Last summer, Mongolia competed in a triangular competition in Brunei against the hosts and Cambodia. They won handily, too, beating Cambodia 49-5 and Brunei 38-13.

Mongolia are hoping to build off this performance and climb the next rung on the Asian rugby ladder. So an invite was extended to Hong Kong to help them in this goal by assisting the national team in their preparations.

And on behalf of the HKRFU, new national coach development manager Peter and I were pleased to accept. So we packed our woolly hats, gloves and thermals and headed to Ulan Bator for a coaching clinic with the Mongolian National 15.

No sooner had our feet touched the frosty ground than we were whisked off to a traditional Mongolian wedding, and we experienced some incredible rugby hospitality.

In keeping with the formal occasion, Pete and I agreed to wear our respective national dress, so with my kilt and Pete’s Morris Dancing outfit we made our way to join the celebrations!

It was a fantastic evening and we soon reached the conclusion that no matter where in the world you find yourself, and no matter how wide the contrast in cultures, you will always find the magnificent fraternal bond that exists in our great game everywhere it is played.

Pete and I were strangers to all but one of the wedding guests, but we were wonderfully welcomed as one of the family…even after witnessing my kilted dance moves!

The next day with light hearts and heavy heads, it was down to business. On a glorious sunny morning, Peter and I were escorted to the Mongolia Olympic Committee offices where the team trained.

The playing field was something to behold and despite our own struggle for pitches in Hong Kong, I must say those Mongolian pitches made ours look like Twickenham by comparison.

A mix of dust, stones and shale, marked with the familiar rugby lines, perfectly describes the Mongolian national team’s playing surface.

Strikingly, there was not one complaint or gripe from any of the players. They strapped their boots on and got on with it with an enthusiasm that is always a delight for coaches.

With the help of our translator, who was also the captain and coach of the team, we took the players through various warm-up games, handling skills and unit work.

The majority of time was spent in developing the players’ game understanding and tactical awareness. The session pushed over three hours and the engagement from the entire team was superb throughout.

Mongolia look a highly competent and enthusiastic outfit. The guys were sharp and they adapted well to the tweaks and challenges we posed them during the session.

It was a real privilege for Pete and I to be invited to coach the Mongolian 15 and it was a great reminder of how rugby’s other half live. We can sometimes forget how fortunate we are in Hong Kong with the wealth of resources we have at our disposal. The guys running around on a dust bowl in Ulan Bator have only a fraction of what we perhaps take for granted, but their enthusiasm and commitment was unwavering.

It was an incredible experience for Peter and I. Huge thanks go to the Mongolian RFU for hosting us and of course to the HKRFU for supporting this worthy initiative.

The HKRFU has always played an instrumental role in developing Asian rugby – the perfect example, of course, being the Hong Kong Sevens which was founded in part with the inspiration of providing opportunities for Asian nations to play world-class opponents.

Despite a rugby tradition in the region that dates back for more than a century and the world’s largest population by region, Asia has only six per cent of the global player-base. As such, the region remains one of the world’s greatest markets to grow the game.

Now that international sevens has caught up with Hong Kong, and with the development of the international series and sevens’ new Olympic status, there has been a narrowing of some competitive opportunities for teams like Mongolia. As such, it will be even more important for the HKRFU to continue to expand its support role in the region alongside ARFU and the International Rugby Board.

I would also like to pass along our very special thanks to the HKRFU club coaching officers and the Hong Kong Society of Rugby Football Union Referees, who kindly donated a bag full of kit for the Mongolian players.

Peter and I left Ulan Bator hoping to work with our Mongolian rugby allies again … but having seen their commitment and enthusiasm for the game, we will also be keeping a close eye on their progress in next year’s A5N.