Bangkok stages the ASS second leg in October. And the following month Woodward will lead his team in the Olympic qualification competition in Japan.

Hong Kong beat Japan in the 2018 Asian Games final, avenging their losses to the team in the 2010 and 2014 gold medal matches. They were one game from reaching the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo but suffered a gut-wrenching defeat by South Korea.

“The will to win, along with qualifying for the Olympics, consumes all of my thoughts and there’s not much energy left for anything else,” Woodward told the Post.

“Personally, the Olympics is uppermost in my mind. But the importance of the Asian Games can’t be understated, given its impact on our funding.

“In terms of what the tournaments mean for the programme … and the legacy of rugby in Hong Kong, nothing is bigger than the Asian Games. This is our first time defending a gold medal and anything less than the same again will be a disappointment, which brings its own pressure.

Former England 7s international Vilk to take charge of Hong Kong women’s team

“But it is hard to ignore the prospect of being an Olympian. We’ve been very close to reaching the past two Games so that maintains the pressure for this cycle.”

Hong Kong dominated last year’s ASS, winning all three events and beating different opponents in Japan, South Korea and UAE in the finals.

They qualified for the second-tier Challenger Series as a result and performed strongly in two tournaments in South Africa in April, progressing to the semi-finals and quarterfinals before twice running into eventual champions Tonga.

For Woodward, toppling long-standing nemesis Japan to claim gold five years ago was a significant staging post towards the broader aim of regularly competing with the sport’s major nations.

“I think we broke that psychological barrier by beating Japan in a very important fixture,” Woodward said. “We’re the perennial nearly men, ‘Oh, well done Hong Kong, you haven’t got many players, you do well, you’re punching above your weight, a pat on the back for second place’.

“That’s very frustrating. In Asia we’ve pushed past that, especially against Japan. It’s probably a mental block we need to get past in tournaments like the Challenger Series but to win that 2018 final was a big watershed moment for us.”

Woodward and his colleagues are “reducing the workload” following months of high-volume training.

For Woodward, the exertion “gets harder as I get older”, although a chiselled, athletic frame is testament to a commitment to conditioning that extends to the Tin Shed gym he co-founded with sevens teammate Hugo Stiles.

“Having something you can engage in with close to as much passion as rugby, so rugby is not the be-all and end-all in life, is very helpful,” said Woodward. “Having friendship groups and relationships outside the squad is really important too.”

Woodward has nevertheless spent a prolonged period as good as living cheek by jowl with teammates to prepare for a pivotal three months.

“It’s always intense in a team environment, ultimately you are collectively striving for the same goal, but within that are the individual battles, competing with other people for your position,” Woodward added.

“We are all mates and have been together a long time. There’s a good balance in the squad between Cantonese speakers and English speakers.

“We ensure we don’t get too sick of each other by really respecting each other’s boundaries and being mindful and empathetic in respect of how other guys are feeling. To try to be good men and good people among each other is important to us as a squad.”