Hong Kong rugby scouring globe to increase player pool, planning to launch domestic sevens competition
- Hong Kong rugby bosses seeking out next generation of stars as drubbing in Australia highlights need for larger player pool
- Head of elite programme Paul John wants to see ‘as many sevens tournaments as possible’ played domestically
Rugby bosses in the city have begun a concerted effort to identify Hong Kong-qualified talent around the world, and are planning a domestic sevens competition to boost the sport locally.
The sport’s governing body, Hong Kong, China Rugby [HKCR], quietly released its new 10-year strategic plan last week, and among key targets it outlined was the creation of a “broader player base, resulting in increased flow of players for representative rugby”.
Also buried in a release that only appeared on the HKCR’s website was the plan to add a sevens tournament to the domestic calendar, although bosses are still trying to determine how that would fit into an already crowded schedule.
Still, Paul John, head of the elite sevens athlete programme, said he would like to see “as many sevens tournaments as possible, because the more people play, the better they become”.
“When our under-18 and under-20 boys and girls went to the last Asian Championships, it was the first tournament a lot of them had played,” John said. “Exposure to tournaments accelerates learning, and is far more valuable than just consistently training against each other.”
John had a support role when an under-18 Hong Kong team participated in last month’s Rosslyn Park National School Sevens in England, where he took the opportunity to seek out the next generation of stars.