Opinion | Left Field: Why Hong Kong rugby faces a tricky balancing act on player import rules
The right mix of foreign imports and locally born players has to be struck to achieve goals on and off the pitch
They say a prophet is never recognised until he is no more. I don't want to label George Simpkin as a prophet, even though he was always full of fire and brimstone, but the former technical director of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union was a visionary who faced criticism for trying to do things differently.
Simpkin's "crime" was to bring in players from the southern hemisphere in a bid to boost the strength of the national team when he was coach in the late '80s and early '90s.
While he also helped nurture young Chinese players – Rambo Leung and Chan Fuk-ping were two of his early discoveries – and put in place a development programme, Simpkin also believed a strong national team was crucial to raising the sport's profile.
Concerns have already been raised in some quarters as to the increased presence of the have-boots-will-travel brigade
So he went and outsourced talent. The imports he brought in went on to represent Hong Kong proudly, the likes of New Zealanders Isi Tu'ivai, Rodney McIntosh and Vaughan Going.
The three Valley stars, who made a name for themselves in sevens and 15s, were all "encouraged" to come to Hong Kong to try their hand.
Fast forward to this season and we find a band of players imported from all over the world who will ply their trade in the Hong Kong Premiership, which began with a bang on Saturday.
The HKRFU has relaxed its rules on imports – those players who are allowed to come in on a holiday visa and play rugby.
Last season, all six clubs in the Premiership were permitted to field only three imported players. Not any more.