IVAN TORPEY
Formerly in Her Majesty's Service, the ex-Royal Navy sailor is the new rugby coach of Hong Kong. Last Sunday he watched Hong Kong in action for the first time, hosting the Arabian Gulf at King's Park, and was 'pleased' with the 12-5 victory for the home team. He is 42.
Your first impressions of Hong Kong rugby? Obviously, I'm very pleased that we got off on a winning note. There were a lot of positives from the match.
Such as? The resilience and application of the players were most positive. Other plus points were the platform the team created from scrums; Rob Naylor's kicking at goal; and it was good to see the passages of play which they created.
What were the negatives? There are never any negatives, only areas for improvement. Ball retention in the collision area was one and the clearing out of the rucks and mauls was another. We lacked a bit of alertness at the breakdown with the Arabian Gulf cleaning up the 50-50 ball.
With two qualifying games - against Singapore and China - for the 2007 World Cup next up, are you happy with where Hong Kong are? The performance gives a good platform to work on. I will fall back on the cliche of 'taking one game at a time'.