December…a time for eggnog, mince pies, turkey, presents, and…rugby!

Yes, on top of the international heroics of our Women’s 15s team and the Men’s U19 side, last weekend also saw a festive smorgasbord of community rugby with over 80 teams in action in 3 tournaments.

On Saturday King’s Park hosted the Standard Chartered Tertiary Beginners’ 7s Tournament, with 48 men’s and women’s student teams participating. It was great to see that the youthful theme of the event was also carried over to the match officials, where an impressive array of the Referee Academy young whistle-blowers was on parade, and even the Medical Team which included a number of secondary school students who have become qualified 1^st aiders as part of their IB CAS programme. The silverware was secured by the men from HKU and the ladies from Baptist University – all our 24 tertiary institutions will be back in action at King’s Park on 1^st and 2^nd January for the Standard Chartered Invitational Tertiary Sevens.

Also on Saturday, over at the sun-drenched Gold Coast, the Disciplined Services were busy with their annual Beach Touch Tournament. Men’s and women’s teams representing the Police, Fire Services, Customs, Immigration, Correctional Services, Civil Aid and the Auxiliary Police participated, with the Auxies taking the honours in the Men’s Division and Immigration in the Women’s…with both the Indoor and Beach Touch Tournaments now complete, the Services annual triangular championship will conclude with an outdoor tournament in late April.

And finally, on Sunday the 4^th Hong Kong Island and Kowloon District Sports Association 7s was held at Shek Kip Mei Sports Ground, with 8 Districts fielding men’s teams and 4 also putting out women’s teams. This tournament is part of the preparation for rugby 7s first ever appearance at the Hong Kong Games, with confirmation it will be an exhibition sport at the 2017 edition. The men from Central & Western District picked up one cup, while the women from Eastern took the other – if you’d like to try out to represent your District then register NOW!

Amazingly it appears there are no rugby events scheduled for Christmas Day, so on behalf of all at the HKRU have a very Merry Christmas…and see you at the Prudential New Year’s Day Youth Tournament!