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.
After the individual creativity of Art Week, the wonders of team creativity are on display as Rugby Week 2023 scrums down.
Unfortunately, the traditional rugby week curtain-raiser Kowloonfest has been postponed again until 2024 – the old and venerable taking longer to recover and reboot post covid.
This year’s action starts with, perhaps the best rugby of the week, the Hong Kong 10s at Hong Kong Football Club on Wednesday 29 March. Proper scrums and brutal power forward play are features of the Tens, especially on Thursday night. It’s perhaps the closest we in Hong Kong can get to seeing modern rugby up close and personal. Select teams packed with talent and big names, new and old, from around the world put a physicality and rawness to images seen on television that really needs to be experienced in person.
Amidst the Sevens partying, a rugby tournament takes place… After November’s empty stadium, harsh crowd restrictions and drab atmosphere – can the Sevens recover its allure as one of the world’s great sporting/social events?
Here are the dates for your Rugby Week 2023 diary.
Kowloon Fest
When: postponed to 2024
More info: www.rugbyfest.org
Hong Kong Tens
When: 29-30 March, 2023
Where: Hong Kong Football Club
How much: $120
More info: www.hkfc10s.com
HK Sevens
Date: 31 March – 2 April, 2023
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950
More info: www.HKsevens.com
Hong Kong Tens
When: 29-30 March, 2023
Where: Hong Kong Football Club
How much: $120
More info: www.hkfc10s.com
The bitterly cold wind has faded as the weekend approaches leaving the City of Sails bathed in spring sunshine for the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 – played in 2022.
Covid forced a twelve-month delay and destroyed the qualification hopes of several countries including Hong Kong. But for those who made it, the extra year has allowed them time to improve…
The opening day’s matches at the iconic Eden Park are a 45,000 sell out and the merchandise booth in the city centre is doing brisk business as young and old get ready for the tournament to begin.
New Zealand is a rugby-mad country, but Auckland in its first major event post covid is not really ‘feeling’ the RWC2021 yet… And it’s the visiting Fijians who are making the noise as Fijiana make their debut at a Women’s World Cup.
All the matches can be enjoyed on World Rugby’s free live stream and Auckland is 5 hours ahead of Hong Kong.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/20221007-Womens-World-Cup-in-New-Zealand/i-TXxrf3n
HK Sevens
Date: 31 March – 2 April, 2023
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950
More info: www.HKsevens.com
The Hong Kong men’s sevens squad for the Rugby World Cup 7s in South Africa (9-11 September) has been announced by Hong Kong Rugby.
Hong Kong will kick off in the 16-team pre-round competition against Uruguay with the winner facing tournament favourites and new World Sevens Series champions, Australia.
Hong Kong head coach Paul John has named an experienced squad and commented that “We want them to enjoy the experience – this comes around every four years – and we earned the right to be here and this is a reward for that”
Hong Kong men will be making their eighth appearance sevens Rugby World Cup, two of which were hosted in Hong Kong (1997 and 2005).
All matches are streaming on the World Rugby website
Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby
Additional reporting: RugbyAsia247
HK Sevens – Rescheduled
Date: 4-6 November, 2022
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950 (tbc)
The 2022 Sevens Challenger Series kicks off in Santiago, Chile on the 12-14 August, with qualification to the World Sevens Series awaiting the winner. As Hong Kong’s coach Paul John puts it “Everybody wants to be on the World Series and test themselves against the best in the world.”
Speaking about the squad he’s picked John continued “There’s a lot of experience in the boys who got picked. They’re the ones who have been consistently putting their hands up during training and the competitions we’ve had recently.”
The Challenger Series is three-day tournament, with 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams competing to achieve core status on the Series. Hong Kong are in Pool B with Tonga, Jamaica and Zimbabwe.
Captain Max Woodward says the squad want to shed their ‘nearly men’ tag and is blunt about his desire: “As long as I’ve been playing 7s for Hong Kong I’ve wanted to get on the [World Sevens] Series. It would mean a massive amount to me, and I know the rest of the squad feel the same way. We’ve been so close before and the yearning is there.”
“We’re very excited to play a winner takes all tournament – knowing that we are one of the favourites and the chance to win is very much within our capability is a real boost.,” added Woodward.
Watch the 2022 Sevens Challenger Series live on the World Rugby website.
Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad
Max Woodward (Captain), Callum McCullough, Michael Coverdale, Kane Boucaut, Alessandro Nardoni, Pierce Mackinlay-West, Sebastian Brien, Lee Ka To Cado, Hugo Stiles, Russell Webb, Alex McQueen, Harry Sayers, Max Denmark, Yiu Kam Shing.
Additional reporting and images: World Rugby, HKRU
