KGV schoolboy Rowan Varty made a stunning debut for Hong Kong when he scored a superb hat-trick against Sri Lanka in the preliminary round of the Asian Under 19 tournament at Happy Valley yesterday.
The 16-year-old Varty, who had not played at this level before as he was regarded as too young, made up for lost time with a match-winning performance which enabled Hong Kong to win 22-0 and begin their campaign to qualify for this year's Under-19 World Championship on a sound note.
'This is my first game for the Under-19s. I did not play before as I was too young. It is a fantastic way to start, a great debut,' said an elated Varty.
Accustomed to playing at inside centre, Varty was moved out wide to left wing yesterday. And he proved he has the killer instinct and the knack to finish off moves with a flourish.
His first two tries, both in the first half, came off well-worked moves on the blindside. The first was a peach and came off a five-metre scrum which saw impressive No 8 Ryan McBride pick up, feed hard-working scrumhalf Fan Chun-kei who then found Varty on his shoulder. Simple and uncomplicated.
Varty was involved at both the start and finish of the second try. He collected a poor clearance inside his own half and punted deep. The Sri Lankans made a hash of the high ball and turned over possession which resulted in the ball being shipped out wide for Varty to go over.
'All the tries I scored came from moves we had practised. It was all down to team work and I used my pace,' said Varty, who has come up through the ranks of local rugby. He played mini-rugby for the Kai Tak Tigers and then progressed through to the Hong Kong Under 14s and Under 16s.