One of the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s coveted Club Coaching Officer appointments has recently been made with experienced New Zealand educator and coach Logan Asplin set to take the reins at Natixis Hong Kong Football Club rugby section with immediate effect. Asplin arrives at Sports Road with ten years of elite coaching experience, including a long stint with the perennially successful Hamilton Boys High School programme, an added bonus for the Club’s thriving youth rugby sections.

He has coached multiple representative sides and 1st XV rugby at the highest level in his native New Zealand, including coaching New Zealand Harlequins U17s and Waikato Rugby Union age grade sides.  He was an assistant coach of the Chiefs Under 18s squads (Forwards and Defence), and the assistant coach of the New Zealand Secondary Schools U18s Sevens side.  A World Rugby Level 3 certified coach, Asplin also furthered his development in Japan with the Kubota Spears. The 34-year old arrives from a successful tenure as 1st XVs coach and Senior Sevens Coach of the perennial New Zealand schools and schools sevens champions Hamilton Boys High School, a period in which the first grade teams claimed six national championships.

Asplin takes over from the successful Jack Wiggins, who led HKFC out from a period of relative anonymity to win the league in 2018/19, the treble in 2019/20, and then kept Club in a commanding position the next season when the league was scrapped due to Covid, before defending the league title a season later than expected in 2021/22. In fact under Wiggins, Football Club comfortably residing in first place in the Premiership has been the one constant in recent pandemic-ravaged seasons. It is a position that HKFC Director of Rugby Cameron McIntosh expects to maintain under Asplin. 

“We are extremely excited and honoured to have Logan and his family joining us at HKFC. His knowledge, dedication and drive as a coach are clear, but most importantly to us he is a fantastic human being that we look forward to leading the section to new heights in the years to come,” said McIntosh. 
Asplin is ready for the challenge ahead:  “When looking into this role I often heard about what a privilege it is to be associated with the Hong Kong Football Club, and although I am a Kiwi from the other side of the globe, the club is prestigious, highly respected and well documented in local rugby circles. It is an exciting opportunity,” he said.

“The mantra of ‘no individual is bigger than the team’ rings true throughout not only my coaching philosophy, but the way I approach all things rugby. My goal as a coach is to be a professional yet ‘human’ role model, who will inspire players to recognise their potential and strive to achieve this through the underlying values of dedication, reflection and competition. 
“The way you achieve this is by being thorough, detailed and committed and reaping the rewards of the time, energy and passion we put into our endeavors. Winning is a habit, and one which when broken down into a process can be made easy with the correct coaching approach,” Asplin added.

His current post uniquely suits him for oversight of HKFC’s thriving rugby sections, helping the Club groom the first fifteens of the future, as he presently leads a group of elite coaches across six different sports codes, and mentors elite teams and individual athletes at Hamilton. “I have spent 10 years coaching rugby in the secondary school premier 1st XV level of New Zealand Rugby, along with multiple age grade representative teams. As an educator, I have worked in developing coaches and pathways for progressing young athletes through to transition to the professional game. 
“I pride myself in developing inclusive culture within team environments to help young players uncover their identities as a team and individuals to forge together to succeed on and off the field,” said Asplin.