The hunt is on for more 'muscle' to boost Hong Kong's ball-winning capacity for October's crucial Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifiers according to sevens coach Rodney McIntosh.
If last weekend's Hong Kong Sevens proved anything to McIntosh, it was the dire need for a couple of big specialist forwards who could win possession primarily at the re-starts - a department in which Hong Kong struggled, especially when up against more physical teams like Australia, Tonga and Zimbabwe.
'We need more muscle. I need bigger forwards in the team,' said McIntosh, reviewing Hong Kong's performance. 'Looking at the Asian opposition we will face in the World Cup qualifiers, it will not be easy and we will need specialist forwards to be competitive.'
McIntosh's problems have been exacerbated with Kris Marin, one of two specialist forwards in the Hong Kong team last weekend, announcing his retirement from sevens. The other, Tom McQueen, is young and still on a learning curve leaving the department quite bare.
Hong Kong's ploy to use part-time forwards failed to paper over the cracks, and at the crunch they were found wanting, struggling to win primary possession in the re-starts.
'I'm looking at bringing on guys like Semi Iafeta [Hong Kong 15s captain]. Just imagine throwing Semi on for four minutes on the field to make a big impact,' McIntosh said.
