Hong Kong China Men 7s Team Aim To Break Sevens Challenger Series Hoodoo

The Hong Kong China Rugby Sevens squad take on Pool B at the Challenger Series 2023 first leg in Stellenbosch and will be hoping to go one step further on their quest to join the HSBC World Sevens Series as a core team.

Following a highly successful appearance at the Hong Kong Sevens 2023 followed by invaluable experience for squad players at the Singapore Sevens, the Hong Kong China men’s sevens coach Jevon Groves has selected twelve of the 13-man squad in Stellenbosch who featured in the Shield-winning team at the Hong Kong Stadium.

The side is led by captain Max Woodward and also includes senior players including Russell Webb, Seb Brien and scoring ace Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who extends his record-extending appearances for SAR to 71 sevens tournaments.

There was one injury-enforced change as front-rower Michael Coverdale comes in for Callum McCullough, who made his Hong Kong Sevens debut earlier this month but a training injury has ruled him out this weekend.

The Head Coach said: “It is a strong and exciting squad that draws mainly on players from the Hong Kong tournament. The setting here is fantastic and we have had some really good training sessions this week. The travel was quite long so we have been slowly building up to it but we are in a good place now.”

“With some of the players having played one and even two World Series tournaments coming in, we are game-ready and physically ready. I have seen a lot of progress in our mentality as well. We picked up some good wins in Hong Kong and showed our depth of character in Singapore,” he added.

“The outcomes for us are far greater from these next few weeks than those last tournaments. A win this week will put us in good stead for week two and qualifying for the final four-team tournament.” The winner of the men’s Challenger Sevens Series will secure a spot in a final four-team tournament with the three teams to be eliminated from the World Series at the end of the season.

Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby –  Experience in the two World Sevens Series events and the Borneo 7s have been great preparation for Hong Kong China 7s men.

On Expectations and The Opposition – Challenger Sevens 2023

Groves said that the team has had some of its best prep coming into a Challenger Series event. “We couldn’t ask for more, but reflecting on the competition, this is a gritty tournament. Teams like Germany, Chile, Uganda, and Tonga, have also all had recent World Series experiences. We are one of four or five teams that can win here. Papua New Guinea have given us problems before. We haven’t seen too much of them but they are powerful athletes who can score from anywhere. We need to focus on our defence and look to create opportunities to score from transition play.”

The men have been close before and will want to rid themselves any “nearly men” tag, but as the coach said, it is a tough task. Seeing the progress of Uruguay in the World Sevens Series since they won the last Challenger event is encouraging.

“It will come down to who can perform and handle that pressure the best, and then backing that up again the next week. The two tournaments we have played in Hong Kong and Singapore have given us good practice for that, and hopefully, we can perform at our best,” he adds.

The men’s team were also the recipient of its 11th Cathay Sports Star Awards Team Sport win earlier this week.

Hong Kong China Men Pool & Fixtures – Challenger Series 2023 Leg#1

Pool B

• Chile
• Hong Kong China
• Papua New Guinea
• Italy

The link for the live stream of the Challenger 7s Series matches is here – There are two playing fields A&B so check the fixtures list for the right field. All Fixtures can be seen here.

Thursday 20 April 2023 (Indochina Times GMT+7)

• Pool B – Hong Kong China vs PNG (15:06)
• Pool B – Hong Kong China vs Italy (18:10)

Friday 21st April 2023 (Indochina Times GMT+7)

• Pool B – Hong Kong China vs Chile (16:10)

Hong Kong, China Men’s Sevens Travel Squad for HSBC World Rugby Challenger Series (April 2023)

Max WOODWARD (Capt.); Seb BRIEN; James CHRISTIE; Michael COVERDALE; Max DENMARK; Liam HERBERT; Alex McQUEEN; Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST; MAK Kwai-chung; Alessandro NARDONI; Hugo STILES; Russell WEBB; Salom YIU Kam-shing.

Photo Credit: HKRU

HSBC World Rugby Challenger Series 2023 News

• World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 Schedule and Guide.
• Hong Kong China Sevens Teams Confirmed For Challenger Series 2023.
• Hong Kong Sevens Men Set Target For 2023 Tournaments.