APBs sweat out first HK bonding session
Up in the heavens, Venus was traversing the noon-day sun, the last such passing that will be visible from Earth for the next century. Down on terra firma, a bunch of men - most definitely from Mars - were gingerly throwing a rugby ball around.
The BGC APBs - formerly the Asian Pacific Barbarians - were having their first workout at So Kon Po as a unit since arriving in town for Saturday's Chartis Cup against English side Saracens. They had a 'team bonding session' the night before after arriving from various parts of the world, and it was one big convivial gathering, said All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina.
'Hong Kong is not a good place to be,' laughed Muliaina, who along with Richie McCaw is the only All Black to reach 100 caps. 'Last night was a decent night of team bonding to get to know each other, some of the boys we have never played with and a few we have played against. It was like being back in the old days. You never get to do this sort of stuff nowadays.'
The 25-strong APBs, with only three survivors from the side which triumphed at the GFI HKFC Tens this year, are heavily weighted with big islanders and New Zealanders. Among the latter All Blacks are backrower Jerry Collins, lock Troy Flavell and backs Rico Gear, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Muliaina.
Samoan hit men include Henry and Alesana Tuilagi, while Fiji's representation is led by Vilimoni Delasau and Seru Rabeni. Locks Finau Tupa and Sione Timani lead the Tongan brigade. England No8 Nick Easter and flanker Martyn Williams (100 caps for Wales) were the only Northern Hemisphere presence in the mix yesterday, with Welsh legend Shane Williams still to join the squad.
Apart from getting to know each other on the field, the heat will be the other major factor facing the APBs as they bid to stop Saracens, the first English Premiership team to visit Hong Kong, from winning at Hong Kong Stadium.
'The heat is going to be a massive factor. We asked for rolling subs but Saracens didn't want it. A lot of water is going to be taken on the weekend,' Muliaina said.
Samoan and New Zealand international Pat Lam, coach of the APBs, said the game was a rare chance for the players to give something back to the community.
'The real key is we want to do well for the APBs. This game is about charity, too,' Lam said. 'Whenever we are playing for charity it brings something extra into it and adds a fresh perspective. When you play rugby at a professional level it is all about the winning and the results: this is about something a bit bigger and deeper.'
Lam, who starred for New Zealand at the Hong Kong Sevens from 1989 to 1993, agreed with Muliaina that temperatures hitting 32 degrees Celsius would be a huge challenge.
'When I used to play here, almost 20 years ago, it was always in March when it wasn't as hot. A lot of these boys come from Samoa, Tonga and Fiji where they are used to the heat, but the problem is they all live in Paris, London and the rest of the world now, and all are coming out of winter,' said Lam, who is taking a short break from coaching the Blues in Super Rugby.
The heat and the excesses from the previous night were weighing heavily on the APBs yesterday. But Muliaina promised game faces would be on by Saturday.
'We want to get all the social stuff out of the way early in the week. We want to put on a good performance. Saracens will be a big challenge and hopefully we will be up to it,' he said.
