On the first full day of the World Rugby Olympic Sevens Repechage Hong Kong’s women and men were unbeaten.
Hong Kong will play unbeaten France in both competitions on Sunday to decide who will top the pools and their respective knock-out round opponents.
Salom Yui Kam Shing scored two tries as Hong Kong’s men opened their repechage campaign with a 31-5 defeat of Jamaica in Pool B.
In their second match, the men trailed Chile by eight points with little more than two minutes remaining. But late tries from Shing, Russell Webb and Alex McQueen secured a 26-15 victory.
Hong Kong’s women began their Pool C campaign with a comfortable 31-10 win over Colombia – which featured a Chong Ka Yan hat-trick – but they found things much tougher against Madagascar, recovering from 12-0 down to win 19-12.
The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.
Hong Kong fans can watch all of the Repechage action from Monaco live and free as the tournament will be streamed on World Rugby’s website and Facebook and You Tube channels.
The World Rugby Sevens Repechage kicks off in Monaco on 18 June as the competing teams aim to secure the remaining two women’s and one men’s qualification spots for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The playing squads have been finalised and on Thursday the captains were welcomed by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II in a launch event at Monaco Palace.
The action gets underway at 18:00 local time on Friday as Zimbabwe face Mexico in Pool A of the men’s competition. Play continues throughout Saturday and Sunday when up to 5,000 spectators will be present at Stade Louis II, culminating in the two women’s finals and the one men’s final on Sunday evening.
The 12 team women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia.
The men’s tournament will consist of nine teams following the withdrawal of Uganda. Chile, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, and Zimbabwe will take the field in Monaco.
In the women’s competition, the 12 teams will compete in three pools of four teams. The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. With two Olympic qualification places available, both winners in the final two games will claim their ticket to Tokyo.
Team Captains and Prince Albert II of Monaco attend the official photocall for the World Rugby Sevens Repechage at Le Palais des Princes de Monaco on June 17, 2021 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Giorgio Perottino – World Rugby/Getty Images)
The draw saw Colombia and France, the only women’s teams to have participated in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, paired together in a strong looking Pool C alongside Hong Kong and Madagascar.
All four teams in Pool A will be competing at their second Olympic repechage with Russia, Argentina, Mexico and Samoa all having participated at the qualifying tournament prior to Rio 2016, the Russians having lost 19-12 to Spain in the final in Dublin. In Pool B, highest ranked Papua New Guinea will face Kazakhstan, Jamaica and Tunisia.
For the men’s competition, the nine teams in contention for the final Olympic qualification place have been drawn into two pools. Teams will play against all opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through two knockout stages, with the winner of the final booking their ticket to Tokyo.
The men’s draw saw World Rugby Sevens Series core teams Samoa and Ireland paired in Pool A together with Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico. France are the top-seeded team based on their performances in the World Rugby Sevens Series where they finished sixth in 2020 and they are in Pool B along with Hong Kong, Chile, Jamaica. All teams in Pool B will record a bye against Uganda following their withdrawal from the tournament.
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “With just over a month to go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, we can look forward to a very exciting Repechage event in Monaco as the competing teams aim to fulfill their Olympic dreams by securing one of the three remaining qualification spots for Tokyo.
“Player welfare is our top priority and a lot of diligent work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure this event can take place in the safest and most secure manner possible during these unusual times,” Gilpin added.
The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.
Hong Kong fans can watch all of the Repechage action from Monaco live and free as the tournament will be streamed on World Rugby’s website and Facebook and You Tube channels.
With the last remaining men’s spot in Tokyo up for grabs, Hong Kong head coach Paul John has named an experienced group that features most of the squad which was last in action at the World Rugby Sevens Series Challenger Series 15 months ago in South America.
Several veteran campaigners are included in the Olympics eligible squad, including captain Max Woodward, Alex and Tom McQueen, Michael Coverdale, Cado Lee Ka-to, Russell Webb and Raef Morrison.
The squad also features two of the city’s most capped sevens players in Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who has appeared in ten Hong Kong Sevens tournaments, and Jamie Hood, with nine under his belt; both represented Hong Kong at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in USA (2017) and Russia (2013).
A number of players pressing their claims before the disruptions of Covid-19 are also in the group, including Max Denmark and Liam Herbert, (both of whom featured at the Asian Olympic qualifier last November), while fellow former U20s stars James Christie and Alessandro Nardoni are also named to the 13-man travel squad, which will be culled to a final 12 in Monaco prior to kick-off.
After disappointedly missing out on Asian qualification for the Japan-hosted games, reigning Asian Games gold medallists Hong Kong are the second seeds in Pool B behind World Rugby Sevens Series regulars France, and ahead of Chile, Uganda and Jamaica in Monaco. Two-time Rugby World Cup Sevens bronze medallists Samoa are top seeds in Pool A, joined by Ireland, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico.
The players are intent on keeping their dreams of representing Hong Kong, China at the Olympics alive. “We are very excited and hungry for this tournament,” said Salom Yiu. “For some of us, this is our last and best shot of going to the Olympics, so we have been treasuring every training opportunity and making sure we are ready both as a team and as individuals.”
Yiu believes the team has not been put off its stride by the lack of international competition due to the pandemic precautions enforced in the last year and a half.
“Our preparation has been smooth, despite the fact that we couldn’t go overseas for training tours or to play against international teams as a build-up. Recently, we ran an intra-team mini-tournament at the HKIS that mimicked the format and atmosphere in Monaco to boost our form and mood.”
“Typically, we would be involved in a lot of competitions throughout the year, both for Hong Kong and for our clubs, but now the repechage is our only goal. We have played against all of our pool opponents before, so they are not strangers to us. I believe Ireland, Tonga and France are the likely semi-finalists, but we have analysed all of our opponents and have a good game plan,” added the 33-year old winger.
Hong Kong Men’s Sevens Squad: Olympic Repechage
Max Woodward (Captain); Raef Morrison; Michael Coverdale; Alessandro Nardoni; Cado Lee Ka-To; Jamie Hood; Alex McQueen; Tom McQueen; Liam Herbert; Russell Webb; Max Denmark; Yiu Kam-Shing; James Christie.
Preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games rugby sevens competition took another step forward with the confirmation of the pools for the World Rugby Sevens Repechage.
Monaco will host the final Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification event on 19-20 June.
In the women’s competition, the 12 teams involved in the draw have been allocated into three pools of four teams. The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. With two qualification places yet to grab, both winners in the final two games will claim their ticket to Tokyo.
For the men’s competition, the ten teams in contention for the final Olympic qualification place have been drawn into two pools of five teams. Teams will play against all four opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through two knockout stages, culminating in a winner being decided in the final.
The men’s draw saw HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series core teams Samoa and Ireland paired in Pool A together with Tonga, Zimbabwe and Mexico. France were the top seeded team based on their performances in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series where they finished sixth in 2020 and they are drawn in Pool B along with Hong Kong, Chile, Uganda and Jamaica.
The Olympic men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on the 29-31 July. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which was a venue for Rugby World Cup 2019.
Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s rugby 7s teams will soon discover their route to Tokyo. The Olympic Sevens Repechage Draw, the final rugby qualification event for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, will take place on Tuesday, 11 May at 10:00 BST (GMT+1) and will be streamed live on World Rugby’s digital platforms.
Monaco will host the final Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification event on 19-20 June.
Women’s Competition
The women’s competition will see the 12 teams drawn into three pools of four teams. The teams have been banded based on placements in their regional competitions alongside performances in World Rugby tournaments. One team from each band will be drawn into each pool.
Band 1: France, Papua New Guinea, Russia
Band 2: Argentina, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan
Band 3: Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico
Band 4: Madagascar, Samoa, Tunisia
The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. As there are two Olympic qualification places available for women, the Repechage will feature two rounds of knockout games with the final round featuring four teams competing in two matches where both winners gain Olympic qualification and claim their tickets to Tokyo.
Men’s Competition
For the men’s competition, the 10 teams are drawn into two pools of five teams, including one team from each of the five pre-determined bands.
Band 1: France, Samoa
Band 2: Hong Kong, Ireland
Band 3: Chile, Tonga
Band 4: Uganda, Zimbabwe
Band 5: Jamaica, Mexico
Teams will play against all four opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through to the knockout stages, culminating in the final with the winner booking their place on the plane to Tokyo.
The limitations on competitive sport are impacting on domestic and international competition… So Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s sevens squads will travel to the United Kingdom and Portugal for an extended training camp in May and June.
Training and warm-up matches against international opposition are needed ahead of multiple upcoming tournaments including:
The 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, where Hong Kong’s men’s sevens squad will be the defending champions, after taking Gold in Jakarta in 2018.
Hong Kong’s women finished in fifth place in Jakarta, and hope to improve on that in Hangzhou
The Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa in mid-September. Hong Kong have qualified for every Rugby World Cup Sevens since the inception of the world championship in 1993.
And lastly but by no means least the 45th Hong Kong Sevens in early November, the first international sevens competition to be held in the city in over 3½ years.
Hong Kong Rugby Union General Manager of Performance Rugby James Farndon said, “As restrictions tighten in Hong Kong, many of the HKSI’s High Performance Sport Programmes are taking their athletes and coaches overseas to ensure that they can maintain competitive advantage for their respective international competitions.
“Given the importance of our upcoming international tournaments we believe that it is essential for the teams to have optimal preparation including matches against premier international competition. The HKSI’s approach to financially support overseas training camps like this is highly appreciated by the HKRU,” added Farndon.
Training in the United Kingdom also offers the opportunity to enter both teams into two events on the upcoming UK Super Sevens Series, which takes place in May and June across the United Kingdom, and into long-running international sevens warm-up tournaments in Lisbon and the Algarve in Portugal. These will mark the first international competitions for the teams since November 2021.
The squads will depart on 6 May and will base at Loughborough University, an institution highly regarded for its sports programmes and with excellent training and rehabilitation facilities for the duration of the trip.
World Rugby announced today that the repechage tournament for the Tokyo Olympic Games will take place in Monaco on 19-20 June, 2021.
With 21 of the 24 teams set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics next year already confirmed, the final qualification event will feature 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams all vying to secure the remaining two women’s and one men’s team places at the Olympic rugby sevens in Tokyo, which will take place on 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium.
The women’s competition features Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia.
The men’s tournament will involve Brazil, Chile, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
