From Hong Kong mini-rugby to U18 Six Nations with England, trio following well-worn path to success
- Lauren Knowler, Keira Muir and Natalee Evans have been named in the 34-strong squad for the 2023 season
- The three young women were all born in the city and first fell in love with the sport playing with Sai Kung Stingrays and Flying Kukris
The road from the rugby clubs of Hong Kong to the international stage is a well-travelled one, and three teenagers from the city are the latest to be making the trip.
Lauren Knowler, Keira Muir and Natalee Evans have been selected for the England U18 women’s squad for the 2023 season, after six months of intense trials that, according to Knowler, left them “all so nervous”.
A potential clash with Wales awaits on March 4, before the U18 Six Nations Festival at Wellington College in Reading in April. All of it a far cry from mini rugby in Hong Kong, and running out with Sai Kung Stingrays, in the case of Knowler, 17, and Muir, 16, and Flying Kukris in Tai Po for 17-year-old Evans.
The journey just to join the 34-strong squad has been far from easy, and with A-Levels on the horizon Knowler, an inside centre, said her main emotion at being selected was one of relief.
Her backline partner Evans said she was “stunned” to make the final squad and the news had taken time “to really sink in”.
“I am just so glad that all the hard work finally paid off,” Evans said.
