Hong Kong sevens captain Rowan Varty pins hopes on National Games gold
HK captain says team medal in Shenyang will cement rugby code's place at elite institute
A gold medal at the National Games will be the perfect way to announce the sport's entry into the Hong Kong Sports Institute, said captain Rowan Varty as rugby sevens makes its bow in the mainland's inter-provincial showpiece.
"To win gold would be massive for us," said Varty. "It is our first tournament really as a senior squad, and our first multi-sport games, as part of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, so it would be a very important statement." Hong Kong rugby already holds pride of place in being the only team sport at the elite institute. A gold medal would cement the future of the sport there.
While the women's squad are also in medal contention, Varty's men are clear favourites to win rugby a medal at the six-team tournament, which gets underway on Monday and includes top seeds Beijing and the PLA.
"Beijing are the most experienced side we will face. They have good coaching and a lot of experience, even more than some of the newer guys in our squad," Varty said. "They are frequently called on to represent China, so we will have to rely on the experience of the senior guys like Alex [McQueen], Ant [Haynes], Dog [Kwok Ka-chun] and Salom [Yiu Kam-shing] to help us get through."
In July's qualifying tournament in Shanghai, Hong Kong lost to Beijing 19-12 to finish third.
"The qualifiers were an eye-opener and I think the experience will hold us in good stead. We had no idea how strong the teams would be and we ended up getting caught out in the one match with Beijing even though we beat them comfortably in the pool stages," Varty said.
