SAR to beef up Sevens squad
Hard men of Hong Kong rugby Isi Tu'ivai and Carl Murray are set to walk into the Hong Kong team for today's Silver Sevens.
Tu'ivai and Murray will displace Jason Going and Chan Fuk-ping in the 10-strong SAR squad.
Although teams are allowed 12 players, they can only nominate 10 for the tournament.
The others are reserves and can only be brought in for injuries.
'We will decide on the final 10 tomorrow,' coach Jim Rowark said yesterday.
Going and Chan were part of the squad who saw Hong Kong qualify for the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens a few days ago in Kuala Lumpur.
But with Tu'ivai and Murray having recovered from injury, it is likely the Malaysian Sevens duo will have to take a back seat.
Paul Dingley (captain), Rodney McIntosh, Matt Reede, Chris Gordon, Will Wild, Hamish Bowden, Alan Clark and Mark Solomon make up the rest of the squad.
'Carl has recovered from a knee operation while Isi's hamstring injury has cleared up,' said Rowark.
Hong Kong will be seeking to improve on their performances so far in the World Series. The SAR have taken part in Dubai, Wellington and Brisbane but have only one win to their credit, a 22-12 success against USA in Brisbane.
'Last weekend's performance in Malaysia did our confidence a lot of good.
'But obviously we have got to step up another level this weekend as we will be facing better quality opposition,' said Rowark.
Hong Kong's women's squad fared creditably on the first day of the Women's Rugby Sevens and Asian Championships.
Hong Kong beat Arabian Gulf 22-5, drew with Wales 12-12 and lost to holders New Zealand 62-0 and Samoa 19-12.
If Hong Kong win their final group game against Thailand today, they will be in the Cup final of the Asian Championships and in the Plate competition at the Women's Sevens.
