A Brief History of the New Year’s Day Tournament

The Standard Chartered New Year’s Day Youth Rugby Tournament is one of the feature tournaments of the Hong Kong Rugby Calendar. The event has existed in various forms since 1967, when the late Vernon Roberts was instrumental in arranging the first Hong Kong vs Overseas Schoolboys event as an adjunct to the traditional New Year’s Day Army vs Civvie "Old & Bold" match at the Hong Kong Football Club.

The event has grown steadily since its inception 40 years ago, expanding to the current nine-game format that will be presented in 2008. What has not changed is the magnificent setting of HKFC, one of Asia's finest sports clubs, which normally welcomes over 200 players and more than 2,000 spectators to this wonderful family day.

The tournament is comprised of the following matches:

The Under 14 Ladies Cup Under 14 Age Group
The Under 16 Ladies Cup Under 16 Age Group
The Lassies Quaich Under 19 Age Group (Ladies)
The Waterford Bowl Under 12 Age Group
The Stuart Leckie Cup Under 14 Age Group
The George White Trophy Under 16 Age Group
The Under 18 Boys Cup Under 18 Age Group
The Middlesex Cup Under 19 Age Group
Old Comrades Challenge Cup Over 40s Age Group

The Girls are now competing in three age groups, with the addition of the Under-14s in 2008, reflecting the continuing growth and development of girls' rugby in the community. The Under-16 Cup is presented by Mr Rob Naylor and the Under-19 "Lassies’ Quaich" by Mr Gordon Lamb, both long time supporters of youth rugby in Hong Kong .

The Waterford Bowl was presented by Mr John Breen in 1983 to be played for by minis under 13 years. John, an enthusiastic supporter of Hong Kong youth rugby, chose a Waterford Crystal Bowl to reflect his Irish roots, and he himself presented the beautiful piece each New Year until 1992. Since 1999, this match has been contested by Under-12 teams from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, with the Islanders dominating the honours so far. In 2006, the match was re-branded as "Lions vs Dragons", with the Lions taking home the cup, a feat they repeated in 2007.

The Stuart Leckie Cup is competed for in the Under-14 age group, and was first presented by the man himself in 1993. Originally, this match was between Hong Kong vs Overseas schoolboys, but due to a huge increase in domestic Colts rugby, this was changed in 2004 to an Island vs Peninsula fixture, with the Peninsula boys taking first honours. In 2006, this too became Lions vs Dragons, with the Lions rampant for the last two years.

The George White Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Under-16 Hong Kong vs Overseas schoolboys fixture. It originates from approximately 1978, and was donated by George White, who was a New Zealander who played for and coached Hong Kong Football Club, and also coached the Hong Kong Under-21 team in 1976. This has traditionally been a closely contested match, with the Overseas team taking the honours by a single point last year.

The year 2008 saw the third year of the Under-18s match, and the format has changed every year so far. Originally Island vs Peninsula, it was a closely contested Lions vs Dragons affair in 2006, and in 2007 became a Hong Kong vs Overseas fixture. The only certain thing is that it is always an entertaining contest.

The Middlesex Cup is the trophy that started it all, all the way back in 1967. It was allegedly presented by the Middlesex Regiment, who had a strong wartime connection with Hong Kong. The The Under-19 match has seen many wonderful tussles over the years, and witnessed the skills of numerous youngsters who have gone on to national representative honours. Since 1992, the Overseas sides have been dominant, although the tide now seems to have changed, with a great Hong Kong victory in 2007.

In addition to the match trophies, the very special "Larry Abel Trophy" was introduced in 1994 to recognise the "Best and Fairest Player of the whole tournament". The trophy is named after the sadly missed Larry, who was such a leading figure in Hong Kong youth rugby for so many years. The recipients of this award have been the following:

2008 - Nick Buckley (Hong Kong)
2007 - Matthew Ralph (Overseas)
2006 - Ruarai Farquhar (Lions)
2005 - Keith Robertson (Island)
2004 - Keith Robertson (Island)
2003 - Kevin Lichtenstein (Hong Kong)
2002 - Jun Tsujimoto (Overseas)
2001 - Tom McColl (Overseas)
2000 - Kenzo Pannell (Overseas)
1999 - Keith Robertson (Hong Kong)
1998 - Kenzo Pannell (Hong Kong)
1997 - Mark Egan (Overseas)
1996 - Karl Hackston (Overseas)
1995 - Lee Cheuk-yin (Hong Kong)
1994 - Chan Fuk-ping (Hong Kong)

The 2008 Tournament Director was Mr Steve Tarrant, supported by Mr Richard Thomas.