New Year’s Day

The New Year’s Day Youth Rugby Tournament is one of the highlights of the local rugby calendar. The event has existed in various forms since 1967, when the late Vernon Roberts arranged the first Hong Kong versus Overseas Schoolboys match as an adjunct to the traditional New Year’s Day Army versus Civvies match. It is played at the Hong Kong Football Club, with plenty of food and drink outlets for non-members.

The event, which is now generously sponsored by the Standard Chartered Bank, has grown steadily since its inception and there are boys’ games at U12, U14, U16, and U18 age groups and girls’ games at U14, U16 and U19. All the girls’ matches and the boys’ U12 and U14 matches are played between the Lions and Dragons teams drawn from the local clubs, whereas the boys’ U16 and U18 games are between HK and the overseas schoolboys. The stands fill to around the 3,000 people level by mid afternoon and the tournament is a wonderful family day, particularly for the overseas players who are able to renew old friendships and rivalries.

The quality of the rugby on display gets better every year and it really is an excellent advert for youth rugby in HK. Many of the established senior HK team and all of the younger players pushing for places have graced the tournament. The likes of Chan Fuk-ping, Kenzo Pannell and Keith Robertson have all won the Larry Abel Trophy awarded to the best and fairest player of the whole tournament.

Local players who want to play are put up for selection by their clubs and the competition for places is always very keen. For the overseas boys training and selection is organised by the Union, with in recent years the Barbarians being formed to cater for HK boys now studying overseas.

Anyone looking for some good rugby, a chance to watch the stars of the future and maybe a beer or two to help recover from the excesses of their New Year’s Eve celebrations the night before, should head to Football Club on New Year’s Day.

Some of the fixtures on NYD involve two HK teams playing.  The selection for this is decided by the organizers of NYD prior to the event to ensure the most competitive level of games possible.

International Youth Tens

The IYT tournament is played on the Thursday immediately before the Colts Sevens. This event is popular with the players as this Thursday is usually a school day and so the players get an approved day off school. HK usually invites a number of strong overseas teams from places such as Thailand, Singapore and Dubai. Given the limited pitch space and overseas teams, there are limited slots for Club sides. This leads to some very strong sides and a keenly fought competition as the HK weather is beginning to warm up.

Sevens

As the season closes and Hong Kong gears up for the renowned HK Sevens, HK Youth rugby moves briefly to the Sevens format for one weekend shortly before the Sevens. The tournament usual takes place at King’s Park between the Clubs. With the large number of youth players in HK and the enthusiasm for the Sevens, only a limited number of teams are able to participate in a massively enjoyable run-up to the big Sevens weekend. The U18 will have played their Sevens tournament back in December.

On the Saturday and Sunday of the Sevens weekends the U14, U16 and U18 play Showcase Sevens in HK Stadium in front of big crowds. The format of this event is evolving over the years. Historically it has been played between HK Island and Peninsula teams.  In recent years, eligibility is decided by where the player lives not on Club (i.e. players ordinarily residing on HK Island vs. all others). With the imminent departure of the HK National squads on tour, some top youth players are not available for selection.

Overseas Tours

With the selection for places in the HK National Youth development squads back in November, final selection of the touring squads will have taken place towards the end of February and, immediately following the HK Sevens, the HK U14, U16 and U18 National squads depart for a short tour to places such as Taiwan, Singapore or Bangkok.

Selection for a national squad is the obvious pinnacle of ambition for HK Youth players. Overseas tours give the HKRFU Performance Dept an opportunity to look at future players with the potential to play for Hong Kong and selection for the HK academy to develop their skills.