Loss of fly-half Keith Robertson bad for Hong Kong Rugby Club's World Cup bid
Playmaker's decision to put playing career on hold to train as a pilot will dent team's World Cup aspirations
Hong Kong's World Cup qualification hopes have suffered a blow after playmaker Keith Robertson put his sporting career on hold to train as a pilot.
The flyhalf, one of Hong Kong's best players, will miss the entire HSBC Asian Sevens Series, which this season serves as the ranking tournament for the Asian World Cup qualifiers in Singapore in November. And he may be unavailable for the tournament proper in Moscow next year should Hong Kong qualify.
"Replacing Keith will be tough but it isn't a make-or-break deal," coach Dai Rees insisted. "Keith grew into the pivot position over a number of years, and we have been looking at his potential absence for a while, and have been fortunate in having some depth in this position."
Robertson will leave this week for Australia to join Cathay Pacific's pilot training programme, following in the footsteps of former Hong Kong 15s captain and centre Tom McColl and flanker Mark Goosen. He is expected to be out of action for 16 months.
"I have been thinking about my future for quite a while now, and with Goose and Tom having gone through the same programme, it made me aware of the opportunities of living in Hong Kong and still playing rugby after completing the programme," Robertson said. "It is about the right time for me to do something. I have had a good run with rugby up until now. But I have to think about the future too, and look at the bigger picture."
A key member of the sevens squad for the past six seasons, Robertson also played a huge part in Hong Kong's silver medal successes at the 2010 Asian Games and the 2009 East Asian Games.