HK Scottish warhorse celebrates 100 caps in men’s rugby premiership
- Englishman with Scottish roots has made Hong Kong his home over the past seven years
- The prop has only missed four games to reach the milestone for HK Scottish
Jamie Pincott wasted little time in setting up his life in Hong Kong when he moved to the city in 2012.
The towering, 29-year-old prop, who stands at 193 centimetres and weighs in at 117 kilograms, was out on the town on his first night.
Pincott found himself at Typhoon in Wan Chai having a few pints with his new teammates. It was here he met Lauren who caught his eye.
Fast forward seven years and Lauren is his wife of four years and they have two children, including seven-month-old Poppy.
“Yeah, met her on the first night out, guess it was meant to be,” said Pincott with a grin.
Now Pincott has done what many would say is impossible: he has racked up 100 caps, all with HK Scottish, in the bruising, punishing men’s premiership.
Pincott, whose father is Scottish but was born in Germany, also notched five caps for Hong Kong, starting in 2015 with the Cup of Nations and including appearances also in Malaysia and Korea.
Lauren, who was on the sidelines for his 100th encounter, said it had been pretty neat to be by his side through the entire journey.
“He’s done so well. It’s been fun to watch him over these years,” she said.
Pincott’s career (he plans on retiring at the end of the season) is even more impressive as he has only missed four games due to injury.
Pincott attributes most of it to “luck”, suffering only a busted eyebrow and a few concussions.
He remembers his first game vividly (October 6, 2012) against USRC Tigers and Hong Kong’s blazing humidity was in full force. Pincott said it was much more intense than his 100th game.
“Definitely more nerves, I think that one was a bit more exciting. It was a case of moving on from Wales and coming into the heat, and kind of this nervous state, thinking, ‘Will I last?’”
Now seven years later, he was earning his 100th cap, against Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay on Tuesday at King’s Park (Sandy Bay inched out a 37-27 win).
“It was quite tough trying to get my head around it. It was a weird one this morning. This is the last thing I wanted to tick off on my rugby career, so today it was most definitely not a normal match day.”
Pincott, who is a PE teacher at French International School in Happy Valley, said he had learned many life and rugby lessons along the way.
“As I’ve got older I’ve learned to enjoy it a lot more, I’m not so worried about the result. When I first came here I was young and in Hong Kong, and now I’m older and have a family, so a lot has happened and changed.”
HK Scottish assistant coach Stephen Dowse said Pincott had become the “heart” of the team, defining what it means to be a warhorse rugby player.
“When you come here, HK Scottish defines who you are in Hong Kong. And I think Jamie has gone on to define what it means to be HK Scottish in Hong Kong.”
