Hong Kong teams prepare for Asia Rugby Championship with new Super XV competition
- Hong Kong Dragons teams take on World XVs made up of best men and women players from domestic leagues
- Women will travel to Kazakhstan for their competition in May, while the men host South Korea and Malaysia in June
Hong Kong’s men and women began their preparations for the Asia Rugby Championship in earnest on Saturday, with games between the city’s best and World XVs.
The matches at Hong Kong Football Club gave coaches Lewis Evans and Royce Chan the opportunity to take a look at some of the players they expect to be involved in several weeks and later in the year.
For Evans, whose players have only just started to get back into training after a long domestic season, having a warm-up game was one of the elements missing before last year’s clash with South Korea.
Not being able to “expose the guys to quality opposition” before that thrilling 23-21 win in Incheon was something the coaches wanted to avoid this time around.
Still, it has not been easy to find opponents and the union even considered teams from mainland China, but that idea was ultimately dismissed because the sides were not “quite the standard to challenge” the Hong Kong teams.
As it was, the Hong Kong Rugby Union put on what it hopes will turn into a new Super XV competition, featuring multiple sides. On Saturday though, the Hong Kong Dragons teams took on sides comprising the best of the rest in the men’s and women’s leagues.
“There are definitely windows of opportunity that we needed to try and utilise,” Evans said. “It certainly hasn’t been easy to try and get these type of games happening still.
“This was the time when players are still relatively fit from the season, still ready, prepared, and it means the Hong Kong team has a bit of a run out as well.”
Chan, whose players have been working together for two weeks ahead of their ARC in Kazakhstan in May, called the matches an “exciting opportunity”.
“We’re always looking for innovative ways to develop our talent and give them as best a preparation for international competition as possible,” the women’s head coach said. “This is the perfect platform for them to have a hit out.”
With a number of players on Sevens duty, others with clubs overseas, and some opting to retire after the men’s World Cup qualifiers last November, the games also presented players on the fringes of both national teams with an opportunity to show what they could do.
“There are some guys who are going to be vital to the campaign preparation in the build-up,” Evans said. “It might just be experience, they might not get the jersey or be part of the final squad, but they’ll certainly be looked at in November and the next ARC.”
But it hasn’t been easy for Evans to convince some of his more experienced players to take part, and there were some significant absences from Saturday’s matches. The head coach said there had been “a little bit of a challenge” getting some of the squad back “into campaign mode”.
Players though also have work and family commitments, and Evans said the way he had planned the preparation for the games against Malaysia and South Korea, both of which will be in Hong Kong in June, took this into account.
“There will be an element of trust, some guys will have to do their own gym work,” Evans said.
“Basic training starts now, then some Sevens guys will be joining us after the Challenger Series and then we’ll have the overseas guys joining us a bit later on.”
