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Max Woodward (front) has hailed the impact of young stars such as Max Denmark (back), not to mention the home fans. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Hong Kong Sevens 2023: ‘game-breaking’ young stars excite city’s skipper Max Woodward – now he wants results

  • The veteran captain is hoping to build on some impressive home displays at the last Sevens in November, as Hong Kong face France, Great Britain and Uruguay
  • ‘Guys have come through and are game-breakers for us,’ Woodward says. ‘The team has a new dynamic to it’

Max Woodward is already a veteran of five Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens – four of them as captain – and he sensed a change in the air when he ran out to play at the tournament last November.

Put part of this down to circumstances beyond anyone’s control as the local pandemic restrictions ensured that there were few spectators from outside the city to be found at Hong Kong Stadium. And put part of it down to the squad surrounding him.

“November was quite an emotional tournament,” Woodward said. “It blew me away seeing that entirely home crowd. I’ve never seen so many Hong Kong jerseys around, I’ve never seen so many local kids cheering Hong Kong, and that was very, very special.

“As a sevens player in Hong Kong, some of us were once those kids, who had grown up watching it, and some new members of our squad were finally playing in it and it really met their expectations.

Max Woodward chases Australia’s Nick Malouf in November, but he wants his side to close the gap. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

“We’re excited now about what’s ahead, and hopefully we’ll experience that feeling again.”

Hong Kong’s squad will be announced on Tuesday but it should be similar to that which took on Australia, New Zealand and Samoa in November’s pool games, when five of them made Sevens debuts.

While the results showed three straight losses, there were moments that showed the nature of the side had changed.

One was Max Denmark’s try against Samoa, when he took the ball up the middle and ploughed through the islanders’ defence. That was after New Zealand had been wise enough to have two players watching the young stand-out at all times.

“That’s the big difference,” Woodward said. “I think we’ve got some game-breakers. Max’s try, no matter who you play for, that’s world-class. There’s a good balance: a lot of guys retired and we’re through that transition now.

“Guys like Max and Liam Herbert have come through and are game-breakers for us. The team has a new dynamic.”

Whisper it, but this weekend holds some hope for the locals, who are pooled with the mercurial French, a Great Britain still finding their feet as a recently combined team, and Uruguay, playing their first full HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

“The big, big challenge for us is to take the step up from starting to look the part and test teams, sort of brave losers,” Woodward said.

“I want to move away from that tag and grind out some results. Last time our results and performances showed we’re there and thereabouts, but we have to be more clinical.

“We’re not going to blow teams out of the water at World Series level. We need to grind out results.”

This weekend the Hong Kong Sevens will for the first time host full World Series tournaments for both the men and women simultaneously.

Woodward says there is a palpable buzz around Hong Kong’s entire rugby community, knowing what this means both for those on the pitch and for those in the stands dreaming of emulating them one day.

Max Woodward in possession as Hong Kong give a gutsy showing against New Zealand. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

“For young girls to see grown women playing rugby in the stadium, for them that’s obviously pretty big,” Woodward said.

“If you look at the women’s game now, and how quickly it has grown, it’s ridiculously impressive, and the game has its stars.

“For young girls playing rugby in Hong Kong, to see those players in action in the stadium, their idols, that’s going to be cool and it’s going to then be an aspiration for them to play in the future.”

That the 32-year-old Woodward has been in the engine room throughout Hong Kong’s rise over the past decade stands as testament to his skill as a player first and foremost. But it also speaks of his appreciation of the role that he plays in Hong Kong rugby, with the national set-up and with his club side, Valley RFC.

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If his role has evolved with time, so too has his appreciation of the kinds of experiences rugby has brought him.

“The tournaments are easy to get up for,” he said. “The work comes with coming in and training day in and day out, and trying to be the best that I can be every single day at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

“But as I’ve got towards the end of my career, you do cherish the moments a little bit more, because there are not that many Hong Kong Sevens left in my career.

“Every time I play in a tournament like this one, or as I go into my last Olympic cycle, my last Asian Games this year, you just start to appreciate how lucky you are.”

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