PUBLISHED ON 25 AUG 2026
The Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) men’s and women’s VIIs squads to participate in next weekend’s Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series opener in Suzhou, China (29-30 August) have been announced. The Series is an important competition opportunity ahead of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in September.
The HKCR men’s seven is out to defend their Asian series title for a sixth straight time, but the biggest prize this Autumn is the defence of Hong Kong China’s Asian Games Rugby Sevens men’s gold medals from 2022 and 2019, and the women’s historic bronze medal from the last Asiad.
In Suzhou, the HKCR Women's VII are pooled with Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, while the men will face off with Thailand, Malaysia and Uzbekistan. Next weekend’s competition will lift the intensity of preparations another notch as the squads build up to the Asian Games Rugby Sevens tournament from 1-3 October.
In preparation for a pivotal season ahead, both squads participated in a variety of pre-season tournaments in Europe and China this summer. The men’s seven won a provincial competition on the mainland last weekend as they got an early look at some of their potential competition for the Series.
“It was a tough tournament,” said men’s sevens coach Jevon Groves. “Quite physical; just what we needed in terms of preparing the group we had and giving game time to players returning from injury and carrying on from the Europe experience of the summer.”
Groves has also welcomed the return of some of his squad from their secondment with the HKCR’s Rugby World Cup 2027 team, including Harry Sayers, Callum McCullough, Jack Combes and Matteo Avitabile among others, for the Asian Games campaign. Suzhou will be a crucial opportunity for some of these players to press their claims for Hong Kong China’s gold medal defence in Japan.
“The Asian Games squad will be named after the first Asian series event, so part of next weekend is giving boys an opportunity, the guys who haven't had many chances this year.
“We’re looking for that performance and how the group connects because some of them haven’t been involved for a while because of the fifteens. There were five or six boys away for a tough campaign over the summer. It's great to have them back; you can see that they looked after themselves, knowing that they've had to come into this tough Asian Games bloc now. There are some real senior players there, players of maturity and calmness in the way that they bring that leadership into the squad; I’m looking forward to seeing that,” said Groves.
The teams will depart for Suzhou on Thursday.
“We are ready to roll into it on Saturday against Uzbekistan, first game. We know there are three or four teams around us in terms of competing; we also know that all of the teams will raise their game against us and see us as the main competition. So we are under no illusions that every time we play, people are going to come after us.
“We have to be on it in terms of our preparation and performance. This week has been a real change in terms of our focus. The boys want to play. We've trained hard; we've done a lot of preparation and conditioning, and we’re looking forward to getting out there and showing what we can do,” said Groves.
A similar sentiment was shared by HKCR women’s sevens coach Andy Vilk, who was enthusiastic about his side’s build-up campaign, which presented a rare variety of competitions and challenges.
“We've been really lucky to get some good preparations, we've had two tournaments in China and the European tour; good, consistent game time, and those experiences allowed us to look at different combinations, to get tournament experience and to work on our game without necessarily the results pressure on it.”
With the Asian season and Asian Games fast approaching now is the time to see what affect those preparations have had.
“As much as we have training tournaments and simulate scenarios, until you get to a tournament where the results are really on the line, and can affect the future, whether it's qualifying for Sevens 3 or whatever, that’s when you really get to test yourself.
“This is an opportunity to test ourselves ahead of the Asian Games and we are really trying to lay down a marker in terms of how hard we can work for each other,” said Vilk.
That work resumes next weekend with HKCR set to face off against rivals Thailand in pool play. Hong Kong China edged the Thais into fourth at the Asian Games in 2022, but the Thais have claimed their fair share of wins since. The two competitors finished tied third on the Series last year, both on 30 points across the Series, and the gap is not likely to have widened in the intervening months, setting up a tantalizing prospect for the season opener
“It is a tough pool and it's a long day,” said Vilk.
“We start the first game before midday, and the last game is at ten to nine in the evening, so again it is a different challenge, but it is an exciting block ahead. We've checked everything now: preseason, preseason competition, and now this is our first official competition block and then another block for the Asian Games.
“As much as you train and practice, these tournaments bring out something else, and bring a different kind of pressure, which you have got to accept. It's always going to be there, so it's about how we prepare for it and how resilient we can be in that. We're lucky to have a strong group and players that are all challenging each other. Now we're trying to pick on form and experience and get that balance right, and to see who is going to hit the ground running for us this tournament,” he added.
HKCR Men’s VII for Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2026
James CHRISTIE (captain); Matteo AVITABILE; Julien BOURRON; Jack COMBES; Max DENMARK; Blake ELLIOT; Juan ESONO, Liam HERBERT; Callum MCCULLOUGH; Alessandro NARDONI, Bryn PHILLIPS; Harry SAYERS; Rory STEWART-COX
HKCR Women’s VII for Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2026
Chloe Chan (captain); Maggie AU YEUNG; Michaela BALTAZAR; Agnes CHAN; Stephanie CHAN; CHONG Ka Yan; Shanna FORREST; Julia Mibuy MBA OYANA; AU King To; NAM Ka Man; Vivian POON; Gabrielle RIVERS; Haruka UEMATSU
