Hong Kong’s Sevens prep a success, says coach Dai Rees
The 12-man Hong Kong squad had a 75-minute hit-out against England at Sandy Bay yesterday where the players were immersed in "pressure situations", similar circumstances they failed to handle at the Spar International Sevens in Zimbabwe, their first competitive tournament this season, nine days ago.
It was under wraps and closed to the media, but Asian champions Hong Kong's first dress rehearsal against a top core team, England, was declared a success by coach Dai Rees as the home team ramped up their preparations for the weekend's Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
The 12-man Hong Kong squad had a 75-minute hit-out against England at Sandy Bay yesterday where the players were immersed in "pressure situations", similar circumstances they failed to handle at the Spar International Sevens in Zimbabwe, their first competitive tournament this season, nine days ago.
"It was really good. We are where we need to be," said Rees. "We have been training for some time, but this was an opportunity to put all our systems under pressure and the guys did well.
"We looked at every aspect, from set-pieces to kick-offs. We threw the line-outs and worked phases from it, and likewise with scrums, all under pressure to see how our systems worked. They worked well.
We looked at every aspect, from set-pieces to kick-offs. We threw the line-outs and worked phases from it, and likewise with scrums ... They worked well
"This is not the first time we have had training sessions with England. We have had quite a few in the last year and it was good to work out with a top core team. We will have two more sessions against top sides, Wales and New Zealand, before we play our first game on Friday against Fiji. Hopefully we will be ready by then."