Enter the South China Tigers, Hong Kong’s new team in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby series
- Mining billionaire’s new series, set to kick off in February, will feature a team comprising Hong Kong’s elite 15s and sevens players
- Formerly known as the World Series Rugby, the event looks to capitalise on increased exposure in Asia ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan
The South China Tigers, a team comprising players from Hong Kong’s Elite Rugby Programme, have signed on to compete in Australian mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s newly created Global Rapid Rugby series.
Formerly called the World Series Rugby during its trial season earlier this year, the new series was created after Forrest’s Western Force team was booted from the Australian Super Rugby Conference in 2017.
Forrest, valued at about US$3.3 billion according to Forbes, would not divulge how much money he has spent, or is prepared to spend, to make the series work.
“When we broke into the global iron ore industry, it took seven or eight years to get a solid return,” he told the South China Morning Post.
“And we invested very heavily and we had a long-term vision and we stuck to it heavily. We didn’t let the availability of capital get in the way, we were always able to get capital for a fantastic vision and that’s what will happen here.”
According to a press release from Global Rapid Rugby, the 2019 season will start in late February with eight teams playing for A$1 million (HK$5.6 million) in prize money.