Hugo Stiles to earn first senior Hong Kong cap at Japan Sevens
Teenager receives call-up for Tokyo tournament where HK are drawn into pool A with Fiji, England and Wales
Hong Kong under-20 captain Hugo Stiles will be thrown in at the deep end after being called up for this weekend's Japan Sevens in Tokyo, where coach Gareth Baber's squad have been drawn into pool A with the mighty Fiji.
Stiles is one of three changes made to the 12-man squad who played in the qualifying tournament at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at the weekend – the others being Ben Rimene and Jack Capon. The trio replaces Mark Wright, Rowan Varty and Cado Lee Ka-to.
“We will be going into this tournament looking at it as the start of our preparations for the Asian Olympic qualifiers in November and in that context I believe coming up against teams like Fiji is a great opportunity.
“It was mental toughness which let us down last weekend, and it will be good playing against the Hong Kong Sevens champions and England, as we will go into these games with no pressure on our shoulders of having to win,” Rees added.
Pint-sized Stiles played a few games for Grand Championship winners Societe General Valley this season and will make his debut in the senior side after being drafted in as a replacement for Varty who broke his thumb in Hong Kong’s qualifier quarter-final match against Russia.
Forward Wright, who played last weekend at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time in four years, is unavailable due to family commitments and has been replaced by Jack Capon who is back to full fitness after sustaining an injury earlier in the season. Stiles' Valley team-mate Rimene comes in for Cado Lee.
According to Rees, a sports psychologist will be working with the team for the next few days before they leave for Tokyo. Hong Kong’s fourth bid to qualify as a core team on the Sevens World Series was ended abruptly and convincingly by eventual qualifiers Russia who registered a comfortable 24-0 victory.
“The pressure of playing in front of your home crowd and the pressure of wanting it so much cost us. Mentally we were not up to it and we have got a guy working with us on this aspect,” Rees said.
The Tokyo Sevens will give Hong Kong the chance to regain some confidence even if they end up losing every match. There are no expectations on the team against three of the top teams on tour and as such everything else will be a bonus.
Japan Sevens draw (April 4-5, Tokyo)
Pool B: New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Portgual
Pool C: South Africa, USA, Canada, Kenya
Pool D: Samoa, Argentina, France, Japan