Women’s Rugby World Cup: Hong Kong coach assesses national team amid postponement uncertainty – ‘they sacrifice their time, body and emotions’

Coach Chan says time management ‘the biggest concern’ as semi-pro squad expected to ‘perform like professionals’

With tournament and Asian-leg qualifiers on hold, Hong Kong players will first focus on domestic games

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Hong Kong women’s 15s head coach Jo Hull addresses her squad at a Rugby World Cup qualifier at the Asia Rugby Championships in Hong Kong in 2017. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:35pm, 9 Mar 2021Updated: 7:35pm, 9 Mar 2021

News of the indefinite postponement of the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup came as no surprise but still hit Team Hong Kong hard, coach Royce Chan Leong-sze said.

Organisers tasked with safely hosting the New Zealand event, originally slated for September, cited the still-unpredictable Covid-19 pandemic as the reason for pushing it to an unknown date in 2022. Hong Kong’s Asia Rugby Championship matches against Kazakhstan and Japan – which act as World Cup qualifiers – are likewise on hold given increasing hesitancy about holding safe pan-regional events.

“Having chatted with some experienced players, they are not hiding their perspective: for sure there is disappointment,” said forwards coach Chan, adding that staff have “at least four or five” contingency plans every time a postponement is announced.

“The players have been trying to prepare at their best and peak for the World Cup qualifiers which were supposed to happen these two months since being postponed last year. It’s understandable and the delay is good for the sport because it can give teams a bigger, clearer picture to prepare for.”

Former Hong Kong captain Chow Mei-nam in action for Hong Kong against Canada in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. Photo: HKRU

The physical and mental toll has been shared across Hong Kong sports as gyms and public grounds are only just reopening. That, accompanied with the fact that all team members are semi-professionals – meaning they have other full-time commitments – made motivation a struggle at times.

“Time management is one of the biggest concerns for our players. They are semi-pro and we’re asking them to perform like professionals in a sport that is not yet as popular as other sports [in Hong Kong],” Chan said. “We have players who wake up at 5am, travel for an hour to a gym, then go straight to work, three times a week. After work, then it’s straight to club or national team training. They are only at home 10-12 hours a day, max.