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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

Hong Kong Rugby Union and Pieter Schats Plead Not Guilty

The trial of the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) and it’s Chairman Pieter Schats on Criminal Defamation reached the plea stage at Eastern Magistrates Court on 22 April, 2016 with the charges in the private prosecution read out to the defendants:

The charges read out were:

Information has been laid THAT YOU, Hong Kong Rugby Union a limited company registered in Hong Kong did on the 25 September, 2015 in Hong Kong deliberately and maliciously published, in the form of the article annexed here, defamatory libel knowing it to be false and factually inaccurate in breach of Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Cap 21 of the Laws of Hong Kong.

The article in the form of a letter written by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the letterhead of the HK Rugby Union (HKRU) was published to “All of our friends at World and Asia Rugby, Hong Kong Rugby Union Past Chairmen and Vice Presidents, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Rugby Club Chairmen and the Hong Kong Rugby and Sporting Community. It was also published on the HKRU’s website www.hkrugby.com under the title “Note from HKRU Chairman Pieter Schats.”

On or before the 23 September, 2015 the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) – the organisation responsible for the running and management of the sport of Rugby Union in Hong Kong – did approve and implement a new rule imposing ethnic Chinese player quotas on teams playing rugby in Hong Kong.

The HKRU on the 23 September, 2015 published on it’s website and caused to be published in the SCMP a news release entitled “Significant changes made to Hong Kong Rugby Union Domestic League structure”. Part of the text of that news release was: The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.”

Simon Durrant, the editor and publisher of bc magazine for 21 years wrote an article about the introduction of active racial discrimination, via ethnic quotas, into HK Rugby. According to Chapter 602 The Racial Discrimination Ordinance this is illegal in Hong Kong. The article entitled Active Racial Discrimination in HK Men’s Rugby was published on www.bcmagazine.net on the 24 September, 2015.

The HKRU letter dated 25 September, 2015 in full and specifically but not limited to paragraphs 3,4,5 is defamatory, disparaging and factually untrue. It besmirches and stains the integrity and reputation of Simon Durrant as a journalist and the factual accuracy of his article and in doing so the reputation and integrity of bc magazine – where Simon Durrant often recognised in public as ‘Mr bc’ has been the Owner, Publisher and Editor of bc magazine for over 21 years. Contrary to Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Chapter 21

The HKRU representative Mr Schats pleaded not guilty

Information has been laid THAT YOU, Pieter Lodewijk Schats as Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the 25 September, 2015 in Hong Kong deliberately and maliciously published, in the form of the article annexed here, defamatory libel knowing it to be false and factually inaccurate in breach of Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Cap 21 of the Laws of Hong Kong.

The article is in the form of a letter written by Pieter Schats, Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union on the letterhead of the HK Rugby Union was published to “All of our friends at World and Asia Rugby, Hong Kong Rugby Union Past Chairmen and Vice Presidents, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Rugby Club Chairmen and the Hong Kong Rugby and Sporting Community. It was also published on the HKRU’s website www.hkrugby.com under the title “Note from HKRU Chairman Pieter Schats.”

Pieter Schats letter dated 25 September, 2015 in full and specifically but not limited to paragraphs 3,4,5 is defamatory, disparaging and factually untrue. It besmirches and stains the integrity and reputation of Simon Durrant as a journalist and the factual accuracy of his article and in doing so the reputation and integrity of bc magazine – where Simon Durrant often recognised in public as ‘Mr bc’ has been the Owner, Publisher and Editor of bc magazine for over 21 years. Contrary to Section 5 of the Defamation Ordinance, Chapter 21

Mr Pieter Lodewijk Schats pleaded not guilty.

SCMP article Hong Kong rugby to revamp domestic leagues in effort to strengthen national team - with ethnic quota rule intordution highlighted — SCMP article “Hong Kong rugby to revamp domestic leagues in effort to strengthen national team” with ethnic quota rule introduction highlighted.

The cases centre around the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s introduction of Ethnic Quotas to local rugby in September 2015 – as announced by the HKRU in a 23 September news release on their website and also published in the SCMP (linked here) on the 22 and 23 September.

The HKRU website version (linked here) was quickly amended after Simon Durrant’s article (linked here) that ethnic quotas and racial discrimination are illegal in Hong Kong was published on the 24 September.

A day later on the 25 September Mr Schats published a note to the global rugby community (linked here) which according to Mr Durrant is defamatory and factually inaccurate.

Both cases were adjourned for three weeks.

Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Team Ranked 23 in the World

Hong Kong Women ranked 23

Hong Kong Women ranked 23, one place above China, in the world as World Rugby introduces a ranking system for women’s game for the first time. New Zealand are ranked no1, Hong Kong are the third ranked team in Asia behind Kazakhstan (16) and Japan (17).
http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings#wru

The rankings were introduced after obtaining and analysing every result from the first official women’s international matches dating back to 1987 and are based on the same criteria as the men’s rankings.

The new system, which came into effect at the start of the February 2016, will be a weighted system with the number of points available to the winning team proportional to the difference in ranking points between the teams prior to the match.

Hong Kong’s men are also ranked 23, second in Asia behind Japan who are 10th. China are 69th.
http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings#mru

Defamation and Lies from HK Rugby about Ethnic Quotas Rule

On the 25 September the Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU), Pieter Schats sent a letter to the world rugby community – you can read the letter here. Rather than admit they screwed up by imposing ethnic quotas in local rugby (read the unedited announcement here) the HKRU and Mr Schats decided to lie, and also to libel bc magazine. Here is the text of bc’s reply breaking down Mr Schat’s letter.

With regards to the letter sent by the Chairman of the HKRU Pieter Schats on the 25 September, 2015 to World Rugby, Asia Rugby, Hong Kong Rugby Union Past Chairmen and Vice Presidents, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Rugby Club Chairmen and the Hong Kong Rugby and Sporting Community and published on the HKRU’s website www.hkrugby.com

bc magazine finds the letter defamatory, libelous and factually inaccurate.

There is nothing ‘alleged’ about the HKRU’s desire to introduce racial quotas into rugby in Hong Kong – it was clearly stated in the HKRU’s news release that was published on the HKRU’s website that “The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.”

Mr Schats also confirms that the rule existed by admitting later in his letter that the rule has been amended to read “a minimum of 14 players in a match day squad of 22 who are Hong Kong permanent residents”.

The existence of a rule regarding ethnic quotas for match day squads is also confirmed in an email (see below) received by bc magazine from Aaron Bleasdale, Chairman, University Rugby Football Club.

Mr Schats then goes on to further disparage bc magazine’s reputation by saying “The article turns a positive development idea considered by HKRU”
The idea was not considered – ethnic quotas were implemented and published as a rule.

And he continues to further besmirch bc magazine by claiming that “a story that fails to capture the spirit and intent of our proposal”
bc’s article fully and accurately reflects the intention of the HKRU to implement quotas in match day squads soley based on skin colour (ethnicity).

bc magazine’s article also stated that ‘ethnic quotas’ were illegal in Hong Kong – something that Mr Schats confirmed later in his letter.

Mr Schats further uses his letter to disparage bc magazine in an attempt to deflect attention away from HKRU’s active implementation of racial discrimination – which would have taken place, without bc magazine’s article – by starting his letter “my apologies for having to send this note”.

The only reason the article exists is because of the intentions of the HKRU to implement ‘ethnic quotas’, and the only reason he (Mr Schats) has to write and apologise is because the HKRU chose to implement racial segregation.

Mr Schats then further tries to ‘blame’ bc magazine for his letter by claiming to be “deeply saddened by this and would like to clarify this issue” – but he isn’t seeking to clarify the issue, having already lied in the previous sentence by using the word “alleged” for something that he knows is true. He is looking to blame and defame bc magazine to save the HKRU’s reputation amongst the global rugby community and the big money sponsors that support the HKRU and the HK7s.

I as writer of the article and publisher of bc magazine will not have the HKRU and Mr Schats libel, defame and smear bc magazine and myself by factually misrepresenting and outright lying in his letter to World Rugby and Asia Rugby about HKRU’s incorporation of ethnic quotas for match day squads into the rules of HK Rugby for 2015/16.

The ‘ethnic quota’ rule would still there if bc hadn’t exposed the rule as being illegal and racial discrimination.

There is no place in sport for RACISM

Racist Rule Removed by HK Rugby

A smidgen of common sense – amidst pressure from World Ruby, Asia Rugby and the fact that racial discrimination is illegal in HK – has begrudgingly seen the HK Rugby Union remove the ‘ethnic quota’ rule from it’s 2015/16 rule book.

Let’s hope that ‘we know best’ attitude of the Union doesn’t see it become an ‘unwritten rule.

A letter from HKRU Chairman Pieter Schats announced the change while claiming the ‘ethnic quota’ rule was introduced for the ‘good’ of the game. Two other club chairman David Knights of SCAA Causeway Bay Rugby Football club and Aaron Bleasdale of University Rugby Football Club – read their opinions below – have emailed bc claiming the same, that racial profiling is good for the local game. If that’s the case then there’s something seriously wrong with men’s rugby in HK!

There is and never will be any time when a person’s skin colour should limit their participation in sport or any other aspect of life. Kick racism out of sport!

Emails received by bc magazine in response to the article Active Racial Discrimination in HK Men’s Rugby dated 24 September, 2015

Email from SCAA Causeway Bay Rugby Football Club
Dear BC magazine,
I just read your article on the above subject and am appalled by the misguided, misinformed and inaccurate nature of the report which amounts to nothing more than a pathetic piece of sensationalism.

If your reporter had bothered to check the facts with anyone involved in the sport in Hong Kong they would have quickly realised that far from this being any form of racial discrimination it was in fact an attempt to foster the widest possible participation in the sport by players of all races,ages and abilities which is central to the strategic aims of the Hong Kong Rugby Union.

There is no barrier to participation in rugby in Hong Kong, players of any race can aspire to play at the elite level of the sport or simply enjoy a game with their (multinational) mates on a Saturday afternoon.

As Chairman of one of the largest rugby clubs in Hong Kong and also quite possibly the one with the most racially diverse playing membership of any club I think I know what I am talking about.

Rugby is making a huge effort to get Hong Kong kids of all races and backgrounds away from their X-boxes and into something more healthy. Why don’t you write about that, particularly during the Rugby World Cup rather than the ill conceived garbage contained in your article.

Yours sincerely
David Knights
Chairman, SCAA Causeway Bay Rugby Football Club

Email from University Rugby Football Club
Dear bc
Your accusation of “racism” by the HKRFU against non-Chinese players is based on a misunderstanding of the structure of Hong Kong’s domestic rugby leagues.

The men’s “Championship” division for which this ethnicity requirement would be implemented is a solitary division of play operating alongside the five graded “National” league divisions (NL1 – NL5). Players from both the Championship and National divisions are free to progress up to the Premiership, which is the primary feeder league for the Hong Kong National Team. An ethnicity requirement in the Championship division alone would not create a so-called “selection discrimination” against non-Chinese players because they would still be free to progress up through the National and Premiership leagues.

You should also consider the very good reason for which the Championship division’s ethnicity requirement has been implemented – to create a division that best fosters the development of local Chinese rugby talent. The HKRFU is extraordinarily committed to this goal, and should be applauded for their attempts to achieve it.

Further, to refer to the people driving the HKRFU as “white leaders” is, in addition to being insulting to the many non-caucasians that run the HKRFU, totally nonsensical in the context of an article complaining about racism against non-Chinese players, many of whom themselves are caucasian. A curious form of racism indeed!

Next time, check your facts before throwing around accusations and polarizing language.

Kind regards,
Aaron Bleasdale, Chairman, University Rugby Football Club

Image – please note the letter from Pieter Schats was two pages long – bc magazine combined the pages to create a single image for ease of reading the original is here.

Active Racial Discrimination in HK Men’s Rugby

In 2015 it’s disgusting that the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) have announced active racial discrimination! For many years millions of people have fought and struggled to be accepted for who they are regardless of skin colour. That in Hong Kong a multi-cultural melting pot where ability, regardless of race, has always been recognised should find one of it’s leading sporting organisations actively racially discriminating against non-ethnically Chinese rugby players is disgusting and illegal.

The recent press release from the HKRU (read the now edited entry here) states that “The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.”

UPDATE: The HKRU has deleted the above sentence from their website, and made no reference to the edit – the original can be read here, relevant sentence is at the bottom of page 1

How far stuck up their arse’s are heads of the white leaders of the Hong Kong Rugby Union? Did they not hear the furour when earlier this year the Chinese Football Association published racially insulting posters about HK’s Football Team. Did they not see HongKongers reaction to it both on social media – mass condemnation – and in real life, the booing of the Chinese National Anthem and tickets selling out so fans of all races and colours could show their support for the HK team.

How insulting is it to the HK eligible players that they’ll face selection discrimination because of their race – even though they might have been born in HK, be eligible and good enough to represent the HK National team – yet find their way blocked because they are not ethnically Chinese.

I can fully understand the desire to improve the national team, but rather than make divisions made on race, why not instead of “a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad” it’s a “a minimum of 14 HK eligible players in each match day squad”.

The Basic Law of Hong Kong specifically bans racial/ethnic discrimination. Chapter 602 The Racial Discrimination Ordinance long title starts “An Ordinance to render discrimination, harassment and vilification, on the ground of race, unlawful; … the function of eliminating such discrimination, harassment and vilification and promoting equality and harmony between people of different races…”

The ordinance further goes on to define Racial Discrimination as

1: In any circumstances relevant for the purposes of any provision of this Ordinance, a person (“the discriminator”) discriminates against another person if
(a) on the ground of the race of that other person, the discriminator treats that other person less favourably than the discriminator treats or would treat other persons; or…..

3. It is declared that, for the purposes of this Ordinance, segregating a person from other persons on the ground of the race of that person is treating that person less favourably than the other persons are treated.

Even before any match day squads are selected, the press release and decisions made by the HKRU amount to Racial Harassment under Section 7 of the ordinance.

Even China has accepted that racial discrimination is illegal, the PRC’s naturalization policy and eligibility requirements have been changed from ‘ethnically Chinese’ to this: http://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/chinese_nationality/Application_for_Naturalization_as_a_Chinese_National.html

The HK Sporting Institute makes no discrimination on the race of the Rugby Union players it gives professional contracts to!

How many of these men will be denied the chance to represent Hong Kong because they are not 'ethnically Chinese" — How many of these men will be denied the chance to represent Hong Kong because they are not ‘ethnically Chinese”

A rugby 15’s match day squad is usually 23 players, to demand that 14 are ethnically Chinese is over 50%.

Here is the squad list Hong Kong v Japan, 2 May 2015:
1 WEI Hon Sum Leon; 2 Alex HARRIS; 3 Jack PARFITT; 4 Adam BUTTERFIELD; 5 Paul DWYER; 6 Matthew LAMMING; 7 Toby FENN; 8 Nicholas HEWSON; 9 LEE Ka To Cado; 10 Ben RIMENE; 11 Charlie HIGSON-SMITH; 12 Max WOODWARD; 13 Jamie HOOD; 14 Tom MCQUEEN; 15 Alex MCQUEEN; 16 John AIKMAN; 17 Lachlan CHUBB; 18 Jack NIELSEN; 19 Alex BADDELEY; 20 Damian BAILEY; 21 Adam ROLSTON; 22 Jonny REES; 23 Niall ROWARK; 24 Jack DELAFORCE (2 ethnically Chinese players)

Here is the Hong Kong squad for the recent Qingdao 7s:
Max WOODWARD (captain); Nick HEWSON; Jamie HOOD; Rowan VARTY; YIU Kam Shing; Benjamin RIMENE; Alex MCQUEEN; Cado LEE Ka To; Christopher MAIZE; Tomasi LAWA; Calvin HUNTER; Michael COVERDALE. (2 ethnically Chinese players).

Which of these non-ethnically Chinese players who are selected as good enough to represent their country will be dropped to satisfy the racial quota demands of the HKRU?

RACIAL DISCRIMINSTION IS DISGUSTING AND ILLEGAL!

Change the squad requirements to “14 players eligible to represent Hong Kong”

bc magazine has asked the HKRU, World Rugby, Asia Rugby and HSBC, the national team sponsor, for comment on this active racial discrimination.

Hong Kong Sevens 2016

http://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/HK-Sevens-2015-Sunday/48283437_RCVLxm#!i=3959200288&k=jnRfnZr&lb=1&s=A

The dates for the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens have been confirmed as the 8-10th April 2016

The Hong Kong Sevens are the 7th leg in the Sevens World Series
2015/16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series schedule
Round 1: Dubai: 3-4 December
Round 2: Cape Town: 12-13 December
Round 3: Wellington: 30 – 31 January
Round 4: Sydney: 6-7 February
Round 5: Las Vegas: 4, 5, 6 March
Round 6: Vancouver: 12-13 March
Round 7: Hong Kong: 8-9-10 April
Round 8: Singapore: 16-17 April
Round 9: Paris: 14-15 May
Round 10: London: 20-22 May *TBC

Hong Kong Sevens 2016
Date: 8-10 April 2016
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: tbc

Hong Kong Cup of Nations – 13, 17, and 21 November 2015

A new four team round-robin tournament will make it’s debut this November, when Portugal, Russia and Zimbabwe will travel to Hong Kong for the 15-a-side Hong Kong Cup of Nations. The World Rugby-sanctioned competition will feature six matches played over three days.

HKRFU General Manager of Performance Rugby Dai Rees is enthusiastic about the new tournament, saying, “We have been working with World Rugby for a number of years to formalise a competition for Performance 2 and 3 level unions to ensure that we play the number of annual matches recommended by World Rugby for countries that aspire to reach the Rugby World Cup. To reach the recommended seven to ten annual fixtures, we need to combine our Asia Rugby Championships campaign – which is four matches in the spring – with touring or bringing in international teams for home tests in November” said Rees.

Russia is the highest ranked team competing in the Cup of Nations, currently 19th in the World Rugby standings. Portugal is ranked 23 and Zimbabwe is 28. Hong Kong moved up two spots to 25th in the world after finishing second in the Asia Rugby Championship.

“The teams invited to participate in the Cup of Nations are all ranked between 18 and 28 in the world, providing broadly competitive fixtures for Hong Kong. All four teams, including Hong Kong, advanced deep into the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualification process but ultimately didn’t qualify. We want to play against teams just outside of the Rugby World Cup rankings, which is about the top 16 or 18 teams in the world, to engage in meaningful and competitive fixtures,” Rees added.

“From a scheduling standpoint, the rugby calendar will look quite good for Hong Kong with the Cup of Nations giving us another opportunity for intense competition at the beginning of our domestic season and six months on from the Asia Rugby Championship” Rees continued. “We want to push and pressurise ourselves over the coming few years. Having three teams of the calibre of Russia, Portugal and Zimbabwe coming here six months after the Asia Rugby Championship window will help us maintain intensity as we increasingly focus on our high-performance 15s programmes,” said Rees who sees these opportunities as really important for Hong Kong in preparation for the qualification campaign for Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan.

Match schedules and venues will be announced in due course.

Lets hope that a similar women’s tournament can be arranged on the same dates!