New boys thrown in at the deep end for Hong Kong

Youngsters Michael Coverdale and Jack Capon will bid to seal a permanent place in the senior squad as Hong Kong launch the 2014 Asian Sevens Series on Saturday with an eye on finishing in the top two in the region for a third successive year.

While Hong Kong Sports Institute head coach Gareth Baber will be using this weekend's first leg of the Asian Sevens Series at Hong Kong Football Club as a testing ground to decide his final selection for the all-important Asian Games in Incheon next month, the focus will also be on booking a berth at the qualifying event for the IRB Sevens World Series in Hong Kong next March.

"The Asian Games will take priority and the first two legs of this series will be used to assess the performance of the players. However, we also want to finish in the top two, if not three, in Asia so we can have another go at becoming a core team on the IRB World Series," said Dai Rees, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's technical director and head of performance.

In April, flankers Coverdale, 19, and Capon, 21, played for the Hong Kong under-20 team at the eight-team IRB Junior World Trophy. Now, they are fully fledged members of the rugby sevens programme at the Sports Institute and carry the beacon of hope for the future as Hong Kong look to groom forwards capable of mixing it with the best.

Baber has already highlighted the importance of "exposing" Coverdale and Capon at the highest level and the three-legged Asian Sevens Series will offer both the opportunity to seal a permanent place, especially for Incheon when the stakes will be high - winning a gold medal.