The HKRU Women’s Super Series will conclude with games against Princeton University tomorrow at King’s Park. The HKRU Scorpions will play Princeton A at 13.30 and the Vipers will play Princeton B at 15.00. The Princeton Tour created a unique opportunity to close out this season’s compelling Super Series action against some very creditable international competition.

HKRU Women’s Performance Rugby Manager and national coach Jo Hull commented on the Series’ debut saying, “It’s been a great success and much of that comes down to the support and buy-in we’ve had from the clubs. The Series has achieved its objective of giving players the opportunity to play at the next level above club rugby and it’s a massive opportunity now for us to wrap it up with games against opposition from outside of Hong Kong.

“We need more games against overseas competition to expose us to different styles of rugby,” said Hull, who is expecting a big occasion tomorrow: “Last weekend’s cracking grand final between Valley and Gai Wu has set the benchmark for this game and that kind of intensity is what we will be looking for.”

Intensity levels should be high, as Hull and the Hong Kong selectors will be using the games to help determine invitations to the Hong Kong team training squad for the upcoming Asia Rugby Championships in May and June.

Hong Kong has thrown the net wide for this weekend added Hull: “We’ve reached out to the clubs, including teams from National League 1, to re-nominate players after their league campaigns. With their support we’ve been able to get an interesting combination of established Hong Kong fifteens players as well as some girls who really stood out in the domestic season. We have an interesting mix of players including some of the young girls that are now starting to come through at fifteens level.”

Testament to the support the concept drew from across the leagues, last night’s final selection training for the Princeton matches drew more than 50 players.

“It’s great for Hong Kong Rugby that we can have a weekend like this where the sevens squad can be playing a Baa-baas team in a warm-up at the SI, while we can still field 50 payers at fifteens. It is great indication that we’re developing strength in depth, which was a key target for us at the beginning of the league season.”

The final squads were weighted for the opposition with the Scorpions having a more established performance feel to take on Princeton A, while the Vipers feature some development players against Princeton B.

The Scorpions feature 14 Hong Kong internationals including captain Chow Mei Nam and Rose Fong continuing her return from injury. Ten players come from the two grand finalist clubs this season with Gai Wu having seven in the side and Valley, three. The Vipers will have one international to steady the side in hooker Ku Hoi Ying from Gai Wu while players from NL1 clubs Revolution and HKCC are also included.

“Princeton has a lot of size and some talented players. Because they’re bigger, we’ve talked a lot about winning the race tomorrow and winning it together. Being the first to the breakdown, first to the gain-line and stopping their big ball carriers at the source. We want to the girls to try things tomorrow and also to try and replicate what we do at Hong Kong level.”

A group of 32 players from Princeton has been touring for the past week under coach Chris Ryan, also the assistant coach for the USA Eagles Women’s Sevens team. Saturday will be the business end of the Tour for the visitors, who reached the semi-finals of last year’s Division I collegiate championship.

“Normally we play fifteens in the Fall and sevens in Spring, so we haven’t had any fifteens since last November, while the Hong Kong players are just coming off of their season. We expect tough games but that was one of the incentives for us in touring here, the opportunity to play against national and Premiership players,” Ryan said.

Princeton returned nearly all of its squad from last year’s collegiate championship run and Ryan, who has an eye for talent having been involved in the USA women’s sevens set-up for eight years previously, before returning to the Eagles earlier this year, says that he has four or five girls who are All-American level and could play for any university team in the country.

“We’re blessed with some size and some good quick and elusive backs. The test will be if we can create continuity between the backs and forwards and deliver good ball for the backs. Matches like this really build the character of a team,” Ryan added.

Princeton’s chances will be aided by the fact that Anna Richards’ Hong Kong women’s sevens team will have a mini-training camp this weekend, including hit-outs against a team of six New Zealand sevens development players the HKRU has brought in to provide pre-tournament seasoning ahead of the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens. After visiting the HKSI and scrimmaging against the Hong Kong Seven earlier this week, Princeton is familiar with the quality of Hong Kong’s players.

USA Women’s Sevens Assistant Coach says Hong Kong can surprise in Olympic repechage

“Hong Kong’s women’s seven has improved greatly since I was last here with the USA Women for the Sevens in 2008. They beat us up pretty good this week. We expected it of course, but they were clinical. If they keep going like they are now, I really think that they can surprise some of the teams at the Olympic repechage in June. We hope we’ll see Hong Kong in Rio,” Ryan added.

With his sevens coaching hat on, Ryan was also effusive about the set-up at the HKSI: “The HKSI is an amazing facility and any time you have players in residence, living and training together day in, day out, good things are going to happen. I’ve worked at the Olympic Training Centre in California but that is a training centre whereas the HKSI is an institute and you can tell the difference. There’s so much more going on at the Institute in the way of sports science. It was a real eye-opener for me. They were taking blood from the girls after the matches to check their lactic acid levels it’s amazing.

“The HKSI is going to help Hong Kong tremendously. Anytime you have a set-up like that you’re going to attract more and more elite athletes. And to have brought in Anna Richards as coach is a huge, huge plus. She was a phenomenal player and if she can pass along even half of what she knows to the girls, they’re going to get even better,” Ryan enthused.

About the Super Series:

The Super Series was launched at the beginning of this year’s Women’s Premiership to provide an opportunity for performance players in the league to compete alongside premier players from other clubs in a domestic representative competition. Top players nominated by local clubs were grouped into two invitational teams, the Scorpions and the Vipers, who have played two rounds previously this season. Tomorrow’s matches against Princeton will be the last Super Series action of the 2015/16 Season.

Scorpions: 1. Tammy LAU Nga Wun (captain, Gai Wu), 2. Winnie SIU Wing Ni (USRC Tigers), 3. Jasmine CHEUNG Shuk Han (Valley), 4. Eunice LAI (Tigers), 5. Claire FORSTER (HKFC), 6. Angela CHAN Ka Yan (Gai Wu), 7. Sharon TSANG (Gai Wu), 8. CHOW Mei Nam (Gai Wu), 9. MAK Ho Yee (Kowloon), 10. Rose FONG (HKFC), 11. Rebecca THOMPSON (Valley), 12. LOK Tung Cheng (Tigers), 13. Laurel CHOR Lik Fung (Valley), 14. LAU Sze Wa (Gai Wu), 15. Bena YU Bo Yan (Tigers). Reserves: 16. Carol FUNG Ka Yan (City), 17. Shonagh RYAN (HKFC), 18. KU Hoi Ying (Gai Wu), 19. LEE Ka Shun (Gai Wu), 20. CHAN Wing Yi (Tigers), 21. CHAN Wing Yi (Tigers), 22. Rachel FONG (HKFC), 23. Stephanie CHOR (Revolution).

Vipers: 1. Shonagh RYAN (HKFC), KU Hoi Ying (Gai Wu), Carol FUNG Ka Yan (City), LI Wai Ying (Gai Wu), 5. Daisy MIERS (HKFC), 6. Ci WONG (Valley), 7. LEUNG Hei Nga (Kowloon), 8. Lynda NAZER (HKFC), 9. CHAN Wing Yi (Tigers), 10. Stephanie CHAN Chor Ki (Gai Wu), 11. HO Chun Yan (Kowloon), 12. CHUI Wing See (Gai Wu), 13. Rachel FONG (HKGC), 14. Agnes TSE Wing Kiu (CITY), 15. Emma SHIELDS (HKFC), 16. Denise CHAN (HKFC), WONG Ki Ying (SCAA),

18. CHAM Wing (Revolution), 19. LAM Ka Wai (Gai Wu), 20. YIP Hiu Ki (Gai Wu), 21. Sophie SHORT (HKFC), 22. Harriet JAMIESON (HKCC), 23. LAU Tsz Ying (SCAA).