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HK Rugby Sevens 2015
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Calvin Hunter (right) has been picked to represent Hong Kong for the second time in three weeks as the sevens squad jet off to the Margaret River Sevens in Western Australia. Photos: HKRFU

Hong Kong sevens coaches keen to blood rising talent in Perth

Young standouts given chance to push for senior places in men’s and women’s squads

The buzz words for Hong Kong’s upcoming trip to the Margaret River Sevens are “new blood” and “rising stars” as the HKRFU selectors demonstrate a real commitment to giving youth a chance in both the men’s and women’s touring squads.

Tour coaches – Anna Richards for the women and Kane Jury for the men – see Margaret River as a perfect opportunity to explore their player options ahead of the Hong Kong Sevens in March and, more importantly, the 2016 Rio Olympics qualifiers in November.

Both teams will compete in Western Australia as the Hong Kong Dragons and this will be the second appearance for the men, who last year won the Plate.

“Our women’s team is a developmental squad that has been selected in an effort to give the younger girls and some of the players who weren’t selected for the final tournament on the Asian series in Beijing a bit of a go,” said women’s head coach Richards.

Squad stalwarts Royce Chan Leong-sze and Christy Cheng Ka-chi have been left at home to give other players an opportunity to establish their leadership skills within the squad. “We want to see who will step up in the absence of our traditional captains Royce and Christy,” said Richards.

Natasha Olson-Thorne, one of the team’s most talented finishers, has been named captain for the tour while Adrienne Garvey, who made her debut last September in the Women’s Sevens World Series qualifier, has been named vice-captain.

Emmy Chan Hoi-ping, Lindsay Varty, Aggie Poon Pak-yan, Lai Pou-fan and Amelie Seure are among the more established members of the touring squad, which also features a core of young talent in Ivy Kwong Sau-yan, Nam Ka-man, Sham Wai-sum, Lee Tsz-ting and Cindy Yuen Lok-yee.

“The main focus for the year is of course the Olympics qualifier but maintaining our performance on the Asian series is right up there as those results are key to keeping us in the HKSI [Hong Kong Sports Institute] programme,” said former New Zealand rugby star Richards.

“The girls are working really hard and overall, the squad is looking a lot better skill-wise. We are seeing more of that come out in pressure scenarios like in tournament competition. I’m especially pleased with the progress of some of our young girls like Cindy Yuen and Lee Tsz-ting,” added Richards.

With a similar goal of providing players with more opportunities to stake their claim for places in the team for the major events in the 2015 campaign, the men’s squad for Margaret River also features some relatively new faces.

Sevens squad veteran Ben Rimene has been tipped to help provide leadership, and will be joined by Charles Cheung Ho-ning, Adam Rolston, Andrew Bridle and Tomasi Lawa – all players with competition experience on the Asian Sevens Series or at the National Games.

Three more of Hong Kong’s U20 Asian sevens champions side – co-captain Liam Owens, Matt Worley and Eric Kwok Pak-nga – are set to make their senior sevens squad debuts in Australia. Bradley Raper, winger for the 2015 HKRFU Premiership league champions Leighton Asia HKCC, has also been selected for the tour and will have his first opportunity to play sevens for Hong Kong.

“This is another fantastic opportunity to continue building depth in our programme,” said Kane Jury, who will lead the squad to Australia as senior coach for the first time.

“Having Calvin, Liam, Eric and Matt from our successful under-20s campaign … proves we have talent coming through. It will be a big eye-opener in terms of physicality and skills, but this is why they are in the team and we need to expose them to this.

“For Brad it’s been a long time coming. He has been plagued with injuries and we were happy that he was available for selection. He has size and speed and I know he has been waiting a long time to show us what he can offer,” said Jury.

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