Women’s rugby: Hong Kong ‘hungry and eager’ in lead-up to Kazakhstan clash
- New wave of players emerges as local women’s side prepare for their first test match in 3 years
- Co-captain Lee admitted there are nerves heading into the weekend, but the squad are ready to face tough Kazakhstan side
The Hong Kong women’s rugby squad will look to use their strength and speed to overcome a formidable Kazakhstan side when they meet on Saturday for the first of two games in a test series.
Head coach Royce Chan has named 39 players for the series, which gets under way at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, with the second game at Hong Kong Football Club on December 17.
A total of 23 players will be named for each match with the side to be led by co-captains Lee Ka-shun, Hong Kong’s most experienced player and Natasha Olson-Thorne, who also co-captains the Hong Kong women’s sevens team. Combined, Lee and Olson-Thorne have more than 50 tests under their belt.
Almost a quarter of those named for the series will make their debut for Hong Kong, as was expected given it will be the women’s first test match since they toured the Netherlands in November 2019.
Lee said it was exciting to see a new wave of women’s rugby emerging in Hong Kong.
“There is a lot of new energy from them and they are exposing us to more playing styles,” Lee said. “We are definitely excited, but nervous because we need time to prepare our international level and intensity mindset. But I think we are doing great.”
Twelve of the touring squad to the Netherlands are on call once again, including forward Roshini Turner and sevens star Vivian Poon Hoi-yan, who both marked their first appearance for Hong Kong in 2019.
Several others in the group were capped on Hong Kong’s tour of Spain in 2018, including Cheng Lok-tung and Vincci Leung Wing-yi. Nine of the group are veterans of Hong Kong’s debut World Cup appearance in Ireland in 2017.
“We’re quite hungry, the girls are really eager,” Olson-Thorne said. “They’ve had a really good build-up into this tournament, so we’re pretty excited to play.”
Alongside sevens veterans Olson-Thorne and Jessica Ho Wai-on from this group is Chow Mei-nam, who captained Hong Kong at the 2017 World Cup and who boasts 19 caps.
Kazakhstan are expected to draw heavily from their sevens team. “The Nomads” finished fifth, one spot behind Hong Kong in the Asian sevens series, after Hong Kong ushered them out of the cup competition in the series finale in Dubai last month.
Olson-Thorne said they expected a physical challenge. “They’re going to be quite direct and quite physical, our strength is still our speed, so we’ll try to get around them and really try to make them chase us,” she said.
At yesterday’s training session, Olson-Thorne said: “It’s been a long time since we were able to represent, so everyone is really happy to be out on the pitch.”
Lee said having a series on home soil would be a source of inspiration for the next generation of 15s players.
