“This team and this squad have come so far since 2014,” he said. “It’s testament to everyone involved. We’re all really excited, despite everything, to have a World Series qualifier, a Sevens World Cup and the Asian Games in the space of a month and a half.

“There’s a lot of fire and competitive edge, which was not the case before. The younger guys are doing really, really good things in training and tournaments, and what we’ve seen is that they take the game, put it on their shoulders and say, ‘I’m going to win.’”

The 31-year-old has been handed the keys to the team as they set off for their first taste of international competition since last November. And although he admits preparation has been challenging, his charges have rallied.

“I feel like the base prep is done,” he said. “We’re not going to get that much stronger or that much fitter. We’ve got to get good at winning games.

“What we’ve been lacking as a squad is that cutthroat ability to win games and put teams away when we need to. There’s definitely a sense that we’re fed up with being the nearly men.”

During their six-week trip to Europe, the men’s and women’s sevens squads will play in two events on the UK Super Sevens Series, which takes place in May and June, before joining the long-running international sevens warm-up tournament in Portugal.

Woodward said he would be leading a very different group of players this time, but with a depth that Hong Kong have not had in quite some time.

“There is depth to this squad,” he said. “Everyone is competing for a spot. We just need to practise being ruthless and practise winning. The bulk of the squad are Hong Kong passport holders, so that has changed the dynamic in a really good way.”

Dangerous players including Max Denmark, Liam Herbert, Russ Webb, Chong Ka-yan and ex-Hong Kong sprinter Hui Manling are keen to show how far the sport has progressed in the city, despite ongoing challenges.

Bubbling under the surface is the issue of funding – something that several local sports, including badminton, snooker and tennis, are grappling with.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” Woodward said. “People are aware of it. It’s not really ever spoken about, but it’s there. It’s been tough, but at the same time, it has engendered a winning mentality.

“We’re so fortunate and we want to keep doing what we’re doing, and we want to build. We have higher aspirations than doing well in Asia, but first and foremost is winning tournaments.”

One big test will come in September when his team head to Hangzhou for the Asian Games, to defend the gold medal they won in 2018. Nine of Hong Kong’s men’s gold-medallists from four years ago are in the squad, but Woodward is taking nothing for granted.

“The landscape is so different now,” he said. “Look at how good China and South Korea are – they’ve obviously caught up with Hong Kong and Japan, which makes the whole context of the tournament completely different.

“There’s no guarantee of a medal any more, which can be quite scary. But what that means is that there are no prep games – you need to win every single game, otherwise you’re in trouble.”

Their durability may be tested, with the World Cup taking place the same month.

“Being battle-hardened is better than being undercooked,” Woodward said. “We’ve focused our training around shorter bouts with lots of intensity. The guys are pretty resilient.”

The icing on the cake, however, would be success on home ground, and the prospect of the Hong Kong Sevens returning after a two-year absence adds another motivating edge.

“The Hong Kong Sevens are held up on a similar pedestal as the Asian Games,” he said. “Not many of the lads have played in the Hong Kong Sevens, so that’s massive.

“There seems to be a bit of a shift in the mindset of Hong Kong in general. It has such big ramifications for the Hong Kong Rugby Union and players wanting to stay in Hong Kong. It’s big for all of us as a motivator – we’re all pretty hopeful.”