ROYCE CHAN TAKES UP NEW ROLE AS GIRLS’ & WOMEN’S RUGBY DEVELOPMENT LEAD

Hong Kong China Rugby can confirm that Royce Chan has transitioned into a new role within the organisation. Her primary responsibility will be around developing and mentoring players to enter the Hong Kong club rugby community, with the key aim of supporting the Nan Fung Group | Airside Premiership and Hong Kong China respresentative 15s and 7s teams, as well as continuing her significant work to date in building HKCR’s recently launched Women’s Dragons programme.

Chan moved into coaching at the end of her playing career, at which time she was inducted into the Hong Kong China Rugby Hall of Fame. She was Head Coach of the Women’s XVs between 2022 and 2024, before moving to the role of Women’s Rugby Programme Lead. In this time the team narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, however went on to qualify for this September’s World Rugby WXV Global Series. 

Dean McLachan, HKCR’s Executive Director of Domestic Rugby, looked forward to welcoming Chan into her new role:

“Royce has been an outstanding servant to rugby in Hong Kong. She has influenced the careers of many of our current and recent players, and she acts as a perfect role model for thousands of young female athletes at the start of their rugby journeys. She will also be a strong mentor for female coaches who aspire to grow and make a positive impact on the game.

“We see this as the ideal role for Royce going forward. It will enable her to leverage her performance background, bring her strong programme leadership to a development context, and play a central role in identifying and nurturing the next generation of talent across our youth, tertiary, and senior development pathway programmes.”

Chan’s role is aligned to several of HKCR’s strategic goals, including achieving a 40/60 gender split between women’s and men’s participation, addressing systemic barriers for women in rugby and integrating the women’s game into HKCR’s regional hub model. She shared her excitement at the opportunity ahead:

“Stepping into this role is a chance to think strategically about the whole journey for girls’ and women’s rugby – from the time they played in their school and clubs to the moment they pull on a Hong Kong China jersey. A big focus for me will be using my performance background and experience to build a clear calendar of meaningful development training and matches which create regular opportunities for players to test themselves and grow on and off the field.

“The women’s game here has consistently had a significant majority of Hong Kong‑based players in our Women’s 7s and 15s teams, and I’m proud of how far the game has come. My commitment now is to keep developing and expanding those pathways so that any player who wants to commit to Hong Kong China – whether they grew up here or have made it their new home – can see a future in our clubs and our representative programmes.

“Hong Kong is a special rugby community, and I hope that by strengthening our structures and investing in the women’s game, we can continue to attract and inspire players from all backgrounds to play in our leagues and leave their own footprint in a Hong Kong China jersey.”

Chan represented Hong Kong China in both the 15s and 7s formats of the game. She was part of the team that created history as the first Hong Kong China team to play at a 15s World Cup when they appeared at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland. In 7s rugby she appeared in no fewer than ten Hong Kong Sevens tournaments between 2005 and 2015, during a trailblazing period for the women’s game in Hong Kong.