Henry Poon poised for Hong Kong debut as Leigh Jones calls for deeper focus on local development
The scrum half is named on the bench for Saturday’s match against Malaysia and the need for home-grown stars will grow as new eligibility rules take hold
Henry Poon Yau-him is poised to become the latest Hong Kong Chinese player to make his test debut in the Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday and coach Leigh Jones says it’s time to get “local development mechanisms working more effectively”.
Poon follows in the footsteps of stars Salom Yiu Kam-shing and Cado Lee Ka-to but, with World Rugby’s residency requirement increasing from three years to five, Jones knows the reliance on local talent will grow.
“We’ve been saying it for a long time but the reality is now with the new ruling we have really got to focus in our attention and act upon it,” Jones said.
“With the new five-year ruling, it’s going to have implications on our feeder systems in four or five years.
“It’s not going to impact us immediately but it is certainly going to hit us in the next 10 years, therefore we have got to get our local development mechanisms working more effectively to get more local guys through the game.”