HKCR Men’s Head Coach Jevon Groves Reflects On A Succesful Melrose Claymores Debut

We stalked HKCR Men’s 7s Head Coach, Welshman Jevon Groves, as he was walking down the player’s tunnel on the final day of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2024 – after his side had just put in a hugely successful and rewarding win over Japan to win the inaugural Melrose Claymores.

He and the Union have always been very good about engaging with us, the media and the fans, and in particular on the weekend at home which was a showcase weekend for so many players. The fans had certainly done their part – every player from every side talked about the atmosphere in the Hong Kong Stadium, and the largest turnout was on Sunday, which upped the volume when HKCR played the final.

When Groves was asked what had changed since the day before, when Japan had humbled his team in front of the home crowd with a good win themselves in pool play, he said, “Nothing really changed in terms of the game plan that we wanted to play against Japan. As you said, we have experience playing against them – we know when we get certain areas of our game right, such as our kick-off, our contact area, and being able to play against their line speed, we know we have dangerous runners and dangerous threats that can score tries.”

“I thought we’d done that really well, and started really well, which traditionally works well for us. When we score tries early on, we tend to win those games.”

The HKCR Men had put in  a strong performance against their rivals China on Friday night to secure a win, but the loss to Japan on Saturday afternoon meant a final berth was out of their control until the result of the China vs Japan match on Sunday morning, which the Japanese narrowly won.

Jevon Groves said the other aspects he enjoyed from his team in the final, were how they controlled the game and managed possession.

Photo Credit: HKCR – Claymore Sevens 2024

There were also aspects they have worked on to cope with the variations in the laws and the set piece, “which is something that we’ve concentrated on over the last couple of seasons, and it really saps your energy,  and I think that took away a little bit of Japan’s dominance with the light speed.”

He added, “We always have some great battles with Japan, and I know it’ll be exactly the same when we come up against them next.”

With a smile, he added, “It was a really good week and really fulfilling, so to win the tournament is great. But I thought that performance (in the final) – I was really, really proud of how they bounced back from the loss – they put together a real good game plan, and I am really proud of the leaders.”

Challenger Series 2024 – One Leg To Go

The World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 third and final round, for the men, will be played in Munich, Germany from 18-19 May 2024, and the pools were drawn in Hong Kong.

HKCR face Uganda, Tonga, and Mexico in Pool B knowing another final appearance in Europe should open up the opportunity for a top-four finish and a chance to compete for an SVNS Series place in Madrid in June 2024.

Photo Credit: HKCR Claymore Sevens 2024 – Max Woodward

Groves said the team would enjoy a week off after Hong Kong as the training schedule and tournament were quite tough. He said, “We had the training games against Japan and played against New Zealand mid-week, and then matches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I think they deserve a week off.”

In terms of the work-on areas for the final Challenger round, the coach is keen to see how they can increase the speed of their attack and combat the opposition team’s line speed.

“I think that’s what teams are going to come with against us. You could see the Uruguay game last time, they absolutely dominated and did us in terms of the line speed and we need to work on our ability to get into our threats, so that’s something that we’re going to concentrate on.”

Groves says they will continue to work on the fundamentals of their game such as their defence, and the ability to attack off the set piece.

Melrose Claymores – A Platform To Promote The Game – Jevon Groves

Photo Credit: HKCR – Claymore Sevens 2024

On how successful the Melrose Claymores was for engaging and inspiring future players, he added, “I think we’ve got three or four weeks now where we’re gonna go get out into the community and get into some schools, get into some charities and get these boys out trying to inspire people.  I think that’s what they did today and it’s really good for the Hong Kong Sevens as a platform as well.”

On being inspired and inspiring others, the coach says that has come from within the group of players.

“They’ve done it, and that’s the thing, the story that there is probably a second generation now that was part of the youth matchday march in the stadium twenty years ago and now playing rugby in front of the crowd.  So many of these boys have come through the mini-rugby system in Hong Kong. They play, they go to the parade, they get inspired, by not just Hong Kong whch is great, but by the New Zealand’s, the Australia’s, you know.”

Of the Hong Kong tournament, he ended by saying, “Everyone comes to this tournament and it’s what they aspire to play. We want to use that platform to do the same – men and women – I think it has been a really good weekend for us to showcase what we can do. The more of that we can do, the better it will be for Hong Kong Rugby China.”

Sign Up for the Rugby Asia 247 Newsletter Now To Receive the Latest Asian Rugby News (coming soon)

Asian Rugby News

• Sir Gordon Tjietiens On Taking Chinese Women’s Sevens Rugby To The Next Level.
• Max Woodward – What Makes Playing In Hong Kong So Special.
• Natasha Olson-Thorne On HKCR Women’s Sevens Goals And Reaching 50 Caps.