Director’s Discourse | Hong Kong’s in-form pack ready to assert itself

Hong Kong's national 15s team going up against Belgium over the coming few days is dominated by in-form players from the Paul Y Premiership – proving the success of the HKRFU’s renewed focus on domestic rugby.

Hong Kong’s domestic league rules mandate that there must be a minimum of 11 eligible players in the starting 21-player squad on a club’s match day. This has expanded the pool of local players available to select for international fixtures.

Four years ago it was a struggle for most of the clubs to meet the minimum Hong Kong eligibility criteria with players of an equal standard to those players not eligible to represent Hong Kong.

But this has changed, with many of the players coming into Hong Kong staying for the long haul and qualifying through the IRB’s three-year residency rule, alongside a welcome influx of local “born and bred” players coming through the HKRFU and club mini and youth development programmes.

These players have now forced their way into their club’s first teams on ability and skill alone. This in turn has allowed Hong Kong senior coach Leigh Jones and his selection panel to pick on form from an expanded pool of players.

Jones has rewarded Leighton Asia HKCC’s top of the table league effort with seven players selected in the first test squad for Belgium, including four of the starting test pack.