Hong Kong rugby sevens boss questions team’s work ethic after Challenger Series blowout
City’s men’s team eliminated following clean sweep of pool defeats in Cape Town, women also out after successive 10th places
Paul John, the head of Hong Kong sevens rugby, has questioned the work ethic, attitude and resilience of the city’s men’s team, after their disastrous Challenger Series campaign in Cape Town.
Hong Kong lost all four pool matches over the opening two legs to sit a lowly 11th in the standings. They finished a mammoth 21 points behind the top-four position they coveted for a shot at HSBC SVNS Series qualification, and six adrift of Tonga, who claimed the eighth and final spot for next month’s final leg.
John was particularly concerned about the nature of Hong Kong’s defeats. They tossed away a winning position to lose their opening match against Madagascar last week. On Friday, they allowed Japan to recover from 17-0 down to win 19-17.
A 21-12 loss to series leaders Canada in leg one was probably expected. A 24-7 surrender to Chile in a must-win leg-two match indicated a frazzled team; likewise Saturday’s 24-10 loss to new nemeses Madagascar in a ninth-placed final.
Welshman John, head of the elite sevens athlete programme, said the team “had everything in place” to succeed after seven weeks of preparation that included a Japanese training camp.
John, appointed in 2017, said “harsh lessons” had been learned, in terms of the basic ingredients [of sevens], which are hard work and attitude”.