PUBLISHED ON 25 AUG 2025
Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) has confirmed that Toby Booth, former Head Coach of the Welsh region the Ospreys, has extended his role as High-Performance Strategic and Technical Consultant for the Men’s XVs.
Booth had been working through World Rugby as a consultant to the men’s programme from February to June, initially supporting around the summer’s Asia Rugby Championship campaign. An extended contract with HKCR will now run until October, covering the establishment of a full-time programme and preparations for the team’s home matches in the Autumn International Test window (fixtures to be confirmed shortly). HKCR are hopeful that Booth will also be able to continue in the role through to the World Cup in 2027.
In describing his role, and the group he is working with, Booth said:
“My role is two-fold. Firstly, to help with the long-term preparation and the planning into the World Cup, supporting and challenging what we’re doing as a group and helping Andrew and Logan. And secondly, as we’ve currently got a few absentees [Coach Lewis Evans is currently on paternity leave, with a Scrum Coach also due to be appointed] I’m also helping out on the pitch wherever needed.
“The biggest thing for this group is that they're hungry to be better and to transition into full-time model. They bring a lot of energy, and hopefully I can bring the benefit of experience to help them get better.”
HKCR’s Head of Technical Rugby, Andrew Douglas, commented on the value Booth is adding to his coaching group:
“We've obviously got a young coaching group apart from myself, and we wanted to add Toby's expertise to that as a fresh voice. While I can lead game plans and models, attack structures and defence structures, Toby has an in-depth technical knowledge that we find invaluable.
“It's been great for me so far and it's nice for me to be challenged as well. For example, we’ve had some great discussions about how the game should be shaped and around our game modelling.
“We know Toby has enjoyed his time here, so we wanted to keep him on to provide a different thought process and a different way of understanding, particularly in our strategising for the next two years.
As well as several high-profile coaching roles in Europe, Booth has worked on numerous consultancy and mentorship projects. He reflected on his time in Hong Kong so far:
“I've been very lucky in rugby to have had a lot of variation in my jobs, and it's nice to be in a situation where you can take on new challenges. It's a different experience in a different part of the world, with different players, but with the same game, and that's exciting for me.”
