Rwanda Silverbacks thrilled over debut at Hong Kong Tens
Although a baptism of fire awaits, Rwanda relish golden opportunity to move up to the next level
Rwanda will break new boundaries at the GFI HKFC Tens by becoming the first national team to appear at the prelude to the Hong Kong Sevens. But they will face a baptism of fire with a star-studded field invited for the popular tournament in March.
For the first time in the 28-year history of the tournament, a national team will take part alongside the traditional select outfits, which this year includes defending champions BGC Asia-Pacific All Stars, formerly known as the Asia-Pacific Barbarians.
And being up against star quality - last year's champion outfit included All Blacks Mils Muliaina and Justin Marshall, as well as US captain Todd Clever - the Rwandan Silverbacks would find the going hard, Chris Harker, chairman of the organising committee, said.
"This is the first time we have invited a national team and it will be a step up for them," Harker said.
"They won't be able to mix it with the stronger teams, but they will do well in the lower half of the draw, which features both the Bowl and Shield competitions."
Rwanda have appeared for the last three years at the Kowloon Tens RugbyFest where they have made a mark. The 16-team HKFC Tens on March 20-21 will be a massive challenge for a country where rugby is still in its teething stage.
"Several years ago they came to us looking for a spot, but we felt [the competition was] too strong for them. They approached us again last year and thought they'd learnt enough to be competitive."