Hong Kong ready to go ‘fourth’ and conquer the qualifier
Hong Kong are trying for the fourth time to win core-team status on the HSBC Sevens World Series this weekend. And we’re all hoping to see the hosts weeping tears of joy at the end of the qualifier final on Sunday.
Let’s put aside Chinese mythology’s somewhat negative outlook on the number four and instead focus on the interpretation by western numerologists who associate it with “endeavour”, “discipline”, “dependability” and, above all, “turning ideas into reality”.
Jamie Hood and his merry band of Hong Kong men are trying to win core-team status on the Sevens World Series at their fourth attempt this weekend. And we’re all hoping to see tears of joy from the hosts on Sunday rather than tears of the sobbing variety.
We lost in the contact area last year, something we have put a lot of work into this time. We are better prepared now
Skipper Hood believes his side have learned their lessons, especially after last year’s frustrating campaign, and can win the 12-team qualifying tournament.
“We lost in the contact area last year, something we have put a lot of work into this time. We are better prepared now,” Hood says.
The Hong Kong-born playmaker has sacrificed a lot to make his dreams of playing as a professional on the global tour come true. He gave up a good job as a teacher at South Island School to devote himself full-time at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, where he is one of 17 men who live, breathe and eat rugby.
The results are already plain to see. Hong Kong are the reigning Asian sevens champions and although Japan pipped them to the gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon last year, they have come a long way. The recent ARFU Cross-Regional Sevens tournament in Borneo proved they are more composed with ball in hand.
They won that tournament in style – 24-12 victory over Papua New Guinea in the semis was followed by an emphatic 24-0 Cup final victory over Tonga who had just beaten Hong Kong 21-19 in the preliminary stages.
The biggest plus for head coach Gareth Baber was how Hong Kong coped in “pressure situations”. They didn’t lose their heads, even to those giant Tongan headhunters, and that calmness will be crucial this weekend if Hong Kong are to beat the likes of Spain and Russia.
This weekend will be all about minimising errors, as Hood pointed out: “We had one bad game against Italy last year and we were out. We didn’t have enough ball and lost in the contact area.”
It was a similar story at the London Sevens qualifier in 2013, when Hong Kong were knocked out by Spain, underlining their superior physicality. And at the first World Series qualifier competition, in Hong Kong in 2012, the first-minute sin-binning of playmaker Keith Robertson against Japan left the hosts with six men on the park and facing overwhelming odds.
And so to attempt number four. Let’s hope this year’s Hong Kong side have learned from past errors and can turn their core-status dream into a World Series reality.
