HONG KONG—On March 20 the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union announced the men and women’s sevens squads to compete at the Hong Kong on the g Sevens this weekend (March 27-29).
The Hong Kong men’s team will be led by Jamie Hood, and the women, by Royce Chan.
The men will compete in the Qualifying tournament. The winner will take a coveted place on the 2015/16 Sevens World Series. This will be a very tough 12 team competition for Hong Kong, where only one team will achieve any glory. Each of the six regions of Work Rugby has sent two teams. Hong Kong competes in Group A, against Uruguay, Mexico and Brazil.
It is an experienced and strong Hong Kong squad, with Rowan Varty playing in his tenth tournament. He is joined by Jamie Hood (Captain), Salom Yiu Kam Shing, Nick Hewson, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka To, Tom and Alex McQueen, Mark Wright, Chris Maize (debutant), Michael Coverdale and Max Woodward. Jack Capon has sadly lost out due to injury. Mark Wright, rejoins the squad from Toyota Shokki Shuttles, in the Japan Professional league. Wright last played for Hong Kong at the Asian Games in October, 2014. Chris Maize is the only player making his debut appearance at the Hong Kong Sevens.
Hong Kong will need all of their experience in the tournament. They have already played against Tonga and Papua New Guinea in the recent cross regional sevens. This tournament is another level of intensity, and Gareth Baber, the head coach, and the Hong Kong team, will be hoping to deliver in front of a partisan home crowd this weekend.
The women play in a separate Sevens tournament, on March 26 at Kings Park and on March 27 at HKFC. The final will be played at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday afternoon. Hong Kong hope to make the final, but will face strong competition from China, Canada, Japan and Kazakhstan.
Royce Chan is an experienced player. This will be her tenth Hong Kong Sevens. She leads a squad with 10 players who have played at the Hong Kong event before and only two debutants, Adrienne Garvey and Nam Ka Man. The women’s team is Royce Chan (Captain), Christy Cheng (Vice Captain), Candy Cheng Tsz Ting, Adrienne Garvey (debutant), Kwong Sau Yan, Lai Pou Fan, Nam Ka Man (debutant), Natasha Olson-Thorne, Aggie Poon Pak Yan, Amelie Seure, Sham Wai Sum, Lindsay Varty.
Under the guidance of head coach Anna Richards, the women’s team will aim to continue to show the improvement made in competition to date, and to play on Friday will be a terrific achievement.
Grahame Carder is a sports enthusiast and former player from representative Schoolboy level, through University and most corners where he’s lived. Currently works as Consultant on Strategy and Marketing.
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