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Hong Kong in Cup Semi-finals at Asian Womens Rugby Sevens

Hong Kong advanced to the Asian Women’s Sevens Cup semi-finals finishing second in their pool. Hong Kong beat Guam 29-0 in the opening match, followed by a stuttering 7-0 win over Singapore in their second encounter with Hong Kong striking early but then unable to add to the tally for the remaining 13 minutes of the match.

The early wins set up a climactic pool game against Japan to see who would come out on top of the pool. Japan were comfortable 28-0 winners in a one-sided victory. Hong Kong failed to fire from the outset, with an uncharacteristic amount of loose ball and turnovers putting the game out of the hosts’ reach by half-time.

Despite the down finish to the afternoon, coach Anna Richards was mindful that the team are still on target heading into day two.

“That match was a good wake up for the girls,” said Richards. “The first two games I didn’t think we really played that well and I thought that against Japan we played much better. We were made to work hard and we kept at it and I was really pleased at the girls energy levels in the second half. We kept at them and started to make some ground late,” Richards said.

The going will get even tougher for the hosts when they play China in the cup semi final. Japan play Thailand in the other bracket.

“China were heads and shoulders better than everybody else in the field I thought,” said Richards. “We are going to need to reduce our errors tomorrow and make the most of what ball we have. Make sure that we protect that ball and not let them turn us over. China are a big team like Japan so we need to put them on the ground quickly and cut off their attacking space.

“China like to play out wide and I don’t think they attack the ruck in the same way Japan does. We did a good job of sealing off the ball today against Japan so if we can get our halfbacks over the ball quicker we should have more possession.

“We need to play like we did in the second half against Japan. We need to cut China’s attacking space down for 14 minutes. It’s difficult to do but at this level it’s essential. We also need to be a bit more accurate with the ball and capitalise on the breaks when we have them as you don’t get many,” Richards concluded.

Singapore will play Uzbekistan in the first plate semi final followed by Guam versus Sri Lanka in the second. Japan will play Thailand in the other cup semi final. Match action starts tomorrow at 11.00am an Hong Kong will face China at 12.06

Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Date: 2-3 September, 2016
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: Free
More info: public entry via Happy Valley infield, via the tunnel near the HK Racing Museum
Live stream: http://www.youtube.com/c/AsiaRugbylive/live

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Hong Kong Unbeaten at Asian Sevens Day One

Hong Kong looked the class of the men’s competition, as they advanced to the cup semi-finals finishing day one undefeated and without conceding a point against their pool B opponents, beating Malaysia 36-0, Chinese Taipei 47-0 and Sri Lanka 22-0. They’ll face South Korea at 13:34.

A solid first day ended with the a highly convincing win over second seeds Sri Lanka. Hong Kong’s line speed and defensive effort were good, putting every Sri Lankan possession under severe pressure while keeping Sri Lanka’s dangerous pace men penned deep in their half.

Hong Kong jumped out to 15-0 first half lead after tries from Ryan Meacheam, Leigh Jones and Alex McQueen. Tom McQueen added the final try at the end of regulation to put Hong Kong home 22-0.

Coach Gareth Baber was pleased with his side’s first foray in the region in 2016, saying: “I’m very happy with our performance. You never quite know where you are going into a new season, so it was nice to firstly come up and build on our games throughout the day and, even better, to be put under pressure by a good Sri Lanka team but still come out ahead.

“We were really brave against Sri Lanka. We were aggressive and accurate and deserved that victory. If we can reach that level again tomorrow there is no reason why we can’t progress further,” Baber added.

Hong Kong’s attack was on song as the side posted 105 points on the day – by far the best in the tournament with Sri Lanka and South Korea trailing on 83 and 82 points respectively, but Baber was also pleased with the side’s defensive effort.

“Great to have that clean sheet at the end of the day. Our defence is something we pride ourselves on and I think it says something about the attitude of the group. It’s great to score tries and entertain, but if you can prevent the opposition from building pressure and not allow them areas to dominate, it makes a big statement and I thought we showed that attitude tonight,” Baber added.

Hong Kong will need more of the same in tomorrow’s match to bypass a fast and physical South Korea. “Korea are a good team,” said Baber. “We know them well and they have a very good outfit here this weekend. They are physical and fast but we are playing at a good level and I’m sure that they will be looking over their shoulders as well at us.”

“The players know what is ahead of them and what we need to do. We’ll go about that the way we always do. We have a system and a way we want to play and we had the right attitude today,” Baber said.

China were the surprise finishers at the top of Pool A after beating Japan 12-10 in their season opener before edging South Korea 19-17 in their final pool match. China will play Sri Lanka in tomorrow’s first cup semi-final.

Japan featured a side full of unseasoned university talent this weekend as they opted to give a well-deserved rest to their first-choice seven after finishing in fourth place at the Rio Olympics.

The inexperience showed as Japan was routed to the Plate competition where they will play Chinese Taipei. The early glitch could make Japan’s title defence that much harder as Hong Kong found out to their detriment last season when they fell to the Plate in the opener in Qingdao. Singapore and Malaysia will feature in a cross-Causeway clash in the other Plate semi final.

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Anna Richards Picks Experienced Women’s Squad

Two years ago, at the first ever hosting of an Asia Rugby Sevens Series event in Hong Kong, the HK women’s team beat Japan in the semi-finals to reach their first ever Cup final, losing there to China 38-7.

Women’s Sevens coach Anna Richards is hoping to capitalise on home field advantage again as the ARW7s opens today at the HK Football Club. Richards has picked an experienced side for this week’s competition with the objective of going one step further at team’s home event and lifting the trophy..

“Marky (Komar, Women’s Sevens assistant coach), and I are very happy with the make-up of the side. We had almost everyone to choose from and we chose the side we thought would get us a win in the first leg,” said Richards as the squad trained. The squad has a familiar feel to it with captain Christy Cheng Ka-chi once again leading from the front while Aggie Poon Pak-yan and Natasha Olson-Thorne will provide a potent force out wide.

Hong Kong are the second seeds in Pool A tomorrow behind Japan and ahead of Singapore and Guam. Pool B features China, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

While Hong Kong beat Japan in their last outing at the HK Women’s Rugby Sevens in March, Richards says the stakes have grown for all the teams in the intervening months and expects a stiffer challenge from the Asian champions tomorrow who will be looking to improve on their disappointing Olympics where they finished tenth.

“We’re six months down the track from that win, and Japan have brought their top side here this weekend. They are no longer a core team on the international series so like all the teams here they will need to finish in the top two in the Asian Series to gain entry to the Women’s World Series qualifiers. I see a lot of their top girls in their squad for this weekend, which is what we want. It’s always good to play Japan no matter what and we want to face their best.”

A strong day one will be essential and Richards is pleased that the opportunity will come in front of a friendly audience. “It is always nice to start a competition like this at home. It is only our third tournament of the year so the girls are excited. We have done a lot of training, but haven’t played in a lot of tournaments. The girls are keen to get out there. They love to play in Hong Kong in front of their families,” said Richards.

A positive start is a priority for Richards who recalled that Hong Kong’s impressive finish in 2014 was nearly derailed by a sluggish start. “In 2014 we had a poor first day. We just snuck into the semis on goal difference as we drew with Thailand. Then on day two we had a great win over Japan but didn’t do so well against China in the final.

“That was the first time the girls had won silver, but I would like to emulate last year’s Season opener in Qingdao when we played really well to win our first Cup on the Series.” Hong Kong beat China convincingly in the final 24-15 in Qingdao to claim their first ever Asia Rugby Sevens Series event title. “Qingdao was really a watershed moment for the girls and I would like to carry on from there,” said Richards.

The Asian Sevens Series serves a qualifier for the global qualification tournament for the Women’s World Sevens Series with invites handed out to the top two finishers.

Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad (Asia Rugby Sevens Series – Hong Kong): Cheng Ka-Chi, Christy (Captain); Natasha Olson-Thorne (Vice Captain); Nam Ka-Man; Candy Cheng Tsz-Ting; Aggie Poon Pak-Yan; Sham Wai-Sum; Colleen Tjosvold; Kwong Sau-Yan; Li Nim-Yan, Melody; Chong Ka-Yan, Adrienne Garvey, Yuen Lok-Yee.

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Kenya 34-10 Hong Kong

Kenya thrashed Hong Kong in Nairobi, 34-10 easing up in the second half or the scoreboard could have looked a lot worse for the visitors such was the home side’s superiority. As their Sevens team has shown on the World Sevens Series with their inaugural win last season Kenyan rugby is vibrant and full of powerful skilled players.

For Hong Kong it was a pretty abject performance full of far too many basic rugby and unforced errors gifting the Kenyans easy ball. That the tour is taking place at all is good news, but the scheduling just before the Asian Sevens Series rather than just after meant that far too many of Hong Kong’s key players weren’t on the pitch. We complain that teams don’t respect us when they send understrength sides to Hong Kong, yet here we are doing the same to Kenya.

“Today’s match was not dissimilar to Tuesday’s loss (28-14 to Kenya A). We looked like a side that haven’t played together and we struggled to put any constructive phases together. They scored 3 or 4 tries purely as a result of us turning the ball over. At this level you get punished for those errors and that was the case,” said coach Leigh Jones making the same excuses as in many of Hong Kong’s recent loses. “It is just getting guys used to playing under this type of pressure. At the moment, the step up is too much for some of them, which forces a large number of errors. But the only answer is to expose them to this level of rugby more often.” Talk about stating the obvious, so why then is this Hong Kong’s first ‘tour’ against non-Asian opposition since 2012? The players can only play against the opponents the HK Rugby Union picks for them.

The test match was effectively over by half time as the visitors conceded two tries and two penalties in the opening forty minutes to hand Kenya an unassailable 20-3 lead at the break. Hong Kong’s only reply came from a late penalty by Matt Rosslee after the centre’s committed chase of fly-half Liam Owen’s booming up-and-under from the Kenyan 22-metre line put the defence under pressure.

Rosslee and Owens marked their international debuts today with four other newly capped players joining the fray from the bench in the second half.

Kenya added two more tries after play resumed to put the game further out of reach. Winger Darwin Mukidzu was a one-man wrecking crew as he paced his side with a perfect six goals from six attempts (two penalties and four conversions), while setting up Kenya’s third try before claiming the fourth.

The scrum was perhaps the only bright spot for the visitors, with Hong Kong’s eight competing well, including in the second half, when hooker Alexander Post, lock Mike Parfitt and flanker Joey Cheung Ho-yin all came on to earn their first caps. The forwards were unable to match that performance in the lineout however, damaging their hopes of playing an old fashioned structured possession game and slowing down their opponents.

Hugo Stiles made it on late in the match as Jones ensured all of Hong Kong’s potential debutants saw the pitch. The new caps accounted for all of Hong Kong’s points when Stiles crossed for his first test try late in the match as Hong Kong took full advantage of a yellow card against Kenya in the 60th minute to camp out on the Kenyan five-metre line. Liam Owens nearly scored in the corner, but showed good awareness and off-loaded the ball to his long-time U20s backline partner Stiles for the try. Rosslee added a nice conversion from the touchline to bring the final score to 34-10 to Kenya.

The result will likely see the two sides swap places in the World Rugby rankings after Hong Kong entered the test ranked 22nd trailed by Kenya at 24.

Watching the match stream it was massively frustrating to see Hong Kong continue to make basic unforced handling errors. The All-Blacks have shown for a decade that ball skills and being comfortable with ball in hand are the way to win modern rugby matches. The vast improvements that teams like Argentina and Kenya have made in recent years is because they have taken this lesson to heart.

So as a fan it’s sad to see that despite being far better funded than both those countries we continue to lose games because of our unforced basic handling errors. Losing because you are outplayed by a better team on the day is one thing, continually losing important games year after year because we gift the opponents the ball is getting really frustrating.

Hong Kong SAR v Kenya:
1. Ben Higgins, 2. Jamie Tsang, 3. Jack Parfitt, 4. Adrian Griffiths, 5. Fin Field, 6. Nick Hewson (Captain), 7. Mathew Lamming, 8. Dan Falvey, 9. Adam Rolston, 10. Liam Owens*, 11. Charles Higson-Smith, 12. Tyler Spitz, 13. Matt Rosslee*, 14. Jamie Robinson, 15. Ed Rolston. Reserves: 16. Alex Post*, 17. Alex Ng Wai-Shing, 18 Adam Fullgrabe, 19. Mike Parfitt*, 20. Tony Wong, 21. Joey Cheung Ho-Yin*, 22. Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, 23. Hugo Stiles*.
*First Hong Kong Cap

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Kenya A 24-18 Hong Kong Select

Hong Kong’s Select XV, with eight players marking their senior debuts, lost to Kenya A 24-18 in Nairobi in the opening encounter of their two match tour.

The Kenya ‘A’ team featured some familiar names to those who watch sevens rugby, with the side led by Kenya’s sevens captain Innocent Simiyu and featuring sevens internationals Patrice Agunda, Mike Agevi and Dan Sikuta.

HK coach Leigh Jones’s pre-tour assessment of the opposition, when he summed up the two encounters as a test of Hong Kong’s collective organisation versus Kenya’s individual flair, proved correct with Kenya scoring several tries off counter attacks from deep within their own territory, including scoring twice in quick succession to open up the game shortly after half-time.

Hong Kong enjoyed the more positive start, attacking from deep early on to put the hosts under sustained pressure in the early stages. A series of minor miscues and unforced errors left the Kenyans’ dangerous attack stuttering and Hong Kong took full advantage of the gifted possession putting in sustained drives and penning Kenya deep in its half before the pressure told in the 20 minute. Winger Conor Hartley collected the ball off a driving attacking lineout deep in Kenya’s territory to barrel across the tryline for the first points of the match. The difficult touchline conversion attempt from Kjestrup was no good leaving Hong Kong 5-0 up.

Fiercely committed in defence, the intensity of the Kenyan tackling put the visitors on the back foot as Hong Kong began to concede possession. Late in the half, fullback Mike Avegi put the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty to close the gap to 5-3. Hong Kong replied well moving the ball methodically up field and forcing the Kenyans into conceding a second penalty for Kjestrup who struck it well pushing Hong Kong ahead 8-3.

In an early warning sign for the visitors the game started to get loose as the half wore on with Hong Kong’s accuracy suffering as a result. The forwards responded again with another massive effort from Hong Kong’s scrum forcing the Kenyans to concede a kickable penalty that Kjestrup slotted home to push the lead to 11-3.

In injury time, the Kenyans ignited with winger Cyprian Kuto breaking away for a late try from deep in his own half. Avegi’s conversion was good and Kenya trailed 11-10 going into the break.

Kenya book-ended that momentum building score with another to start the second half as reserve back Samson Onsomu collected the ball off a turnover before tearing away for another lengthy try against the run of play. Scrumhalf Kelvin Masai was on target with his conversion as Kenya took its first lead 17-11.

Moments later, Kenya struck again from deep with Kuto securing his brace after capitalising on an overthrown lineout on his five-metre line. 95 metres, a clean pair of heels and a second Masai conversion later and Hong Kong were left trailing 24-11 after a display of individual skills.

Hong Kong battled back with reserve front rower Jack Parfitt scoring the riposte. Matthew Rosslee made the conversion to bring the visitors back within a converted try at 24-18 with fifteen minutes remaining but despite opportunities to draw level Hong Kong couldn’t cross the line before time expired.

After the match Jones commented “I’m never too happy with a loss but it was a worthwhile game. There is a lot to be pleased with. We controlled the first half and created several chances that we weren’t able to finish today. In the second half they hit us with those two breakaway tries and their tails were up. It was pretty textbook in many ways to what we said before the tour. If your accuracy isn’t there or if you slip off the tackles with these guys they have the power and pace to make you pay and that was the case.”

“The experiment in coming here to look at guys under test pressure was a success and we got a lot from it. Now we’ll look to regroup and work on some of our accuracy issues and lick our wounds for the test,” Jones concluded.

Eight Hong Kong players made their senior squad debuts last night including Premiership standouts Ben Roberts and Matthew Rosslee, both of whom will likely win their first caps in Saturday’s test. Also among the new faces was former U20s captain Mike Parfitt, who formed a locking duo with Fin Field playing in just his second senior match. U20s sevens captain Hugo Stiles started at fullback while his long-time backline partner Liam Owens came off the reserves bench in the second half.

“I’m really pleased with the young lads. They performed well. Mike Parfitt and Fin Field were strong in the second row and Liam Owens did well when he came on. Young Hugo Stiles at fullback showed the class that he has,” said Jones.

Hong Kong Sevens players are not involved in the tour as they train for the upcoming Asia Rugby Sevens Series which kicks off on 2 September at HK Football Club.

Hong Kong Select:
1. Adam Fullgrabe, 2. Jamie Tsang, 3. Rohan Cook, 4. Mike Parfitt*, 5. Fin Field, 6. Tony Wong, 7. Joey Cheung Ho-Yin*, 8. Nick Hewson (Captain), 9. Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, 10. Jason Kjestrup*, 11. Conor Hartley*, 12. Jamie Robinson, 13. Matt Rosslee*, 14. Jonny Rees, 15. Hugo Stiles*. Reserves: 16. Ben Roberts*, 17. Ben Higgins, 18. Jack Parfitt, 19. Dan Falvey, 20. Matt Lamming, 21. Charlie Higson-Smith, 22. Liam Owens*, 23. Adam Rolston
* on debut

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Hong Kong on Tour in Kenya

Hong Kong takes on Kenya today in Nairobi as part of it’s first non-Asian fifteen-a-side tour since 2012. The sides currently ranked 22and 24 in the world respectively will play a two match series with the second game an official test match taking place on the 27 August.

Coach Leigh Jones 28-man squad for the tour features a majority of the members of the new Elite Rugby Programme, Hong Kong’s first ever professional programme for fifteens rugby, and several U20 players. Back row forward Nick Hewson will captain the tour party.

Although 22 top players are unavailable Jones added “Kenya is an important opportunity to examine these players at effectively a test level. It will be a fair step up from what they are used to at club level and we will see how they adjust”.

The four U20 players named in the squad, forwards Alexander Post and Mike Parfitt and backs Hugo Stiles and Liam Owens, will be hoping to make their full debut and join Finlay Field, another U20s veteran who made his senior debut versus South Korea earlier this year.

“It’s great to have the young guys involved. In the past we haven’t been able to keep tabs on them or influence their rugby or physical development and ultimately they lose out on three years of preparation. Recently we have started to reverse that trend. We are working hard to maintain ties with our top young players both in Hong Kong and overseas to ensure that they are involved at a reasonable playing level and provide them with solid programmes while monitoring their progress,” Jones said.

“The tour will give these players an opportunity to acquire a senior international cap in the second game, but it also provides them with some important exposure and makes them feel they are a part of something,” said tour manager Dai Rees.

“The players have trained hard all summer and want to represent Hong Kong. All of them are still a couple of years off of finishing university but we hope their inclusion will encourage more and more kids to return or even stay in Hong Kong. This will not only benefit the international side but the domestic league as well,” Rees added.

The remainder of the squad is drawn from players within the Elite Rugby Programme, including several players on the cusp of Hong Kong eligibility, among those is Valley standout Matthew Rosslee, who will become eligible during the tour and looks likely to return from Africa with his first senior cap. Hong Kong Cricket Club hooker Ben Roberts is another soon-to-be eligible player from the domestic leagues likely to earn his first cap on tour.

“Tours like this send an important message to players that if you make the effort, if you come back, participate and commit yourselves you can be selected for Hong Kong.” said Rees who added “Kenya and Zimbabwe regularly feature in the final repechage for Rugby World Cup. We are targeting to reach that stage again for 2019, so it is advantageous to measure ourselves against our potential opposition. We have played Zimbabwe recently in the Cup of Nations so this is a great opportunity to front up against Kenya”.

Jones is under no illusions about the challenges: “We want to win of course, but we are travelling effectively without 22 first-class players and Kenya are a big, athletic outfit. They have lots of pace and individual power. I think it will come down to our collective strength as opposed to their individuality and I’m interested to see if we can be organised enough on the pitch to nullify their threats.”

Hong Kong previously played Kenya in Dubai in 2011, winning 44-17 en route to a victory in the four-team tournament that also included Brazil and the UAE.

Hong Kong Team for Tour of Kenya
Adam Fullgrabe, Adam Rolston, Adrian Griffiths, Alex Ng Wai-Shing, Alexander Post, Ben Higgins, Ben Roberts, Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, Charles Higson-Smith, Conor Hartley, Daniel Falvey, Edmund Rolston, Finlay Field, Hugo Stiles, Jack Parfitt, Michael Parfitt, Jamie Robinson, Jamie Tsang, Jason Kjestrup, Jonny Rees, Liam Owens, Matthew Lamming, Matthew Rosslee, Nick Hewson (Captain), Cheung Ho-Yin, Rohan Cook, Tony Wong Ho-Yeung, Tyler Spitz.

Additional reporting and photos HKRU

Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2016

The first leg of the Asian Sevens Series 2016 takes place in Hong Kong on the 2-3 September at the Hong Kong Football Club. The annual tournament comprises the Asian Sevens Mens Series and the Asian Sevens Womens Series and features the current top eight Asian countries in men’s and women’s 7s to decide Asia’s predominant team. This year’s series features three tournaments in Hong Kong, Seoul (24-24 September) and Columbo (15-16 October).

After their strong showing at the Olympics, Japan will be hot favourites in both the men’s and women’s eight team tournaments but Hong Kong will be looking to raise their game and make them work hard.

The men’s tournament features:
Pool A: Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore
Pool B: Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei

The women’s tournament features:
Pool C: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam
Pool D: China, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka

Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Date: 2-3 September, 2016
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: Free (tbc)
More info: public entry via Happy Valley infield, via the tunnel near the HK Racing Museum

Hong Kong Ready For Rugby 7s Olympic Repechage Challenge

The winner-take-all sixteen team Olympic Games repechage tournament in Monaco this weekend (18-19 June) will produce the 12^th and final team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Rugby Sevens competition.

After reaching the World Rugby World Sevens Series qualifier final at the Hong Kong Sevens in April, Hong Kong have been seeded as the top non-World Sevens Series team in Monaco, topping Pool D ahead of Spain, Mexico and South Korea. World Series veterans Samoa, Russia and Canada head the other three pools.

Coach Gareth Baber has selected an experienced squad with 11 of the 12-man team from the Asian qualifiers in November retained. The squad includes seven of the 12 players that reached the qualifier final at the Hong Kong Sevens last April. With some lingering injury concerns, the squad will travel with 13 players with the final 12-man squad to be named later in Monaco.

Baber has given the nod to up-and-comers Calvin Hunter and the 21-year old Eric Kwok Pak Nga, including them in the travel squad to Monaco. Kwok is in line to potentially mark his Hong Kong debut if he is included in the final 12 for this weekend. Hunter has had several senior squad selections on the Asian series in recent years but will potentially make his 7s debut in the Olympic qualification campaign in Monaco.

Captain Max Woodward, who was held out of the Hong Kong Sevens and the Asia Rugby Championship campaign to rest an ailing quad, returns to the squad as does winger Tom McQueen, whose recovery from a shoulder injury picked up in the domestic Premiership season remains on track.

Rowan Varty, Yiu Kam Shing, Jamie Hood and Alex McQueen add weight to a seasoned squad, while second-generation stars Cado Lee Ka To, Jack Capon, Chris Maize and Michael Coverdale are also included.

“It’s great to have Max and Tom back. They’re both good sevens players and big leaders in our team. They were born to play on stages like these and I hope there are more opportunities for them to do so,” said Baber.

“Both Calvin and Eric came up through the Under 20s sevens and have been training with the senior squad at the HKSI for years. They bring a bit of freshness, innocence even, to the side in just wanting to go out and play rugby. I’m excited to see how they will progress in a pressure tournament like this.

“Calvin has been there and done that – and equipped himself well. He made some mistakes, but he is learning from them and I think Eric will be in a similar position, but we all know that Eric is capable of producing good rugby for us when we need it,” Baber added.

Woodward is also confident in the squad saying, “We’ve kept a core group of players so our preparations have been good. Calvin and Eric have been training with us for a while and have improved a lot. They haven’t had much game time or a chance to show themselves, so it will be good for them get stuck in and gain experience.”

Woodward is also pleased with Hong Kong’s pool saying, “It’s good to have three teams we’ve played before in our pool as it can be a scary prospect playing teams you don’t know much about. Spain, Korea and Mexico are all good sides – we know this – but they’re also sides we’ve beaten before so we can take some confidence going in,” Woodward said.

The captain isn’t fazed by the prospect of meeting World Series core teams in Monaco either: “We know we have the game to challenge any team and win matches, but it’s about our consistency and hitting our performance markers every time we play. Regardless of what happens there isn’t really any pressure on us. These are the tournaments we want to play in. We don’t have enough chances like this so we’re excited to give it a go and see what happens,” added Woodward.

Before that prospect can be realised, Hong Kong will need to finish at or near the top of the pool. Spain poses the toughest challenge but Hong Kong will be buoyed by their 12-7 win over the Spaniards in last year’s World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier.

“This squad is experienced,” said Baber, “even the guys with few caps are part of the HKSI programme. We have some changes in personnel with the eligibility issue around what type of squad we can field, but the players know what they need to do and we set high standards for ourselves,” added Baber.

Baber knows that advancing at the top of the pool only earns Hong Kong the opportunity to play against teams like Samoa, who finished in the top ten on the World Series this season and collected their first Series win since 2012 in Paris just last month, but it is a prospect he relishes.

“That is where we want to be. We prepare the exact same way for a game like that as we would for any other game in the pool or on the Asian Series. We want to test ourselves and the World Series is the standard we want to be hitting.

“If we can play like we know we can, then there is an opportunity for us to nick results and push ourselves forward. But we need more opportunities like Monaco. What we can get done in two days of an international tournament like this is worth six months on the training field,” concluded Baber.

On the verge of his first appearance for Hong Kong young flyer Eric Kwok Pak Nga is trying to contain his excitement. “It has always been my dream to play for Hong Kong. I have a few goals in my rugby career. I want to represent Hong Kong, make the squad for the Hong Kong Sevens and of course represent Hong Kong in an Olympics. I have a chance to make two of those goals come true this weekend and I hope I can grab it. I’m excited, a bit nervous maybe, but I’m tying not to put myself under too much pressure. There are a few guys out with injuries, so I just want to make the best of this opportunity if I’m selected.

“I think my finishing and my stepping is one of my strongest skills. Hopefully I can contribute to the team offensively and also contribute to the team environment and bring my passion for the game and for the team into the competition environment. Even I’m not the most experienced guy I want to have an impact on the team,” said Kwok.

Olympic Repechage Tournament fixtures are here

Hong Kong 7s Squad for Olympic Repechage Tournament in Monaco
Max Woodward (Captain), Rowan Varty, Yiu Kam Shing, Jamie Hood, Alex Mcqueen, Tom McQueen, Lee Ka To, Calvin Hunter, Kwok Pak Nga, Jack Capon, Michael Coverdale, Chris Maize, Mark Wright.