when asked in September to comment on the new rule. So much for rugby’s stated core values of integrity and respect. Perhaps World Rugby could explain how racism ‘builds character’?

The HKRU thinks bc shouldn’t criticise them for scrapping children’s tickets for the general public at this year’s event. Local children who get inspired by watching rugby at the Sevens are the future player pool of the national side, the dream and the desire to represent your country infront of 40,000 screaming fans starts from watching in the stands.

The blatant sexually discriminatory bias of the HKRU’s website where 90% plus of the coverage is about men’s rugby is shameful given the vibrant and surging growth of the game amongst women locally in recent years. As I write this www.hkrugby.com has no mention of day 1 of the HK Women’s Rugby Sevens. The day’s match results are nowhere to be found.

The HKRU’s response to me writing and exposing the truth – throwing it’s toys out of the pram like a spoilt child and blocking my accreditation as a photographer to cover the Sevens and deleting bc magazine from the HKRU’s media mailing list.

Actively introducing racism to local rugby, price gouging children, sexually discriminatory coverage… The HKRU has far deeper and more institutionalised problems than ‘negative spin’.

For the first time in over 20 years I won’t be slaving over a computer screen till 5am finishing articles and editing photos. Hope you enjoy the rugby, I will!

Go Hong Kong!

HK Women’s Rugby 7s, Day 1 at King’s Park

Hong Kong’s lack of a competitive match since November showed as the hosts stumbled on an action-packed first day of the HK Women’s Rugby Sevens losing against an ecstatic Argentinean side. Hong Kong must now beat Japan to move above Argentina and make it through to the Cup semi-finals.

France looked a class apart as their development team (the national side is playing on the Women’s World Series in Atlanta this weekend) notched three wins from three starts in pool A to lock in a semi-final berth, while Kazakhstan and South Africa will fight it out for the other spot. Japan, Hong Kong and Argentina can all still make the Cup semi-finals in pool B.

The home team got their tournament underway with a thumping 45-0 win over Sri Lanka, with Aggie Poon Pak-yan running in three tries and Natasha Olson-Thorne crossing in her first game as captain. Sri Lanka had no answers for a rampaging Hong Kong, who completely dominated with slick passing and fierce tackling.

Lee Tsz-ting, who was a ball girl at HK Women’s 7s 6 years ago, scored on debut when she came on in the second half against Sri Lanka.

Hong Kong’s second match was a low-scoring affair, as the hosts self-inflicted error strewn performance allowed a hard working Argentina side to dominate territory and run large chunks of time off the clock. Argentina received two yellow cards, and embarrassingly for Hong Kong scored the decisive try in their 12-5 win with only six players on the pitch.

“Unfortunately in that game we just lacked a bit of patience,” hiding her disappointment Hong Kong coach Anna Richards said. “We just let mistakes creep into our game under pressure and that does happen. We let Argentina rattle us a bit at the breakdown and there was a bit of a free fall there, but we just didn’t take our opportunities.”

Hong Kong’s last match against Thailand was a must win and it was all one-way traffic, with the local team streaking away to a 24-0 win that saw Richards comment “We tried to force the issue a little bit against Argentina and we made some good opportunities and we killed it,” Richards said.”This time we were very patient, which I thought was great.”

Debutant Lee Tsz-ting and Colleen Tjosvold were shining lights for Hong Kong – while Christine Gordon and Chong Ka-yan were amongst the try scorers.

[gview file=”http://www.bcmagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-HKWR7S-TOURNAMENT-RESULTS-DAY-I.pdf” save=”1″]

France took a while to get going in their opening match before eventually overcoming Kenya 22-5, before flexing their legs and overpowering China in a 39-7 thumping. They finished the day with a narrow 12-10 win over Kazakhstan, with Montserrat Amédée and Noémie Sanch amongst the tries with three each for the day.

With his side semi-final bound, coach Paul Albaladéjo praised the evenness of effort from his charges, but refused to look past their final pool match. “I’m very happy after day one,” Albaladéjo said. “Very happy for my team, everyone was very good and it was a good job. We are now focusing on game number four tomorrow against South Africa. After that, I don’t yet know the way.”

Japan looked composed and confident as comfortably won three match: belting Sri Lanka 41-0, knocking off Thailand 22-7 and finishing the day with a 50-0 drubbing of Argentina. Hong Kong will face Japan in the last pool match tomorrow at 10.00am. Japan shared the scoring load across a wide range of players, with Yukari Tateyama and Ayumi Yabuuchi just two of the players to get in on the act.

Argentina were impressive prior to their match against Japan, shrugging off Thailand (19-12), Hong Kong and Sri Lanka (30-5).Gonzalez Sofia was one of her side’s best, crossing four times throughout the day and constantly creating opportunities for her teammates.

Nadine Roos impressed in a South Africa side that won two and lost one, scoring four tries for the day. For Kazakhstan, Lyudmila Korotkikh also got amongst the points, registering four tries as her side won two of their four matches. There were mixed results for China, with a first up 10-5 win over Kazakhstan followed by losses to France (39-7) and South Africa (7-0). It was a tough day at the King’s Park for Kenya, Thailand and Sri Lanka, with each side going winless.

HK Women’s Rugby Sevens: 7-8 April, 2016

The 19th Hong Kong Women’s Sevens gets under way tomorrow. The two day tournament features ten teams from across the globe competing in two pools. Pool A contains France, South Africa, Kazakhstan, China and Kenya while Hong Kong are in Pool B with Asia champions Japan, Argentina, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The top two teams after pool play compete in the Cup semi-final with the final played in the HK Stadium at 17:24, at the HK Sevens, in front of 40,000 fans.

Hong Kong enter the tournament under the leadership of new captain Natasha Olson-Thorne after injuries sidelined long-time captain Royce Chan Leong Sze and last season’s able stand-in, Christy Cheng Ka Chi.

Olson-Thorne provides pace, power and an experienced hand after serving in the vice captain’s role in last November’s Olympic sevens qualifiers and having appeared in five Hong Kong Women’s Sevens previously.

Come join in the fun and watch some great rugby where skill and finesse matter more than the brute power of the men’s game. Thursday matches take place at King’s Park with the first kick-off at 9am. Friday’s games are at the HK Football Club, first kick-off at 9am. Entry is free on both days.

The tournament will also be live-streamed at:
http://www.hirugby.com/live

Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens
When: 7-8 April, 2016
Where: 7 April: Kings Park, 8 April: HK Football Club, Final: HK Stadium
How much: Free
More info: www.facebook.com/hkwr.sevens

Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Finals Results 2016

Grand Championship

Valley Black 12-10 Gai Wu Falcons
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30

National 15s WNL1-A: Grand Championship

City Sparkles 8-5 Valley Red
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00

National 15s WNL1-B: Grand Championship

HKCC 17-7 HK Scottish
@ KGV, Kick-off: 16:30

National 10s: Grand Championship

Tin Shui Wai 5-10 Revolution SRC
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 16:30

Valley and Gai Wu Contest Third Straight Women’s Grand Final

Valley Black will take on Gai Wu Falcons for the third successive Grand Final between the two clubs at King’s Park today (16.30). Valley were unbeaten in league play for the second consecutive year extending their winning streak to 28 matches – the longest such streak in Hong Kong Rugby.

It is a fitting match-up as the two clubs have dominated the elite edge of women’s rugby in recent seasons. The last six Grand Finals have seen at least one of the two sides taking part, with Valley claiming four titles to Gai Wu’s two during that period. In their head-to-heads over the past two finals, the clubs split the honours with Falcons handing Valley its last loss in domestic competition in 2014, while Valley ran out 20-10 winners over Falcons to claim the title in 2015.

The Falcons enter the match as the underdogs after having dropped both of their games to Valley this season, a 15-3 defeat in Round 7, followed by a more comprehensive 49-12 loss in their most recent outing on the last weekend of the season, when Valley fullback Olivia Coady ran riot for five tries. Despite the margin of defeat, the 12 points posted by Falcons is the most that Valley conceded to any opponent in the league, when they scored a staggering 565 points in 12 games.

Valley continue to reap the rewards of a long-term vision implemented when coach Chris Garvey arrived at the club following its 2012 Grand Championship. “We lost 9 players after that season and there was a lot of work to do to re-build. The next season we had 25 players competing across the 15s and 10s league. I remember one Saturday when we had back-to-back games and had to finish a 10s match with seven players on the pitch, pulling girls off so we could start a 15s game on the next pitch with 12 players.

“But we gave ourselves three years to re-build with a focus on sustainable growth. We focused on our infrastructure as if we got that right, the results should take care of themselves. We were able to get good coaches and recruit some strong players not just from overseas, but also from local universities and schools. Now we’re at the point where there are only three or four players running out that aren’t playing for Hong Kong or eligible to play for Hong Kong. We have two full squads this season and our seconds went from winning only one match last year to reaching the Grand Championship final tomorrow,” Garvey adds.

Valley’s numbers are holding strong for the re-match with Gai Wu says Garvey, “There are always a few niggles and we’ve had to leave vice captain Karen So on the bench, as she hasn’t fully recovered from injury, which hurts because she’s a prop/hooker and our front row has been a bit light this year. But other than that, we’ve held up well.”

That weakness up front contrasts with Gai Wu, whose main strength is its forward pack and set piece. For Garvey that means a contrast in styles and strategies in the final: “Our backbone is the midfield. We’re good at broken play and anything off the cuff is to our advantage. Our weakness is probably our set piece. The forwards have scored tries for us, but not as many as in previous seasons. I’m being a perfectionist really, as the forwards have done the job for us this season, but I don’t think we’ve developed our play up front as much as we have across the backline this season.”

“Gai Wu’s strengths are their set piece and overall fitness, which is slightly better than ours. They have a solid kicking game and I think they will look to play very structured rugby. But I’m confident. We don’t have to chase this game or change our style, we just need to keep calm, soak up any pressure and trust our systems. If we can restrict Gai Wu to two or three phases, we’re in with a chance, but if they’re still in it with ten minutes remaining anything can happen.”

Falcons coach Lai Yiu Pang is angling to have his side in just that position: “Last week’s win over USRC Tigers gave us a lot of confidence and we’re picking up momentum late in the year. All the pressure is on Valley and we’re optimistic for tomorrow.”

Lai knows that defence is the key to Gai Wu’s championship hopes, saying: “Defence needs to be our primary focus. We need to put Valley under heavy pressure and that starts when they have the ball.”

While missing the inspirational but injured Christy Cheng Ka Chi, a leader for Falcons and the Hong Kong Sevens squad, Lai says the rest of his squad are fit. “Up front we have everyone we’d like to have and our training this week, and really since the end of the league, has been positive with over 30 players out for every session. That was a big help in getting us to the stage to achieve what we needed to in the semi-final over the Tigers.”

All today’s Grand Championship Final’s fixture details here.

photos: Takumi Photography