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Four Changes as Hong Kong Chase Gold in China

After taking silver in the opening Asian Rugby Sevens Series tournament the Hong Kong men’s sevens squad will be looking to go one better in Huizhou, China (14-15 September) – the second of the three-leg series, which builds up to the Olympic qualifiers in November.

Four players are called up to the men’s squad, which lost to Japan in the final in South Korea, as coach Paul John rotates and looks to freshen up the team. Raef Morrison, Seb Brien, Alex McQueen and Ben Rimene are included in the 13-man travel squad with Rimene the nominated injury replacement for the weekend. Their inclusion sees forwards Kane Boucaut and Toby Fenn, and back Tom McQueen, rested.

The eight-team Series offers no easy groups and Hong Kong face a physical route in Pool B, to a hoped-for cup final appearance, against the Philippines, UAE, and China.

UAE had a muscular debut in Korea, narrowly losing to the Philippines in the plate semi-final before beating Taipei to claim 7th overall.

A motivated China seven, fresh from claiming Bronze in the opener – their first podium finish in nearly a year, are second seeds behind Hong Kong and will prove a stiff test on home ground.

John is confident he has a group suited for the task, saying: “Our squad is strong. This competition is getting more difficult to pick a squad for, now, which is good. There is good competition across the group and we have another 14 or 15 guys training that are not travelling, but are pushing for spaces, and that is what we want.

“The boys were excellent in Korea and got very close to Japan, but we didn’t play as well as we could in the final, and that was a bit disappointing. We want to go as far as we possibly can again this weekend. But there is no use in talking about it, until we have an opportunity to play our first game. We’re only thinking about the UAE and China, our day one opponents.

“China were very good in Korea. They can give us a hard time and we are probably playing UAE at the worst time to get someone like that, in the first game of t tournament. It’s a tough group and we need to be on top of our game to come through,” he added.

Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad (Huizhou, China, 14-15 Sept 2019):

Max Woodward (Captain); Seb Brien*, Michael Coverdale, Jamie Hood, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka-to, Alex McQueen*, Raef Morrison*, Jack Neville, Ben Rimene*, Hugo Stiles, Russell Webb, Yiu Kam-shing.
*Season debut

Additional reporting and images: HKrugby

Talented Youth Pushing for Hong Kong to Shine

There are four changes in the 13-woman squad for the second-leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Huizhou as Hong Kong look to improve on their first-leg bronze medal. Jessica Ho, Amber Tsang Wing-chi and Agnes Tse Wing-kiu coming in as Florence Symonds, Amy Pyle and Lee Tsz-ting are rested.

The youth movement continues as coach Iain Monaghan uses every opportunity to expose Hong Kong’s emerging talent to next-level competition. After a seamless debut from Symonds, who scored a hat trick against Kazakhstan in the bronze medal final, coach Iain Monaghan is set to debut another in a long list of recent National Age Grade (NAG) candidates making senior debuts in forward Chloe Baltazar.

Baltazar is one of a block of Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers players entering the national side and has represented Hong Kong at U18 and U20s sevens level. She is joined in the squad by scrumhalf Jessica Ho Wai-on, one of the original wave of Tigers graduating from age grade to senior rugby in 2017, who earns her first sevens call-up of the season this weekend.

“The young girls bring bags of energy on and off the field, and they are still nowhere near their potential so it’s really exciting to watch them at this level. They all love giving their best to make Hong Kong and their families proud,” said Monaghan.

Monaghan complimented his newest cap Baltazar saying, “Chloe has transitioned well over the summer and played a strong role in the U20s team that won the Asian Series. She brings an edge in our contact tackles and some hard carries from her fifteens experience. She never takes a backward step and I’m pleased she is getting this chance, especially after how hard she worked this summer.”

Captain Melody Li leads the squad with Natasha Olson-Thorne and Nam Ka-man also featured, after successfully returning from injury and delivering impact in Korea. Their defensive skills will be needed with Hong Kong in a challenging group as second seeds in Pool B behind hosts China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. China showed well to start the season, reaching the cup final in Korea before losing 19-5 to Japan. On home ground they enter as early favourites.

“We want a more consistent performance in both halves and to show our hunger and desire to improve on, and back up our strong performances from last week, while affording some new players a chance to show what they can do,” said Monaghan.

“It is a competitive and hard working squad, which is good, because we have some challenging games against improving opponents, who exposed us in Korea when we did not work harder or smarter; we’re looking forward to righting some wrongs from the last tournament,” he added.

Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad (Huizhou, China, 14-15 Sept 2019):

Melody Li Nim-yan (Captain), Natasha Olson-Thorne, Sham Wai-sum, Chloe Baltazar^, Jessica Ho Wai-on*, Au Yeung, Sin-yi; Poon Hoi-yan; Nam Ka-man, Chong Ka-yan, Stephanie Chan Chor-ki, Jessica Eden, Amber Tsang Wing-chi*, Agnes Tse Wing-kiu*
^ First senior sevens cap; *Season debut

Additional reporting and images: HK rugby

Hong Kong Aim to be Crowned Asia Rugby Sevens Champions

Looking to complete a wire-to-wire finish after sweeping the first two legs – beating Sri Lanka in both finals. Hong Kong men’s teams head to Colombo for this weekend’s Sri Lanka Sevens, the final tournament of the 2016 Asia Rugby Sevens Series.

Coach Gareth Baber’s men’s team will clinch first place for the third time in the last five seasons with a top three finish this weekend having comfortably won every cup final this season aided by their main rivals Japan sending untested teams to the previous two legs. In the absence of Japan, Sri Lanka has loomed as the largest threat to Hong Kong’s dominance, a threat that will be even more ominous this weekend when the Lankans play in front of their fervent home supporters in Colombo.

With Mark Wright and the McQueen brothers out of action, Baber has made three changes. Forward Jack Capon comes into the team alongside Tomasi Lawa who is returning from a lengthy injury lay-off. Former U20s sevens player Jason Jeyam has also been handed his senior sevens debut.

“It is good to have Tomasi back,” said Baber. “He picked up a nasty ankle injury before the series last year that kept him out for a lengthy period. He has worked hard on his recovery and it is great to see a player come back and return to play at the same level as before their injury.Tomasi is a great asset in a squad of 12 with his versatility. He can play in either the backs or forwards, is a good ball carrier and strong in the offload. He can also help us win ball in the air with his size.”

Jeyam is set to make his senior debut after returning from university in the United Kingdom. “Jason has been training with the squad since June. He kept in good communication with us while he was away, updating us on his rugby, and he has impressed us since coming back. He has those attributes that you look for in sevens: pace, good spatial awareness and a very good individual skillset.

“He has played a lot at U20s level and was a key member of the successful U20s 7s sides of recent years. It is exciting to see another young player coming through,” Baber added.

Hong Kong’s pool sees South Korea, Malaysia and Japan rounding out the day one opposition. Hong Kong’s first match will be against a weakened Japan team that has fallen to its lowest spot on the series table in recent memory.

“We never underestimate any team and will be treating this Japan side as if it were the same as the one that played in the Olympics. We have our own objectives from the series and want to work on ourselves this weekend. Our focus is on getting the players to recognize what tournaments like this present for them and us, the opportunity to maintain a consistent approach.”

Barring a shock collapse in form, Hong Kong’s previous efforts should see them claim the Asian title. “There is still a chance that we finish outside of number one. Effectively we need to reach the last three. If Sri Lanka were to win the final and we fell to fourth or fifth there is a mathematical chance that they could win the Series,” said Baber, who knows the hosts will be up for the challenge.

“Sri Lanka at home with a sniff of first place will prove a tough environment – the toughest so far on the Series. But this is the type of environment we want to play in. We want to test ourselves and to be put under pressure, to challenge the players to put out their best performance no matter the conditions.”

Knowing the atmosphere that awaits Hong Kong Baber is even more pleased to be handing debuts to Lawa (2016 Series) and Jeyam (senior debut). “It’s one of the pluses of giving those opportunities to Tomasi and Jason. It will present a bit of a new look to the field and gives us the opportunity to develop our guys while posing slightly different questions to what we have done so far.”

The tournament is being live streamed on Asiarugby.com

Hong Kong: Max Woodward (Captain), Jack Capon, Michael Coverdale, Christopher Maize, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka-To, Ben Rimene, Tomasi Lawa, Jason Jeyam, Rowan Varty, Ryan Meacheam, Salom Yiu Kam-Shing.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Asia Sevens Series Korea: Day 1 Results – 24 September, 2016

Hong Kong’s men and women had a good first first day in the second leg of the Asia Sevens Series in Korea with both teams making it through to the Cup semi-final.

All the semi-finals and finals are being live streamed Asia Rugby‘s YouTube channel AsiaRugbyLive

Hong Kong’s women won their first two matches convincingly against Uzbekistan (51-0) and Singapore (24-0) but lost a closely fought final match of the day encounter against Japan 24-12. This though was a vastly improved performance against a team that thrashed them in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. Hong Kong finished second in Pool C and will play China, who easily won Pool D, in the second Cup semi-final on Sunday.

The men also finished second in their pool, after cruising to easy wins over Taiwan (47-5) and Japan (57-0), Hong Kong lost a thrilling match against hosts Korea 28-21 and will also play China in their cup semi-final. While Japan are looking to blood new young university age players, it does devalue the competition and dis-respect the other competitors that their side is not even competitive.

Hong Kong Look for Second Win in Asian Rugby Sevens Series

Hong Kong’s men’s Sevens team will look to continue their winning ways in the second leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Korea this weekend, after a convincing cup win in the first leg held in Hong Kong earlier this month. Coach Gareth Baber has named a largely unchanged squad with forward Mark Wright coming in for James Cunningham in the only change to the side.

“JC [Cunningham] picked up an injury in the first leg and was out of training for a couple of weeks so we felt he wasn’t just right for this leg. Fortunately we were able to call Mark up. Mark is really combative and likes the contact area. He’s hugely experienced having been in numerous Asian Games and qualifiers and he has huge respect amongst the guys and provides good leadership on the pitch. That experience will be important considering we are away in a very tough pool,” said Baber.

Hong Kong are in the ‘pool of death’ sitting atop group A with hosts South Korea – who will test Hong Kong’s mettle playing in front of their home crowd – Japan and Chinese Taipei. Sri Lanka tops pool B ahead of China, Malaysia and Singapore.

“It’s a tough pool. With the way the seedings work from the first tournament Japan ended up with us and Korea. It will be challenging but for us to get the most we can from this competition we want to play as many tough games as possible. Win or lose we want to be challenged,” Baber said.

Baber knows the team will have targets on their backs after claiming the season’s first silverware: “If we show the same form as we did in Hong Kong, we will be fine. Having won we have laid down the challenge for other teams in terms of our levels and from my experience of the Series the other teams will respond to that.”

Japan have strengthened thier side, after crashing to the plate competition in Hong Kong, bringing rangy back Jamie Henry into the side as well as a new group of untested youngsters as they look to build depth for the 2020 Olympics.

“We have to keep our momentum going from the opening leg. Yes we won but it was only the first tournament and we were at home. It was a good start but we need to keep our heads about us and make sure we do enough to stay a step ahead of everyone else,” Baber concluded.

The men’s Series results will determine the Asian teams participating in the Hong Kong Sevens’ World Rugby Sevens Series qualifiers in 2017, with the top two teams advancing to the 12-team qualifier next April. More importantly this year’s Asian champion will also earn an invite to the World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Singapore.

Hong Kong Men’s Seven Squad for Korea Sevens:
Max Woodward (Captain), Mark Wright, Michael Coverdale, Christopher Maize, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka-To, Ben Rimene, Alex Mcqueen, Tom Mcqueen, Rowan Varty, Ryan Meacheam, Salom Yiu Kam-Shing.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Hong Kong Win First Leg of Asia Rugby Sevens

Hong Kong won the opening leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2016 held at the Hong Kong Football Club, defeating Sri Lanka 22-17 in a pulsating final.

It was Hong Kong’s second victory over Sri Lanka in two days after blanking the visitors in their final pool match on Saturday, 22-0. In the final though the Sri Lankans made Hong Kong work much harder jumping out to an early 7-0 lead after the home team had trouble controlling the kick-off. It was the first time that Hong Kong had trailed in any match over the course of the tournament.

Tries from forwards James Cunningham and Chris Maize gave Hong Kong the lead 12-7 at half-time but renewed Sri Lankan pressure from the kick-off led to another early second-half try for the visitors as they drew level at 12-all.

Sri Lanka ramped up the pressure, crossing over for a second try in the opening two minutes of the half to extend their lead to 17-12.

With the final on the line, Hong Kong’s veteran sevens star Rowan Varty combined well with forward Mike Coverdale to bring the ball down cleanly for the first time in the match to give Hong Kong a solid attacking platform.

The hosts quickly moved the ball to the Sri Lanka try-line with Coverdale nearly scoring in the corner before Lee Jones muscled over from phase play in close to put Hong Kong back in the match at 17-all. Player of the tournament Ben Rimene slotted the pressure conversion from the near touch-line to push Hong Kong out to 19-17 with less than two minutes remaining.

Hong Kong maintained the pressure, forcing Sri Lanka to concede a late penalty, which Rimene converted for a 22-17 win over a Sri Lanka team that should figure prominently in the Series.

“It was a good test and Sri Lanka played very well,” said Hong Kong coach Gareth Baber. “Their reaction to the ball was better than ours and their kick-off strategy put us under real pressure. We weren’t accurate enough and in fourteen minutes you lose a few of those and it’s a different game.

“But I’m pleased with what we achieved. We showed common sense and a good rugby brain to get us out of the hole and a good will to win from 12 guys that worked hard all weekend,” Baber added.

He was especially pleased with the consistency shown by his team throughout the weekend: “That’s always big. Every time you go up against tougher and tougher opposition you want to see that in evidence. It is something we’ve talked a lot about in training in terms of improving our ability to go and play against the best in the world. There was a lot of consistency about us this weekend, which gave us that confidence to go out in a tight final to win it out,” Baber said.

Baber is aware that the challenge will only get tougher from here on out: “The next two legs are going to be tough. We have to go to Korea and Sri Lanka and both of those teams featured prominently here. They will be very comfortable on their home soil and we’re going to have to up our game again, but that is the challenge. Every time we go to these tournaments we want to up our level to get past the next one and the next one, that is what drives us all forward in Asian rugby,” Baber concluded.

Hong Kong advanced to the final after beating South Korea 28-14 in the semis, while Sri Lanka beat China 19-17 in a match with three lead changes in the dying minutes.

Hong Kong
Max Woodward, Michael Coverdale, James Cunningham, Lee Jones, Christopher Maize, Rowan Varty, Salom Yiu Kam-shing, Cado Lee Ka-to, Ben Rimene, Alex McQueen, Tom McQueen, Ryan Meacheam.

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.

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