Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/rugby/article/3037716/south-china-tigers-will-face-manuma-samoa-hong-kong-global-rapid-rugby
Sport/ Rugby

South China Tigers will face Manuma Samoa in Hong Kong for Global Rapid Rugby season opener

  • The Hong Kong Rugby Union squad will kick off the first full season against a Samoan team in early March
  • Global Rapid Rugby went with a showcase series last season and will feature six teams in a home and away style format next year
Patrick Blennerhassett
Patrick Blennerhassett

Updated: 11:02pm, 14 Nov, 2019

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South China Tigers (yellow) can look forward to a new season competing in Global Rapid Rugby in March. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong’s South China Tigers will kick off the first full season of Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby in March on home soil.

The Tigers will play Manuma Samoa, a team put together for GRR, most likely at the Aberdeen Sports Ground, where the Tigers played their games last season. The first weekend of matches will take place from March 13-15. A GRR release describes the Tigers’ opponent as an “exciting, homegrown squad capable of anything, particularly on a redeveloped home stadium in Asia”.

Forrest’s GRR got off to a rocky start as they had to condense what was supposed to be a full season of games last season for a variety of reasons. The Hong Kong Rugby Union, which is spearheading the Tigers squad and helping GRR in terms of planning, has been a pet project of the mining magnate since his own team, the Western Force, were booted from the Australian Super Rugby Conference.

However, the league appears back on track as six teams (one still to be named) will play 10 rounds in a home and away series, which will feature 31 games including a one-off final on June 5 or 6 in Perth, Australia. The winner of the grand final will also take home A$350,000 (HK$1.85 million).

GRR chief executive officer Mark Evans said two teams, in particular, have them excited about this season. One is Manuma Samoa and the other is Fijian Latui, who are described as an “amazing mix of flair and strength to all parts of the rugby-mad island nation, and be just as tough on foreign shores”.

“Providing Fiji and Samoa with access to a full-scale, international competition is an enormous result for the sport worldwide,” said Evans, noting they have done everything in their power to minimise the logistical challenges of having six teams from six different countries play each other over multiple time zones.

The South China Tigers (red and white) will kick off the first full season against a Samoan squad in May in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong
The South China Tigers (red and white) will kick off the first full season against a Samoan squad in May in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

“We have worked hard to ensure all teams’ travel times and days away from home are similar and I know all the teams and unions involved share our expectation around how even the competition will be.”

The league is rounded out by a squad from Malaysia and a yet-to-be-determined sixth team from somewhere in Asia.

GRR features 70-minute matches and various rules to promote more tries and less kicking.