Skipper is ready, willing and Abel
Jon Abel will become the first locally born and ethnic Chinese player to captain Hong Kong at 15s, after he was surprisingly picked to lead the team at next month's HSBC Asian Five Nations.
Abel, who is half Chinese, will take over the captaincy from Semi Iafeta as the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union continues its rapid strides to go local. The team who played at last week's Hong Kong Sevens had 10 players who were either locally born or of Chinese ethnicity.
The 30-year-old DeA Tigers hooker revealed yesterday he had been shocked to learn he had been named captain.
Abel said: 'It was a huge surprise. The night Dai [Rees, the Hong Kong coach] told me, I thought he was dropping me from the Hong Kong 10s squad. I was prepared for that, but it was all good news.'
New Hong Kong coach Rees said he had based his selection on the firm belief that the captain of a national team should always be a person of origin from that country.
'I'm a great believer that a country should be captained by a person of origin from that country. Jon was proud to accept it,' said Rees.
'He didn't accept it lightly. He is a proud Hong Kong guy and I'm sure he will lead Hong Kong from the front with a lot of pride and passion.'
Hong Kong will need plenty of both qualities as they take on defending champions Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Singapore in the top tier of the Asian Five Nations.
Rees, who named a 29-strong training squad yesterday, said: 'Jon is the first choice in the front row. He is somebody whose place of origin is Hong Kong. I would like to think this is the start of change in Hong Kong.
'I have come in with fresh ideas, and I firmly believe that the majority of the players, if not all, should be educated, working and playing in Hong Kong, and within the 29, 28 competed in the domestic league this season,' Rees added.
Yesterday saw the launch of the second year of the regional tournament - the top tier next year will serve as the final Asian qualifying round for the 2011 World Cup - with sponsors HSBC and stakeholders the Asian Rugby Football Union revealing the economic downturn would have no impact on the tournament, which encompasses 26 countries.
'Our commitment is the same this year, there is no change,' said Sandy Flockhart, chief executive officer of HSBC Asia-Pacific. The bank, which is in the second year of a three-year sponsorship deal, pumped in US$1.25 million last year.
AFRU secretary general Ross Mitchell also confirmed that the International Rugby Board would continue to financially back the tournament. Last year, the IRB chipped in US$500,000.
Former England winger Rory Underwood, who along with Choi Won-tae, the president of the ARFU, officiated at yesterday's launch, said the tournament would serve to develop the game further in the region.
'The Asian Five Nations will serve as a focus for the game in Asia for the players. It will be a very important event for teams, as important as the Six Nations is for England,' Underwood said.
