Hong Kong’s Sevens preparation takes a beating in Borneo as men’s team fall short in final; women struggle to fourth
- Men’s squad battles heat and injuries in final warm-up before roster selection
- Coach Paul John is pleased with showing in Borneo and confident they can improve
Hong Kong’s men’s squad can build on the team’s championship loss at a warm-up event in Borneo heading into the rugby calendar’s biggest dance.
Raef Morrison said there were a lot of positives the team can take from last weekend’s final test before the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens gets underway on April 5.
The squad battled through early injuries to two key players and sweltering heat that regularly hit 36 degrees Celsius at the Borneo Sevens.
The Hong Kong Dragons lost 19-14 to the Borneo Eagles in the final, and Morrison said the final score could have gone either way.
“We definitely could have beaten them,” said Morrison, who recently came back from university in Scotland to rejoin the national programme. “Of course, that’s easy to say when you’re not knackered and out there sweating and everyone is yelling at you. But, yeah, I think we could have won that game, and it does give us something to build on.”
The squad returned from Borneo on Monday and headed straight back into training. The squads for both the men and women are expected later this week, or early next week at the latest. The team is scheduled to play practice matches against Fiji and Wales.
