Hong Kong rugby coach Andrew Hall recounts pivotal game in Cook Islands to qualify for World Cup Repechage – ‘This was no ordinary away fixture’
- Men’s 15s coach Andrew Hall reminisces about exciting two-leg series win which booked their ticket to Marseille, France
- Some time zone trickery and last-minute injuries made for a nail-biting event some 11,000 kilometres from home
The global pandemic’s unprecedented impact on the sporting world, shutting down virtually every professional league, has left many athletes, fans and coaches reminiscing about previous games.
Andrew Hall, Hong Kong’s men’s 15s head coach, is no different, and takes a trip down memory lane about a pivotal win for their programme. In July 2018, Hong Kong took on Cook Islands in Rarotonga, the first of a two-leg home and home series.
The prize at the end was a big one, a spot in the 2019 Rugby World Cup Repechage, to be held later that year in Marseille, France. Hall, who was an assistant to Leigh Jones at the time, said the first point of business was figuring out the logistics of such an unusually demanding series.
“This was no ordinary away fixture,” said Hall, who previously played for the Scottish national team. “As the crow flies, the Cook Islands is nearly 11,000 kilometres from Hong Kong and would take two flights, a stopover in New Zealand and a 16-hour time difference to deal with before a tackle was made. It was the issue of jet lag that caused the biggest headache for our planning.”
During meetings at the Hong Kong Rugby Union, the coaching and support staff found themselves stumped as how to handle such a demanding time zone change. Enter Luke Davey, the strength and conditioning coach.