Penguins out to defend Hong Kong Tens title without Super Rugby trio
Kylem O’Donnell, Solomon Alaimolo and Jackson Garden-Bachop secure professional contracts after playing in this year’s event
Reigning HKFC Tens champions the Penguins will have to defend their title with a new-look side after a host of players from this year’s successful campaign have gone on to bigger and better things.
2016 stars Kylem O’Donnell, Solomon Alaimolo and Jackson Garden-Bachop have all secured Super Rugby contracts for next year, while co-coach Scott Waldrom and co-captain Antonio Kiri Kiri have been contracted by the New Zealand Sevens.
“I’ll be looking at last year’s team to see who is available, but O’Donnell, Alaimolo and Garden-Bachop have Super Rugby contracts so I expect a big turnover,” said manager Craig Brown, who has managed the Penguins tours since 1999 including every visit to Hong Kong.
“Also, Scott Waldrom is not available as he’s now coaching New Zealand Sevens. We’ll obviously be trying to win the Cup again and we’ve already started speaking to players to determine their availability.
“We haven’t ruled out using co-coaches and co-captains again as that worked well for us last year.”
