On the first full day of the World Rugby Olympic Sevens Repechage Hong Kong’s women and men were unbeaten.
Hong Kong will play unbeaten France in both competitions on Sunday to decide who will top the pools and their respective knock-out round opponents.
Salom Yui Kam Shing scored two tries as Hong Kong’s men opened their repechage campaign with a 31-5 defeat of Jamaica in Pool B.
In their second match, the men trailed Chile by eight points with little more than two minutes remaining. But late tries from Shing, Russell Webb and Alex McQueen secured a 26-15 victory.
Hong Kong’s women began their Pool C campaign with a comfortable 31-10 win over Colombia – which featured a Chong Ka Yan hat-trick – but they found things much tougher against Madagascar, recovering from 12-0 down to win 19-12.
The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.
Hong Kong fans can watch all of the Repechage action from Monaco live and free as the tournament will be streamed on World Rugby’s website and Facebook and You Tube channels.
The World Rugby Sevens Repechage kicks off in Monaco on 18 June as the competing teams aim to secure the remaining two women’s and one men’s qualification spots for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The playing squads have been finalised and on Thursday the captains were welcomed by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II in a launch event at Monaco Palace.
The action gets underway at 18:00 local time on Friday as Zimbabwe face Mexico in Pool A of the men’s competition. Play continues throughout Saturday and Sunday when up to 5,000 spectators will be present at Stade Louis II, culminating in the two women’s finals and the one men’s final on Sunday evening.
The 12 team women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia.
The men’s tournament will consist of nine teams following the withdrawal of Uganda. Chile, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, and Zimbabwe will take the field in Monaco.
In the women’s competition, the 12 teams will compete in three pools of four teams. The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. With two Olympic qualification places available, both winners in the final two games will claim their ticket to Tokyo.
Team Captains and Prince Albert II of Monaco attend the official photocall for the World Rugby Sevens Repechage at Le Palais des Princes de Monaco on June 17, 2021 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Giorgio Perottino – World Rugby/Getty Images)
The draw saw Colombia and France, the only women’s teams to have participated in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, paired together in a strong looking Pool C alongside Hong Kong and Madagascar.
All four teams in Pool A will be competing at their second Olympic repechage with Russia, Argentina, Mexico and Samoa all having participated at the qualifying tournament prior to Rio 2016, the Russians having lost 19-12 to Spain in the final in Dublin. In Pool B, highest ranked Papua New Guinea will face Kazakhstan, Jamaica and Tunisia.
For the men’s competition, the nine teams in contention for the final Olympic qualification place have been drawn into two pools. Teams will play against all opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through two knockout stages, with the winner of the final booking their ticket to Tokyo.
The men’s draw saw World Rugby Sevens Series core teams Samoa and Ireland paired in Pool A together with Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico. France are the top-seeded team based on their performances in the World Rugby Sevens Series where they finished sixth in 2020 and they are in Pool B along with Hong Kong, Chile, Jamaica. All teams in Pool B will record a bye against Uganda following their withdrawal from the tournament.
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “With just over a month to go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, we can look forward to a very exciting Repechage event in Monaco as the competing teams aim to fulfill their Olympic dreams by securing one of the three remaining qualification spots for Tokyo.
“Player welfare is our top priority and a lot of diligent work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure this event can take place in the safest and most secure manner possible during these unusual times,” Gilpin added.
The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.
Hong Kong fans can watch all of the Repechage action from Monaco live and free as the tournament will be streamed on World Rugby’s website and Facebook and You Tube channels.
With the last remaining men’s spot in Tokyo up for grabs, Hong Kong head coach Paul John has named an experienced group that features most of the squad which was last in action at the World Rugby Sevens Series Challenger Series 15 months ago in South America.
Several veteran campaigners are included in the Olympics eligible squad, including captain Max Woodward, Alex and Tom McQueen, Michael Coverdale, Cado Lee Ka-to, Russell Webb and Raef Morrison.
The squad also features two of the city’s most capped sevens players in Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who has appeared in ten Hong Kong Sevens tournaments, and Jamie Hood, with nine under his belt; both represented Hong Kong at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in USA (2017) and Russia (2013).
A number of players pressing their claims before the disruptions of Covid-19 are also in the group, including Max Denmark and Liam Herbert, (both of whom featured at the Asian Olympic qualifier last November), while fellow former U20s stars James Christie and Alessandro Nardoni are also named to the 13-man travel squad, which will be culled to a final 12 in Monaco prior to kick-off.
After disappointedly missing out on Asian qualification for the Japan-hosted games, reigning Asian Games gold medallists Hong Kong are the second seeds in Pool B behind World Rugby Sevens Series regulars France, and ahead of Chile, Uganda and Jamaica in Monaco. Two-time Rugby World Cup Sevens bronze medallists Samoa are top seeds in Pool A, joined by Ireland, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico.
The players are intent on keeping their dreams of representing Hong Kong, China at the Olympics alive. “We are very excited and hungry for this tournament,” said Salom Yiu. “For some of us, this is our last and best shot of going to the Olympics, so we have been treasuring every training opportunity and making sure we are ready both as a team and as individuals.”
Yiu believes the team has not been put off its stride by the lack of international competition due to the pandemic precautions enforced in the last year and a half.
“Our preparation has been smooth, despite the fact that we couldn’t go overseas for training tours or to play against international teams as a build-up. Recently, we ran an intra-team mini-tournament at the HKIS that mimicked the format and atmosphere in Monaco to boost our form and mood.”
“Typically, we would be involved in a lot of competitions throughout the year, both for Hong Kong and for our clubs, but now the repechage is our only goal. We have played against all of our pool opponents before, so they are not strangers to us. I believe Ireland, Tonga and France are the likely semi-finalists, but we have analysed all of our opponents and have a good game plan,” added the 33-year old winger.
Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad: Olympic Repechage
Max Woodward (Captain); Raef Morrison; Michael Coverdale; Alessandro Nardoni; Cado Lee Ka-To; Jamie Hood; Alex McQueen; Tom McQueen; Liam Herbert; Russell Webb; Max Denmark; Yiu Kam-Shing; James Christie.
