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Rugby World Cup Begins in Paris

The Rugby World Cup 2023 begins in Paris today, but you’d be hard pressed to know it. The tournament appears invisible in a city preparing for the 2024 Olympics.

Walking down the iconic Champs-Élysées – which has a fair incline that is not apparent when watching the Tour de France cyclists race along it at 50mph – the Rugby World Cup doesn’t appear to exist. bc approached several people and asked if they knew the World Cup was starting today, sadly none did.

Why are the banners on the Champs-Élysées lampposts promoting Paris’s IT week not the World Cup?

The only obvious indication of the tournament’s presence in the city is the doubling of hotel and hostel prices and bars and restaurants increasing their prices for game day.

There is a Rugby Village at the Place de la Concorde but it doesn’t open until this afternoon (and only on select days afterwards) so there really is nowhere for visiting or local or new fans to gather and meet up.

A big part of rugby is the social camaraderie between fans, yet the tournament organisers seem to have done nothing to build awareness and interest in the game among new fans . It feels like a missed opportunity, especially as the recent women’s football World Cup showed how a country can be transformed by a tournament.

Hong Kong Announce Squad For Asia Rugby Championship Final

The Hong Kong Rugby Union announced the men’s XV to face South Korea in the finale of the 2023 Asia Rugby Championship at Hong Kong Football Club (kick off at 17.00). It is a largely settled squad with only two changes to the starting line-up that hammered Malaysia in last week’s opener 88-9.

“Consistency is key. Last week, players from 1 to 15 all performed, and there were some real selection headaches this week as we expected. Certain guys really stood up against Malaysia but there are also other guys we wanted to see more of as well,” said Hong Kong China coach Lewis Evans.

With both Hong Kong and South Korea returning heavy wins over Malaysia, the preamble to Saturday’s fixture has left little for observers to rely on when judging form.

“Expect the unexpected is what we told the team,” added Evans. “We are coming in confident, and have things in place to combat what South Korea can offer, but ultimately it comes down to us backing up our performance and getting consistency in our game.”

That desire for consistency has left the starting XV largely unchanged from that against Malaysia. Captain Tom Hill retains his spot at inside centre while his vice-captain and club teammate Patrick Jenkinson reclaims his second-row starting spot from Malaysia.

Prop forward Ash Hyde has dropped out of the matchday 23 after struggling with illness in the conditions against Malaysia, with veteran Ben Higgins earning the start on his 25^th appearance. It is the only change in the starting pack with Higgins joined by Alex Post (who scored a natural brace versus Malaysia) and Fai Solomona in the front row. Jenkinson will again partner with sevens squad member Callum McCullough in the locks, with an unchanged back row of Luke van der Smit at No.8 and Sam Tsoi Kin-san and James Sawyer on the flanks.

In the backline, fullback Paul Altier is forced to make way for utility back Nate DeThierry after picking up a red card in the game versus Malaysia.

“Paul was really good under the high ball against Malaysia and we expect to see a lot of that from South Korea. Nate is a very confident player and is comfortable at 15 having played there for us during the repechage,” said Evans.

DeThierry started in the centres last week. His vacated outside centre spot will be occupied by Harry Sayers who started last week’s tie on the bench. Jamie Lauder and Gregor McNeish resume their half-back pairing with Seb Brien and Charles Higson-Smith retaining their spots on the wings after combining for six tries against Malaysia.

Despite the successful performance against Malaysia, Evans has opted to give opportunities to more new players in the reserves. With a strong forwards battle expected against South Korea, the bench has a 5-3 forwards to backs split with two potential first caps waiting in the wings in front rower Matt Keay and back Dylan White.

White moves into the matchday 23 with a chance at collecting his first Hong Kong China cap and provides added depth at fly-half and fullback, while Bryn Phillips and Will Panday also retain their places in the 23-man squad for the South Korea test.

“With the likes of Dylan and some of the other players we are starting a slow transition into that environment. Come November, players like that will need bigger opportunities and we want to start getting them involved now in the international environment, so that when they get the call up to start which probably comes in the next 12 or 18 months, they will be ready,” Evans added.

Keay, Keelan Chapman and Zac Cinnamond add to a deep supply of front rowers while former Hong Kong captain Josh Hrstich is also returning to international action after suffering a calf strain in May. He will start off the bench providing back-row support alongside Pierce Mackinlay-West, who scored one of Hong Kong’s 13 tries last week after coming on in the second half.

“Josh is back in form and having him back in training has had a huge impact on the squad. He has completed his fitness tests and is confident and capable to play international rugby this week. Our back row combination played really well and made this a difficult selection, but with strong players like Josh and Pierce coming off the bench we can maintain that intensity and physicality we are after in the second half against Korea,” noted Evans.

“The coaches were really proud of the way the boys conducted themselves versus Malaysia. South Korea are a different beast and we know that. We need to manage them in the set piece and at the contact area and they have a very strong kicking game that we will need to deal with as well. But we are entering this game with confidence and have had a really good week of training. The boys look sharp. They are ready,” said Evans.

Can’t stand the rain? Watch the live stream on HKRU TV.

Hong Kong, China squad versus South Korea, HKFC 17.00 17 June 2023:

Hong Kong v South Korea
Asia Rugby Championship 2023
Date: 5pm, 17 June, 2023
Venue: Hong Kong Football Club
Tickets: tbc

Additional reporting, images: Asia Rugby, HKrugby

ARMC 2023: Hong Kong 88-9 Malaysia

Hong Kong men’s XV marked its first home match since June 2019 with an emphatic 88-9 win over Malaysia in the Asia Men’s Rugby Championship at a packed-out Hong Kong Football Club.

Seb Brien paced all scorers with five tries while Hong Kong scored 13 tries in total to push a 45-6 lead at the break into the final 79-point margin in front of over 1,200 fans.

“We are delighted to mark the return of men’s international rugby to Hong Kong for the first time since June 2019,” said Chris Brooke, Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union after the match.

“This is another milestone in Hong Kong rugby’s recovery from the pandemic. Today was a great celebration and the support from the rugby community throughout what has been a challenging period has been incredible. The team has picked up right where it left off and I am sure that next week will be an electric finale for the Asia Rugby Championship,” added Brooke.

https://www.youtube.com/live/Uh7W4Zb2bmw?feature=share

Asia Rugby Championship 2023 – Hong Kong, China vs Malaysia (https://www.youtube.com/live/Uh7W4Zb2bmw?feature=share)

Hong Kong’s first men’s home test in four years brought out a reaction in the squad as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 90 seconds through a penalty from fly-half Gregor McNeish, currently playing for VPC Andorra. That lead soon ballooned to 31 points by the half-hour marker as scrumhalf Jamie Lauder, Brien and No.8 Luke van der Smith added first quarter tries before Malaysia fly-half Fairuz Ab Rahman notched his side’s first points with a penalty after 17 minutes to make the score 24-3.

Poor kicking from hand and general indecision plagued Malaysia throughout as they continued to serve up possession for Hong Kong. The visitors could only muster one further foray in to the Hong Kong half in the early going when fullback Paul Altier, currently playing for Stade Olympique Chamberien in France, was sin-binned for an intentional knock-on, foiling a dangerous intercept attack from Malaysia.

Hong Kong would score two short-handed tries despite their opponents’ numerical advantage with McNeish crossing the whitewash followed by lock Callum McCullough, who alongside Seb Brien and Pierce Mackinlay-West was one of three sevens athletes to score today. McNeish’s fifth conversion brought the score to 38-6 before a relieved Altier exited the bin.

A moment of panic by the Malaysian winger with the ball in his own dead ball area set the stage for Hong Kong’s sixth score as a great rush defence produced ball for Brien’s second score and gave Hong Kong, China a 45-6 advantage at the break.

Malaysia’s hopes of stabilizing were dashed at the restart when van der Smit nearly ran the ball back for another rapid-fire score from the kick-off. He was clawed down at the line but Brien popped up with ball in hand shortly thereafter to complete his hat trick as Hong Kong passed 52-6.

Richmond hooker Alex Post then scored back-to-back tries at the base of Hong Kong’s driving maul, capping a highly efficient day for the forwards who also stole two lineouts from Malaysia this afternoon.

Post’s second try brought the score to 62-6 after McNeish missed his first conversions of the day, going eight for eight from the tee until that moment. Coach Lewis Evans then emptied his bench down the final stretch with forward Tang Man-chung earning his first senior cap for Hong Kong, China.

In the final quarter, Altier was shown a red card for a poor challenge in the ruck leaving his side a man down for the remainder. Hong Kong didn’t look any worse for wear as they added a third short-handed try from close to the line with another sevens athlete, Pierce Mackinlay-West, scoring to push the lead to 67-6.

Brien then collected back-to-back tries to run his personal tally to five and bring the lead to 81-6 before Malaysia’s Nazvi Fitri slotted a penalty to bring the score to 81-9. Reserve scrumhalf Bryn Phillips added an exclamation point to Hong Kong’s big win with Hong Kong’s 13th try of the game at the hooter pushing the final score to 88-9 after a conversion from Nate DeThierry.

“That was so much fun,” said a delighted Brien post-match. “It’s really nice to get back to fifteens rugby in Hong Kong and it was an awesome team performance today, which was exactly what we wanted. Sometimes games like that can get off script, but we just kept building that momentum for next week. We have quite a new squad so to have a performance like that ahead of next week is huge,” he added.

It was also an excellent debut as captain for centre Tom Hill in only his fifth appearance for Hong Kong: “That was a really pleasing performance,” said Hill.

“It is awesome to be playing rugby again in Hong Kong in front of our home crowd and it is a huge honour to captain this team. We’re just looking forward to next week now. The Asia Rugby Championship is really important. We have won it the last few years and we want to keep winning it and go on to the next level,” added Hill.

Today also marked the debut home test for coach Lewis Evans who was equally complimentary about his side’s performance saying: “It was a very comprehensive performance. We were focused on that more than the win and the boys delivered.

“We knew Malaysia would come out with intent and energy and I think we controlled that and took our chances well. So very positive and very pleased with that result. There will be a lot of headaches for selection against South Korea coming our way,” he added.

Additional reporting and images: HKRU

Asia Rugby Championship 2023

The 12th edition of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship kicks off in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 23 May, with Japan, Hong Kong, and Kazakhstan competing for the title of Champions of Asia. The winner and runner-up will earn qualification for the new World Rugby three-tier annual global women’s international 15s competition WXV.

The Asia Rugby Women’s Championship began in 2006 with hosts China winning the inaugural tournament in Kunming. Since then, Kazakhstan has won five times, Japan four times, and China and Hong Kong China once each.

This year’s Asia Rugby Champion will qualify for WXV2 in 2023, and the runner-up will compete in WXV3. Additionally, WXV will provide a pathway to Rugby World Cup 2025, with at least the top five non-qualified teams at the end of WXV 2024 earning qualification for the tournament.

The first match on May 23rd will feature Hong Kong (ranked 15th) taking on hosts Kazakhstan (ranked 19th) at the Almaty Sports Training Complex, Abaya Almaty at 16:00 (+6 GMT) the winner will face Japan in the final on May 28th at the same venue at 15:00 local time.

The Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2023 will be live-streamed on Asia Rugby’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, AsiaRugbyLive.

WXV 2

Asia Rugby Women’s Champion will compete in the WXV 2 competition which will consist of six teams, playing in a cross-pool format. Participating teams for 2023 will include two teams from Europe, the fourth-placed team from the Pacific Four Series, alongside one team from Oceania, Asia and Africa.

The sixth-placed regional position in the WXV 2 competition at the end of each season will be relegated to WXV 3.

WXV 3

Runner-up of the competition we play in WXV 3 which will also be played as a cross-pool format, made up of six teams: two from Europe and one from Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America. The regional position of the winner of WXV 3 will be promoted to WXV 2 and the bottom team will play off against the next best-ranked side, according to the World Rugby Women’s Rankings powered by Capgemini on the Monday after the final match of WXV that year.

Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2023

23rd May
Game 1 Hong Kong China v Kazakhstan Live Link
KO 16:00 (2pm HK time)

28th May -Final
Final: Japan v (Winner of Game 1) Live Link
KO 15:00

Hong Kong v Kazakhstan
Asia Rugby Championship 2023
Date: 4pm, 23 May, 2023
Venue: Almaty, Kazakhstan

Additional reporting: Asia Rugby
Images: HKrugby

Beautiful!!!

Beautiful!!!
Hong Kong’s women’s 7s team runout at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time!!

Brilliant!!!
Agnes Tse scores a historic first try for Hong Kong on their Seven’s World Series debut.

image: Takumi Photography

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

Harry Harrison Designed Charity Rugby Balls

300 limited edition Harry Harrison-designed rugby balls have gone on sale to support local charity Rugby For Good.

A renowned local satirical cartoonist, Harrison’s balls feature a dragon and the Hong Kong Stadium and cost $300, order one here.

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

Hong Kong Squads Announced for The Sevens

The Hong Kong Rugby Union has announced experienced women’s and men’s squads for the Hong Kong Sevens.

Experienced co-captains Natasha Olson-Thorne and Melody Li Nim-yan will take the women’s team into its first ever World Rugby Sevens Series tournament this weekend when the Sevens hosts a full Series tournament for the first time in its history.

The team has a largely veteran cast with Nam Ka-man, Stephanie Chan Chor-ki, Jessica Ho Wai-on, Chloe Chan, Maggie Au Yeung Sin-yi and Agnes Tse Wing-kiu joining the co-captains. Rising stars Lam Tsz-yan, Micayla Baltazar, Julia Mba Oyana and Allianz Premiership player Rosie Wright are all included as the women look to use their debut World Series appearance inside the stadium this weekend, and then at the Singapore Sevens, as a stepping stone for the World Rugby Sevens Series qualifiers in South Africa at end April.

Head Sevens coach Paul John spoke about the opportunities and challenges that lie in store, saying: “This is the biggest test the girls have ever had. We have a difficult group but we have to embrace that, learn from it, and take the experience of a lifetime out of this weekend. The biggest challenge is to respect, not fear, our opponents,” said John.

“Hong Kong is a great way to start our progression to the Asian Games. Every player wants to play in that stadium, but it is just the start of an exciting time for the squad. From Friday until the end of April there are three huge tournaments for us to play in, which is brilliant.

“We have to approach it that way as well. The top teams in the world are here this week, and we need to learn from that. It is what we play for; it is why we are professional athletes – to test ourselves against the best – and hopefully the girls will do themselves proud. If they play to the best of their ability they can enjoy it,” said John.

Hong Kong are in Pool A with Series leaders New Zealand, Canada and Team Great Britain. Their first match against New Zealand is on Friday at 14.16.

Hong Kong’s men’s squad is also laden with experience with nine players returning from November’s Sevens including captain Max Woodward – marking his sixth tournament (five times as captain) in 2023.

Hong Kong Rugby’s most capped player, the evergreen Salom Yiu Kam-sing, will celebrate a 12th appearance at the Sevens. This weekend also marks Yiu’s 70th sevens appearance for Hong Kong.

Alex McQueen marks his ninth showing, while senior players Russell Webb and Seb Brien make their fourth appearances at the Hong Kong Stadium. Top finisher Max Denmark makes his third Hong Kong Sevens appearance this weekend. Alessandro Nardoni, Pierce Mackinlay-West and Mak Kwai-chung will also mark their second tournaments.

Two X-factor players have also recovered from injury battles to make debuts in 2023 in Liam Herbert and Hugo Stiles, both of whom were side-lined by injuries for last November’s tournament.

Stiles whose 2022 debut was derailed by a late injury has returned to fitness and will mark his debut Hong Kong Sevens despite being in the squad for several years and having represented Hong Kong, China at two Rugby World Cup Sevens and an Asian Games final already.

Similarly, Herbert has been a fixture in the squad having played in numerous international competitions and now experiencing a first taste of the Hong Kong environment. James Christie and Callum McCullough are also making their first appearance at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in 2023.

“Missing out last year, but getting in this time is a dream come true to be honest as a Hong Kong kid”

“The squad is rugby ready,” said men’s coach Jevon Groves. “It has been a tough selection, and there are some very good players missing out, but over this next month there is more of a view to the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series. We want to give guys opportunity so we can have the most competitive squad we can for the Challengers and to push for a place on the circuit.

“Hong Kong and the Singapore Sevens the week after will show where we are at now. Last November, we showed we could compete in parts, and in parts we were below the standard required, so we are looking for that consistency. The Challenger is not an easy thing to win, it will be tough but we have to allow guys to push for spots.”

“There will be some real competition over the next weeks, but it is very tough for the guys to be told they are not playing in Hong Kong. But for those guys that have been raised on the Hong Kong Sevens this is a fantastic opportunity for them,” Groves said.

Two players raised on the Sevens are Stiles and Christie. The 26-year old Stiles said today that the two had played against each other at U9s level (Christie for Football Club and Stiles for Valley) in the Sevens youth rugby showcase 15 years previous, and now both are coming full circle in 2023.

“Since then, I have not really set foot on the pitch in the stadium, so it is going to be an awesome weekend,” said Stiles, who picked up a neck and shoulder injury shortly before last November’s Sevens.

“Missing out last year, but getting in this time is a dream come true to be honest as a Hong Kong kid,” said Stiles.

Hong Kong are in pool B with France, Team Great Britain and Uruguay in Pool B and will close out the tournament’s opening day against France at 20.33.

image: Takumi Photography

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

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.