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
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
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
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
Brazil win promotion to the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2020 after beating Scotland in the final of the world series qualifier in Hong Kong.
After two days of thrilling action, head coach Reuben Samuel’s side finished up as 28-19 winners over a strong Scottish outfit, scoring 120 points in six games at the 12-team tournament.
The final between the two confident sides was a game of cat and mouse in the first half. Scott Forrest’s Scotland scored first before ‘Las Yarras’ from Brazil held a slender 7-5 lead at the interval. Brazil went behind again early in the second half after Rhona Lloyd capitalised from the restart but a potent period followed.
Bianca dos Santos Silva raced away from Lloyd before Thalia da Silva Costa extended their lead again with four minutes left on the clock. It was a lead that they would not relinquish.
“It’s a little indescribable but we worked really, really hard for this. We just told ourselves to do everything we’ve been training to do and we finally did it,” said vice-captain Isadora Cerullo after the full-time whistle.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I’m incredibly proud, not just of the 12 players at the tournament because we’re a much bigger group than that. We’re looking to build even more, bring in a lot of new players and show everyone that our programme is growing and that we deserve to be back on the world circuit.”
Brazil’s route to the final saw them march out of day one unbeaten and hitting the quarter-finals at pace. A last-eight meeting with Kazakhstan commenced the second day and it marked their second encounter with Valerii Popov’s side in the same number of days.
After a narrow 14-12 victory in the pool stage, Las Yarras dominated and made no mistake at the second time of asking. A 21-5 victory was the result and it booked a semi-final match-up against Kenya. In the final four, they continued to be precise with their work, moving the ball well to their speedsters, and their clinical finishing helped them on their way to a 17-5 win.
Additional reporting and image: World Rugby
After the individual creativity of Art Week, the wonders of team creativity are on display as Rugby Week 2019 scrums down.
The action starts at King’s Park on Wednesday 3 April with KowloonFest where the old and venerable rumble around the pitch and have a lot of fun as their brain sees them sprinting to score a fantastic try only to find their legs unable to keep up…
While the 7s is all speed and patterns, perhaps the best rugby of the week is at the Hong Kong Tens. With proper scrums and brutal power forward play the Tens features, especially on Thursday night, perhaps the closest we in Hong Kong can get to seeing modern rugby up close and personal. Select teams packed with talent, new and old, from around the world put a physicality and rawness to images seen on television that really has to be experienced in person.
The wonderful HK Women’s Seven is again a qualifier for the Women’s World Series. If you can’t get a ticket to the Sevens then head to So Kon Po and cheer on Hong Kong.
The Sevens, amidst the partying a rugby tournament takes place. The quality of the other World Series tournaments isn’t as good as in the past – empty stadiums on the World Series attest to that. Yet Hong Kong still sees teams raising their game…
Here are the dates for your diary for what promises to be some fantastic sport and a lot of fun.
Kowloon Fest
When: 3 April, 2019
Where: Kings Park
How much: Free
More info: www.rugbyfest.org
Hong Kong Tens
Date: 3-4 April, 2019
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: $125, $100 (advance)
More info: www.hongkongtens.com
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens
Date: 4-5 April, 2019
Venue: So Kon Po
Tickets: Free
More info: www.facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
Hong Kong 7s
Date: 5-7 April, 2019
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950 (sold out)
More info: www.hksevens.com
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-ST3DrNC
A packed crowd at So Kon Po enjoyed a sun-drenched day of exciting rugby at the 2018 HK Women’s Rugby Sevens. Apart from a superb solo try by Natasha Olson Thorne, in a hard fought 17-12 victory against Kazakhstan, there was little local cheer as two heavy defeats against Brazil (38-0) and China (19-7) meant the hosts again failed to reach day two and a first experience of the HK Stadium atmosphere.
Click on any photo for the full gallery of images.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-JkD2nFK
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-M29cMdb
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-Fs7wknJ
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-9TfjdX4
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2018/Hong-Kong-Womens-Sevens-So-Kon-Po-5-April-2018/i-fvKzG3J
After a disappointing tournament in 2017 the Hong Kong women’s team again look to make their debut at the Hong Kong Stadium and Coach Kevin West has picked a squad for the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier that blends experience and youth.
Five players are set to make their sevens debut at So Kon Po – the newcomers are Stephanie Chan Chor-ki, Vivian Poon Hoi-yan, Amber Tsang Wing-chi, Agnes Chan Tsz-Ching and Agnes Tse Wing-kui.
While captain and vice captain Christy Cheng Ka-chi and Natasha Olson-Thorne both make their eighth Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens appearance.
“It’s a good group,” said West. “It’s a real mix of experience and youth, which is what we’ve been trying to do. There are five making their Hong Kong debuts, but we’ve been lucky because they’ve already had tournaments in Fiji and Borneo. They all have some tournament experience – not of the level of Hong Kong maybe, but there’s only one way to find that out isn’t there?”
West continued “Agnes Chan was one of our great finds at the fifteens world cup and she has just kicked on since then; it’s great to have her in. Vivian, Amber and Stephanie all give us a degree of pace, they make the squad slightly pacier throughout the park, rather than having one or two fliers. All of them play as if they’ve got nothing to lose, which is great.”
The debuts are partially injury-forced, (after the loss of wings Chong Ka-yan and Aggie Poon Pak-yan and fly half Lee Tsz-ting in the build-up). “We have had to look at things after losing some of our major strike threats in Aggie and Ka-yan, and a lot of experience in BB, but that’s the nature of the sport – with the newcomers we are well covered,” said West.
About Agnes Tse, who only joined the squad this month, West said “I coached her in our junior development fifteens programme… We particularly needed to cover that outside back area, the centre/wing area, which kept some of the others from making the squad at the end of the day, but Agnes has obviously done really well. She has earned her selection.”
“She’s tough and she has speed. Her job for us is to have a go, to take the line on. She’s good in the tackle and quite physical. She’s settled in really well and done brilliantly really. She is a level, mature girl, who I’m sure will just put her head down, take it all in stride and work hard,” added West.
Hong Kong open the tournament against Brazil (11.36), before playing more familiar foes in China (13.48) and Kazakhstan (16.22).
“Like just about every team we will be playing they’re bigger than us,” West said of the Brazilians, who beat World Series side and Asian champions Japan twice en route to a ninth-place finish in Rio.
“They also have a bit of pace. Actually there are a lot of similarities in the style of play throughout the group, with China and Kazakhstan also having a real physical element. We are prepared for that,” said West.
With a chance to play on the Stadium pitch during Hong Kong Sevens – and a spot on the World Series up for grabs West has the squad focused on the weekend but is also looking to the future.
“We are taking Hong Kong very seriously. It is our home tournament, so there is both a need and some pressure for us to perform, but we are very aware that our major goal this year is the Asian Games.
“So, for these girls to get this sort of tournament under their belts, against some of the world’s best and some of the competition we will play at the Games will hold us in good stead regardless of anything else,” said West.
The action begins at So Kon Po, directly across from the Hong Kong Stadium, on Thursday, 5 April. After the pool stages, the quarterfinalists (top eight) of the 12-team international competition will move to the Stadium on Friday, 6 April, as part of the opening day’s action at the Hong Kong Sevens. The winner of the Qualifier receives an automatic berth on next season’s World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.
Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad – World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier 2018 :
Christy Cheng Ka-chi (Captain),
Natasha Olson-Thorne (Vice Captain),
Agnes Chan Tsz-Ching,
Stephanie Chan Chor-ki,
Ivy Kwong Sau-yan,
Melody LiNim-yan,
Nam Ka-man,
Vivian Poon Hoi-yan,
Sham Wai-sum,
Colleen Tjosvold,
Amber Tsang Wing-chi,
Agnes Tse Wing-kiu.
Additional reporting and images: HKRU
