The World Rugby Sevens Repechage 2024 takes place in Monaco from 21-23 June, with 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams looking to secure the final place at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Both Hong Kong China's men and women are still in contention after qualifying for the tournament based on results from the regional Olympic qualifiers held in Japan in 2023.
Paul John, Head Coach of Hong Kong China 7s, said the opportunity for the squads and management to head to another Olympic qualification tournament was an important step. “It's great to be involved in these tournaments, we know the more we play, the more exposure players get, the more they learn, the better they get.”
There are still several core SVNS teams in contention in Monaco, most notably, South Africa, GB and Spain on the men’s side, while recently relegated to the Challenger Series, Canada is also in the mix. There are several familiar foes from this year's HSBC Challenger Sevens while China Men are the other Asian contenders.
For the women, newly promoted to the HSBC SVNS Series, China is being tipped as one of the favourites, but a host of teams from the HSBC Challenger are also in contention aside from Hong Kong China, including Argentina, Kenya, Uganda, Poland and Czechia to name but a few.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS:
Men: Hong Kong China, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Great Britain, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, Uganda.
Women: Hong Kong China, Argentina, China, Czechia, Kenya, Jamaica, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Samoa, Uganda.
SQUADS
MEN'S TEAM MANAGEMENT
Paul JOHN (Team Manager)
Jevon GROVES (Head Coach)
Peter JERICEVICH (Coach)
Timothy GLAZEBROOK (Physiotherapist)
WONG Tsz Kit (S&C Coach)
Mark KOMAR (Analyst)
MEN'S PLAYERS
1. Max WOODWARD ©
2. Michael COVERDALE
3. Alessandro NARDONI
4. James CHRISTIE
5. Jack COMBES
6. LEE Ka To Cado
7. Hugo STILES
8. Max DENMARK
9. Bryn PHILLIPS
10. Liam DOHERTY
11. Liam HERBERT
12. FONG Kit Fun
WOMEN'S TEAM MANAGEMENT
Paul JOHN (Team Manager)
Andrew VILK (Head Coach)
Callum CHIA (Physiotherapist)
CHONG Shing Hin (S&C Coach)
WOMEN'S PLAYERS
6. Natasha OLSON-THORNE ©
1. Shanna FORREST
2. Chloe CHAN
3. AU YEUNG Sin Yi
4. Micayla BALTAZAR
5. NAM Ka Man
7. CHAN Tsz Ching
8. CHIAN Hoi Ning
9. CHAN Chor Ki Stephanie
10. POON Hoi Yan
11. CHONG Ka Yan
12. HO Tsz Wun
HONG KONG CHINA MATCHES:
DAY ONE: Friday 21 June
- Hong Kong China Women vs Paraguay (KO 19:48)
- Hong Kong China Men vs Papua New Guinea (Match void – see statement from World Rugby)
DAY TWO: Saturday 22 June
- Hong Kong China Women vs Jamaica (KO 16:48)
- Hong Kong China Men vs Brazil (KO 17:40)
- Hong Kong China Men vs Spain (KO 23:04)
- Hong Kong China Women vs Uganda (KO 00:20 - Sunday 23 June)
DAY THREE: Sunday 23 June
- Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final - Teams and Times TBD
“It's exciting to be a part of the tournament. We know it's been a very, very long year, but it's an opportunity to get the ultimate reward”, added Paul John. So what can we expect at the Stade Louis II in Monaco?
Hong Kong China Pools
Much of the work from Hong Kong China is now aligned with the new 10-year HKCR strategic plan which has set out the playing goals for Sevens rugby to qualify for the Olympic Rugby 7s in 2028 for men and 2032 for women, to win the Asian Games rugby 7s in 2026 in men and 2030 in women, and to maintain Tier A categorisation for rugby 7s at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
In Monaco, Hong Kong China Women are in Pool B with Uganda, Paraguay and Jamaica, and the men are in Pool C with Spain, Papua New Guinea and Brazil.
Paul John said, “The girls have got to be looking forward to that challenge in Monaco and playing against quality opposition, some of whom we know well and others we don't. It's mostly about trying to get the squad to perform as best as they can.”
He added, “Some boys have been through this three, maybe four cycles now, which is 12 years. These boys and girls have been brilliant in trying to get themselves back up for another great opportunity.”
The experienced former Wales player and current HKCR coach said it was understandable for there to be some tired bodies at this stage of the season and they would manage the player fatigue (physically and emotionally) after all of the competitions this season.
“As a department, we need to keep the players fresh and try to regenerate them really and to recover as best they can before we fly into what we know is going to be another difficult tournament with a lot of good sides. We are probably going into this as underdogs but that may suit us better. I think we are excited to show that for both the men and women that they can play in an environment where there is everything to gain.”
Tournament Format
The format for the tournament is different to that of the regular SVNS and HSBC Challenger Sevens events (and different from the final event held at the SVNS Madrid).
Paul John added, “The thing is about the tournament, the format means that you can qualify from your pool and you are seeded from one to eight, which means all of the group games are so important. Then it's knockout rugby and hopefully, we make our path to get into one of those knockout games a little bit easier by doing well in the pool matches.
It is exciting and it's good to be part of. We were there four years ago and the girls lost to France in that tournament and they went on to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics which shows the quality of the Repechage.”
- The top 8 teams in Monaco for the women and men will qualify for the quarterfinals (top two from each pool + two best third-placed teams)
- They will be seeded 1-8 with the top seed playing the 8th seed in the quarterfinal, and 2nd seeds playing 7th and so on.
- The winners move on to the semifinals and the final to earn a spot in Paris 2024.
The finals will take place on Sunday, 23 June, which is Olympic Day when the global Olympic Movement is celebrated.
The Olympic Rugby Sevens pools will be drawn after the Repechage final once all teams are qualified, together with Paralympic pools for wheelchair rugby, at the Salon d’Honneur of Stade Louis II in the presence of the captains of the qualified teams, and World Rugby and Paris 2024 representatives.
The World Rugby Sevens Repechage 2024 will be available to stream on RugbyPassTV and the full schedule of matches can be seen here.
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