Sevens head coach Gareth Baber is hoping an intense training camp in Canada will sharpen the Hong Kong men’s squad’s killer instincts ahead of the Asian Games in Incheon in September. The 15-strong squad left on Thursday for the 10-day camp as they to try to upgrade the silver medal they won at the Games in Guangzhou four years ago to gold. Conditions at the camp, where they will train with and play against the Canadian national sevens squad, will be created to mirror a Sevens World Series competition. The Canada trip will provide us with a real opportunity to play and train against one of the top eight teams in the world Gareth Baber "We travel to Canada with the intention of putting pressure on our players by an intense training schedule, as well as activities which will enable us to view first-hand how we all react when it gets tough," Baber said. "Ultimately, the value of such a camp is to go beyond the stresses a team will go through on a typical World Series tournament and use the lessons learned to enable further development of our capabilities," Baber added. A number of players from the national 15s side are in the squad, including skipper Nick Hewson, who is preparing for the World Cup repêchage against Uruguay early next month. Hong Kong finished runners-up to Japan in the Asian Five Nations to book the repêchage spot. It is felt that the 15s players will benefit from the Canada trip even though the focus will be on sevens. "Following the Asian Five Nations we have had the sevens squad back together for the past five weeks," Baber said. "This period provided a chance to prepare individuals and the team through what would be regarded as a preparation phase or pre-season prior to competition. "These periods are inevitably tough both physically and mentally when we are able to load the athlete without the external influence of performance. "The Canada trip will provide us with a real opportunity to play and train against one of the top eight teams in the world. This is vital to our improvement."
