HONG KONG SET TO KICK OFF ASIA RUGBY U20S SEVENS SERIES

28th Jul 2016

The Hong Kong Rugby Union’s Men’s and Women’s U20s sevens teams are set to kick off the 2016 Asia Rugby U20s Sevens Series when the action opens in Johor Bahru, Malaysia this weekend.Malaysia is the first of two legs with Hong Kong hosting the finale for the region’s top age-grade sevens talent from 12-13 August.

The Men’s U20 will enter as favourites after sweeping all of the tournament titles and winning the Series for two years running, but this year’s side will be introducing a lot of new faces according to HKRU U20s Sevens coach Fan Shun Kei.

“We have a lot of players who have aged out of the competition over the past two seasons and some of those who are still eligible are unavailable, so there are quite a few players new to sevens in the squad,” said Fan.

Daniel Archer and Cameron Smith are the sole returning members from last year’s Series-winning side.Archer was one of the top strikers last year, notching eight tries across the Series, while Smith collected all three of his tries in the deciding home leg last year when Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 29-15 in the final.

With his numbers stretched Fan has called upon players from the National Age Grade fifteen-a-side team including five members of the team that participated in the Junior World Trophy earlier this year including captain Pierce Mackinlay-West, Jonathan Healy, Ben Tang Cheuk-hang and Ron Siew.

Fly-half Hugo Stiles, a veteran of the U20s sevens set-up and a key member of all three of Hong Kong’s Junior World Trophy campaigns, will captain the squad in the Series.

“It’s great to have Hugo back with all of his sevens experience. He has played with the senior squad at the Tokyo Sevens before and he brings a really good understanding of the sevens game. His leadership abilities and familiarity with the fifteen-a-side players are also going to be really helpful,” Fan said.

In addition to the Junior World Trophy veterans, the side features a number of other experienced Age Grade representatives in Kevin Field, Dominic Lam and Mak Kwai Chung as well as Chen Po Yuan from the Hong Kong Warriors programme. The question for Fan will be whether the players can translate their experience in big matches in Malaysia.

“Hopefully the guys from the Junior World Trophy can bring the intensity levels needed in those international campaigns and that big-match experience into the squad. The competition is really growing and we are definitely in a tough pool with the hosts and South Korea – who are very strong at this level.
“In the other pool we have Japan who haven’t really played on the Series yet and Sri Lanka who pushed us heavily in last year’s competition, so the challenge to us repeating has grown much harder,” said Fan.

Complicating Hong Kong’s hopes for the three-peat is the loss of one of last year’s squad members Hugo Chui to injury with Oliver Duffy being pulled in to the squad as a late replacement. Duffy was initially training with the Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation’s Schools Sevens team, which won the Asian School Rugby Sevens Championship last weekend, before being called in to the squad.

Hong Kong are the top seeds in Pool A in Johor Bahru alongside the hosts Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Singapore and South Korea.Japan top Pool B with Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE and the Philippines.

“It will be tough going,” admitted Fan, “The schedule doesn’t allow for quarter-finals with teams going straight to the semis, so we need to have our game together on day one. We need to finish as one of the top two teams in the pool but if we play like we have been preparing then I think we will be in good position for day two and to make a run at the Cup, which will set us up well for our home tournament next month,” Fan added.

Hong Kong has won the Johor Bahru Sevens for the past two years running.


Hong Kong Women’s U20 enter series fitter, faster and stronger than ever

The Hong Kong Women’s Under 20 are also entering the Series with a strong chance to claim top honours in the region after finishing as runners-up to Japan last season.While the Japan men’s U20 is joining the Asia Rugby age grade competition this year, Japan’s Women’s U20 have withdrawn, leaving Hong Kong in pole position as the Series begins.

HKRU U20s Women’s Sevens Coach Sam Feausi is confident that her team is better prepared than ever, having been in training since June and with a full complement of Hong Kong’s locally and overseas based players to draw on.

Hong Kong will take part in a four-team event in Malaysia alongside Thailand, Singapore and the hosts. With Japan opting out of this year’s Series, Hong Kong’s top opposition will likely come from Thailand.

“We’re entering the Series with a much stronger team than last year,” said Feausi.

“There are a couple of girls returning from last year who have really been performing well since then and we have also been boosted by the availability of four of our overseas girls.”

Six players return from last year’s squad, including senior Hong Kong squad member Lee Tsz Ting who has been named Series captain. Vice captain Agnes Chan Tsz-ching and Cathy Chan Tsz-ying are also set to play key roles after being invited to train with the senior squad at the Hong Kong Sports Institute squad after impressing last year, while Stella Tam Yu-ching, Wong Suet-ying and Rosanna Wright will add additional experience.

The four overseas-based players are Roshini Turner and Jade Birkby, both of whom are attending Durham University, Wright – who studies at the University of Northumbria, and Hannah Turley who studies at the University of Virginia in the United States.

“We are in touch with the overseas players throughout the year and closely monitor their performance. Luckily four of them were available for the Series and they will be a strong addition to the team,” said Feausi.

The squad also features one player new to the National Age Grade set-up in Au King-to who comes from a touch rugby background and plays for SCAA CWB in the domestic league.Au turned up a talent identification session ahead of the season and wowed the selectors, earning an invite into the wider training squad and eventual selection for the Series.

“I’m really excited to see how she goes in Malaysia,” said Feausi. “She hadn’t featured in any of our previous NAG programmes and but was outstanding at our talent id day. She is an exciting player with great speed and footwork and her handling is strong as she came from touch rugby. She is probably the least experienced player in the squad in terms of sevens, but she has really stood out in training and I expect that to continue in the Series.”

For Feausi the chance to combine the best of Hong Kong’s locally based talent with their overseas counterparts is an exciting prospect for the future:

“All of the girls are playing locally and the overseas players are entering their late university years so I fully expect that the members of this squad are going to feature in the senior squads for Hong Kong for some time to come.”

The players will be keen to start pressing their claim on senior spots this weekend in Malaysia.“We are confident going in but we aren’t taking anyone lightly. All of the games will be tough but I expect that our final round-robin game against Thailand will be the hardest,” said Feausi.

“The girls have been working harder than they ever have before but now all the training is done and they know it’s time to put it out on the pitch,” concluded Feausi.

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