The Rugby 7s competition at the 2017 World Police & Fire Games in Los Angeles concluded yesterday, with an impressive set of results for the Hong Kong contingent.

The Police and Disciplined Services entered both men’s and women’s teams for the first time, with the men drawn in Division 2 alongside Washington Police, the Vikings, Montreal Police, NYPD and the New York Fire Department while the women faced the Vikings, Canada East, Canada West…and each other!

Both men’s teams had a mixed set of results after day 1, with losses against strong Division 1 opposition the New Zealand and Paris Fire Services, but wins against NYPD and Washington Police. Meanwhile on the women’s side of the draw, Disciplined Services won the “derby match” against the Police, and finished the day unbeaten.

Come day 2, and the Disciplined Services stepped up a gear in their efforts to retain the title they had won at the last Games in Fairfax two years ago…a convincing victory against the New York Fire Department took them into a semi-final clash against Montreal Police which they won 35-7, and so to the final where they faced the Vikings. It was a see-saw encounter, and come the end of normal time the teams were tied, which meant extra time and “golden points”, and sadly on this occasion it was the Vikings who scored the winning try that secured the Gold medals with DS taking the Silver, and the Police men finishing 4th.

The question was now whether the Disciplined Services women could go one better than their male colleagues, and the answer was a resounding yes as they saw off the Canadian Police and the lady Vikings to finish the competition unbeaten and proud Gold medalists. This was an impressive performance from a side making their competitive debut, and a great tribute to all the hard work that has gone into the development of Disciplined Services rugby over the past few years.

The players will now have an opportunity to enjoy some of the other events at the Games, which boasts upwards of 10,000 participants made up of active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The next Games will be held in 2019 rather closer to home, in Chengdu, China.