Hong Kong men’s rugby finish second in Challenger Series and await World Rugby decision
- The squad lost to Uruguay in the semi-finals but salvaged third place by downing Chile 12-7
- World Rugby have yet to confirm if the Hong Kong Sevens in October will still serve as the qualifying portion for the series
A successful campaign in South America has put Hong Kong’s men’s rugby sevens team in a prime spot to potentially qualify for the 2020-21 World Rugby Sevens Series.
The squad finished second and third respectively in the two-legged Challenger Series, held over two weekends in South America. The team bested Chile 12-7 in their final match to take third place after losing 12-0 to Uruguay, who were playing on home soil in Montevideo.
Hong Kong lost the final of the first leg to Germany 10-0 last weekend in Chile. This places them second overall behind Germany and ahead of Japan. Head coach Paul John said it was a rough and tumble two weeks which saw them play five games over two weekends in two separate countries in South America.
“There are a lot of bruised and battered bodies and we leave on Monday but don’t get home until Thursday, so I hope that we can have a week off at least,” said John. “It can be difficult to manage the second weekend in a swing like this. There is a temptation to overtrain or to train more after the opening leg but you may need to train less. We only trained twice this week to focus on our recovery and getting ready.”
