IN CONVERSATION: JASMINE FUNG HOI CHING

Jasmine Fung (Fung Hoi Ching) is a fly-half with the Hong Kong China Women’s XV team, but has also represented us in 7s and was a bronze medal-winning Asian Games competitor. She has recently recovered from an injury, and now has set her sights on helping a new crop of players to try and reach a second Women’s Rugby World Cup and see the continued growth of the women’s game in Hong Kong.

Rugby Roots

Jasmine, like so many local players, had first heard of and watched rugby thanks to the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, but she decided to try the sport at a local club. With some encouragement from her friends, she has stuck with the sport, which saw her rapidly rise to achieve national representation.

“I actually started playing netball first in my secondary school life, which is a non-contact sport, as you know. I always wanted to try something new and was attracted to high-risk sports. I knew about rugby and I chose to join a Summer course from a local rugby club, (Gai Wu Rugby Football Club). That's how I started playing when I was 18-19 years old.”

When asked if she was instantly hooked, she laughed, “Actually, the first day after my first training, I was already doubting myself. So it was a big no at first, but then, because we had a lot of friends who were beginners as well, we all improved, and we loved the enjoyment when we trained together, so I just stuck with it.”

Rugby Role Models in Hong Kong

Jasmine wanted to find something new to stimulate her sports life. She didn't expect that sport to be rugby. But she vividly remembers watching the Sevens at the old Hong Kong Stadium.

“I watched all the All Blacks playing Sevens. I was like, ‘Wow, those hits, those impacts. It was crazy. I also thought, what if I can play this sport, and even one day play in a Hong Kong stadium? There was a little dream and possibility for myself.”

Having teams and players to aspire to is critical when growing the game. When asked which local players from Hong Kong she aspired to be like or had been a role model, Jasmine explained, “This can be a male-dominated sport, but I think all the girls in Hong Kong just want to represent our city, and we didn't really always have someone to look up to. But the Women's Rugby World Cup had such high numbers attending and watching … and I think the Hong Kong China rugby team is improving a lot, especially the women's team.

Some of my role models are actually my teammates, so I don't want to give them too much credit, but for me it must be Chong Ka Yan, the superstar.”

She is quick to point out, though, that it's the team environment that attracted her to the sport, too. “I realised everyone contributes to everything and that helps get the result that we want at the end.”

There are lots of moments that stand out in her rugby career to date. She first played in an Under-20s tournament and was made captain. “We were all local girls who just started playing. We were obviously the underdog, but we gave it our all. I thought to myself, maybe we can keep growing and improving together, and we can actually be the next generation.”

Domestic Club Rugby and Representative Representation 

Jasmine earned her first cap for HKCR playing Sevens, that version of the game she first saw in a stadium setting, which had inspired her to give it a go. She then earned her first XVs cap in 2019 and had only picked up the ball for the first time at that Summer camp in 2016 - a rapid rise.

“I think everyone goes through this journey where you get selected, but maybe didn't get much game time, but it's a great experience.” Her career was halted when the world put the brakes on when the pandemic hit.

“It was a really tough time, because in 2019 I had my first cap against the Netherlands, but then suddenly everything was gone. Everything stopped. I was training with the sevens squad, and we just kept training every day, but there were no competitions. There was nothing else we could do. It seemed like we didn't have a goal to chase. It was frustrating mentally.”

Afterwards, though, she and everyone else were keen to play again, and she has played for Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons in the domestic Premiership over recent years.

“People will talk about Gai Wu as a local club. We do develop our own players through age grades, and we actually have a really good pathway for them to be playing in the Premiership team. 

We were the first women's club to have three teams in different divisions. It gave our players a taste for the different levels of competition, and if you wanted to improve, you could play to another level and then eventually go up. I think the sense of belonging and our community is really strong. The bonding is really strong and supportive; we know each other, and we speak the same language, and it makes us tight as a group.”

WXV and Aiming For Future Rugby World Cups

The Hong Kong China women qualified for WXV in 2024 after securing the runner-up spot in Asia and have now been confirmed to be in the newly reformatted WXV Global Series 2026-2028 after again securing second in the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship in 2025.

Jasmine looks back on their debut in the WXV, saying, “I think we fell short in that tournament. It was down to our execution. But that's the level that we want to get to. We want to be really competitive, and play against the European teams and Pacific teams and be competitive.

We kind of took a hit, but it meant we know we have to start planning and start building for the next four years. You can't wait till one year into the tournament. We now have the Dragons development team, and we have a women’s development group. We are always looking for players to expand our player pool. We want to try to develop and get as many people in as possible, so we have a larger crew.”

She also said there were a lot of individual and collective lessons learned in that WXV tournament. “For me, it was the first time I'd been on such a big rugby stage, a global event. Even though there were not as big a crowd as in Hong Kong, I felt the pressure. I think that was the hardest part of playing.”

You can sense there is a fire burning and a feeling of unfinished business. 

“I really treasured that experience. And I think I will be better at dealing with the high-pressure situations in my position at fly-half. That was the least enjoyable part. But the most enjoyable part of my position is having the ability to communicate with each other, and then getting everyone together, getting everyone connected. I want to bring out the best in every player so we can perform as one.”

The inclusion in WXV also guarantees international rugby outside of the annual Asian competition for three years. “That's a good thing. We know we can build, keep building every year, game by game. It is an opportunity for us to prepare and play against different opposition and try to get into a different headspace. It gives us a mental challenge as well as a physical contest.”

With the team now in Europe for two uncapped matches against European opposition - Germany and Belgium, she told us what she hopes for on the tour and in the long run.

“We have a relatively young group of players. I think it's building them and exposing them to play against an international team and opponents that we don't often get to play against. I think getting out there playing against them will help boost the players' confidence. We know we can do it. We know everything we need to do. It's just about being in that moment and executing what we want.”

On Rugby World Cup goals, she said, “The dream for all the players is to reach the Women’s Rugby World Cup. We have to play more international test matches to give us the experience and to learn from playing in those situations more so that we can adapt quicker and we can execute our game plan better. 

We actually play well in Hong Kong or in Asian countries, but when we travel further abroad, especially if it's a three-week tournament, we are not very used to such long periods away. We are really committed to that goal, to the ultimate goal, and are willing to sacrifice everything to get there.”

Jasmine’s message to players looking to pick up the ball for the first time is, “Just have a go. You never know if you don't try.”

This article was posted in collaboration with our good friends at RugbyAsia247 – check them out for all the latest Asia Rugby news!