Hong Kong put up a spirited showing against the visitors before falling short late in the second half. The national team’s competitiveness is proving that our domestic league can produce players to compete against nations ranked 18th to 24th in the world.

The evergreen Paul Dwyer stepped in as captain and did outstanding work in the line-outs, while Hong Kong’s comeback in the second half showed what we can do with some decent ball, with sevens speedsters Tom McQueen and Rowan Varty showcasing their skills and scoring some exciting tries with an enthusiastic home crowd roaring them on.

What was clear is that the Russian forwards are not small, and that Hong Kong can expect forwards battles against the South American and European Rugby World Cup repêchage teams in future. To compete at the next level, Hong Kong is going to need to gain parity in the set piece.

Now with the conclusion of the autumn international window, rugby fans turn their attention back to the HKRFU Premiership – and much more.

While it’s still early days, with only six of 15 regular league rounds completed, the Premiership looks to be developing into a shoot-out between Leighton Asia HKCC, Bloomberg HK Scottish and Societe Generale Valley, with the fourth and final spot in the Grand Championships play-offs shaping up to be a dogfight between Abacus Kowloon and Natixis HKFC.

HKCC, the form team in the competition, had eight players in the national team’s starting 15 last weekend against Russia, and they could see the after-effects of not having much down time when they face HKFC, a team who are desperate to get their season back on track.

Another positive development for the Hong Kong game this week was Anna Richards’ becoming one of the first women to be inducted into the IRB’s World Rugby Hall of Fame.

It is a testament to the strength of Hong Kong rugby that we can attract coaches of the calibre of Anna Richards, who is in charge of women’s sevens at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, and her men’s sevens counterpart Gareth Baber.

Anna’s influence is already being felt across the leagues as Hong Kong women’s players are on the up-and-up. This year’s domestic competition has seen more women’s teams entering the league than ever before.

The continued coaching and mentoring of Hong Kong’s elite women’s rugby athletes by Anna promises to see our national team take more rapid steps in the international arena. And as the players bring home the benefits of their regional and global experience, their clubs and the wider domestic women’s scene will surely benefit.

In another huge day for community rugby, HKU Sandy Bay have their annual rugby festival on Sunday in Pokfulam.

There will be more than 320 mini teams in action from U6 through to U12 age groups, with close to 4,000 children playing throughout the day. This is one of the biggest mini rugby festivals in the world and we expect a few of Hong Kong’s stars of tomorrow to be showcasing their skills.

For those proud parents joining in the occasion, let’s remember that the children are there first and foremost to enjoy themselves; the coaches are unpaid volunteers; the referees are human, and it’s not the World Cup.

I also have it on good authority that Rugby Santa will be making his first holiday outing at 1:15pm. So come down and get involved in local rugby as we continue the momentum of the Ustinov Cup series into the New Year.