The social game: Guinness factory and Dublin’s River Liffey form part of Hong Kong’s maiden World Cup journey
Veteran scrum half Lindsay Varty takes us through the ins and outs of spending three weeks living away with the team
While rugby was top of the agenda for Hong Kong during their three-week Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign, there’s been plenty more going on behind the scenes during the team’s down time.
From trips to the Guinness factory and walks along Dublin’s River Liffey to a visit to Belfast’s peace lines and the general high jinks that comes with going away together, scrum half Lindsay Varty has been there to capture the moments every step of the way on social media.
“A lot of the tours we’ve been on, myself and a couple of others organise the social and team bonding type fun and games and things like that,” Varty says.
“Probably [coach] Jo [Hull] thinks I’m that way inclined – like to have a bit of fun – and I use Instagram, so she thought it would be appropriate.”
While Hong Kong lost all five of their games, the losses did little to sap their enthusiasm and Varty says the experience has been a memorable one in many ways.
“Rugby aside, there is a lot of other things that go on and 30 girls living together, it’s your rugby family and to live with them for a month is hectic but it’s so much fun,” she says.