HONG KONG CHINA U20s GEAR UP FOR ACTION-PACKED DECEMBER

The Hong Kong China U20 Men’s XVs have assembled ahead of two upcoming pre-Christmas matches in Singapore and Hong Kong. 

The annual U19 Men’s Asia Rugby Championship had to be cancelled by Asia Rugby earlier this month due to difficulty securing a host. HKCR have since arranged for our U20s men to play in Singapore against Singapore U20s on Tuesday 16 December.

U20s Head Coach Sam Beard is looking forward to seeing how the squad make the most of the opportunity over the next fortnight: 

“It’s good to finally have the group together – there are logistics to navigate with players being dotted around the world, but we’ve had good engagement and it will be exciting to see the pieces of the puzzle come together. We have a good mixture of youth and guys that have experienced this type of environment and playing level before, making for some strong competition in certain positions.

“We have some mobile and athletic players within the group, along with some key game drivers – now that they have had some time together to build combinations it will be exciting to see what they can produce.

“It’s a great opportunity for the 23 that are going to travel, so I’m excited to see who grabs hold of it with both hands and makes the most of it.”

Head of Performance Pathways Siân Moore is also looking to see positive results after driving a stint of engagement with the team:  

“The purpose of our performance pathway is to create athletes that are skillful, adaptable and confident rugby players. We want to develop the person and athlete as much as the player. This program gives us the opportunity to expose players to a high level of competition to continue their development.”

“There’s a great energy amongst the squad. We’ve seen a good balance of cohesion and competition. It’s been pleasing to see players drive the standards within the environment.”

With Hong Kong China having recently qualified for the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup, there is more importance than ever on the development of a healthy and robust pathway for the senior men, something that Moore says has given the U20s a renewed sense of purpose:

“Competing at a Rugby World Cup is every rugby players dream, to have the chance to make that a reality has energised everybody. We’ve intentionally provided opportunities for players to be involved and engaged in the men’s senior XV sessions/programme, creating genuine connections and alignment from pathways to senior representative levels.”

The team will travel to Singapore on Sunday (14 December) ahead of their match at Jurong West Stadium. 

Hong Kong China Men’s XVs U20s Training Squad

Jordy BLAND (Valley RFC), Freddie BROWN (Loughborough University), Russell CARMICHAEL (HKU Sandy Bay), Marcus Chan (USRC Tigers), Davy CHIU (HKU Sandy Bay RFC), Nicholas DINGLEY (Valley RFC), Andrew DURANT (Valley RFC), Kian FALAHATI HKU (Sandy Bay RFC), Oliver FISHER (Kowloon RFC), Liam GORDON (Hong Kong Football Club), Huw HAND (Kowloon RFC), Tomos HAND (Kowloon RFC), Morgan HANSON (Kowloon RFC), Gabriel HORBERRY (Loughborough University), Jack JOYCE (University of Mary Washington), Floris KENNES (Valley Fort RFC), Leon LESEK (USRC Tigers), Fritz MAHN (Kowloon RFC), Louis McLAUGHLIN (Hong Kong Football Club), Craig MCSHEAFFREY (Hong Kong Football Club), Sam NICOLLE (Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club), William PANG (Kowloon RFC), Patipon THUNTHEP (Kowloon RFC), Noah REID (Kowloon RFC), Brody ROESSEL (USRC Tigers), Ryan SCHROEDER (USRC Tigers), Omar SHARIF (HKU Sandy Bay), Aidan SMART (HKU Sandy Bay), Kai TILTMAN (HK Scottish), Ian WONG (USRC Tigers), Tin Yuen YEUNG (Valley RFC)