Boots and all | Young guns promise bright future for our abbreviated game

It is encouraging to know that the next generation of Rowan Vartys and Keith Robertsons are already on the production line and ready to roll out when needed.

The crowning last week of the Hong Kong U20 side as Asian sevens champions is a sign that the future of the abbreviated version is in safe hands and that we will always be up with the best when it comes to regional dominance.

A six-man Hong Kong junior squad got the better of South Korea to win the final leg of the Asian Rugby Football Union U20 Sevens Series at King’s Park, which together with their victory in the opening leg in Johor Bahru, was more than enough to win the overall title.

While the inevitable sight of Hong Kong playing without their full complement is a worry, what was reassuring was that the youngsters showed enough composure for 12 minutes after scrum-half Jason Jeyam had been red-carded for a foul.

This maturity is another good sign for this class of 2014. It would have been so easy for a bunch of teenagers to panic when down in numbers, but their self-possession proves that they have cool heads and were capable of dealing with the situation as it unfolded.

At the end of the day, this equanimity is the difference between winning and losing when the chips are down. It is easy to triumph when you are dominant in every facet of the game but more often than not at the highest level, it is the ability to change your game plan on the run, or the capacity to move on to Plan B that is telling.

A true champion is one who is willing to buck the trend and is able to recognise in the heat of the action that sticking to the game plan might not be the best option. He, or she, must have the vision and the courage to change the course of action if things are not going to plan.