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Rugby News from unexpected places

dru

dru

David Wilson (68)
WorkingClassRugger said:
Which prior to the pandemic put them in a pretty envious financial position in the region. I don't know how likely there involvement would be but it is clear that those behind League One would be interested if they put their hand up. It might happen but it might not.
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Also prior to the smothering of China of Hong Kong. Hard to imagine the 7's ever again being what it once was.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
dru said:
Also prior to the smothering of China of Hong Kong. Hard to imagine the 7's ever again being what it once was.
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Lots of rugby followers in the region looking for a party. Covid is the only thing that will stop them.
 
dru

dru

David Wilson (68)
wamberal said:
Lots of rugby followers in the region looking for a party. Covid is the only thing that will stop them.
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Wam, in this context, what is "region"? I'd honestly be surprised to see Hong Kong kicking on again with a western sport like rugby. Happy to be proven wrong.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
dru said:
Wam, in this context, what is "region"? I'd honestly be surprised to see Hong Kong kicking on again with a western sport like rugby. Happy to be proven wrong.
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I am thinking of expats living in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, even the PRC proper. Earning big money, maybe got a travel budget. A weekend at the Hong Kong Sevens was always a big meet up, booze up, long weekend. It might take a while to get up to the level of popularity it had, but that is going to happen if the Sevens gets back to speed. Expats as a class do not care about politics, they cannot afford to!!
 
dru

dru

David Wilson (68)
wamberal said:
I am thinking of expats living in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, even the PRC proper. Earning big money, maybe got a travel budget. A weekend at the Hong Kong Sevens was always a big meet up, booze up, long weekend. It might take a while to get up to the level of popularity it had, but that is going to happen if the Sevens gets back to speed. Expats as a class do not care about politics, they cannot afford to!!
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OK, that makes sense. I just don't see it happening in HK. Expats may not care about politics per se, but safety is another thing. They could be more adventurous than the average, I still just don't see HK being high on the list of attractive places to visit.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
dru said:
OK, that makes sense. I just don't see it happening in HK. Expats may not care about politics per se, but safety is another thing. They could be more adventurous than the average, I still just don't see HK being high on the list of attractive places to visit.
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Covid aside, what has made HK less attractive as a party destination? The demonstrations have been stamped out (brutally in my opinion) but as far as I know (and Covid is a factor of course) if you have the money, and go there to have fun, you can still have fun. Hong Kong is probably safer now than it ever has been. What is effectively martial law has that effect (unless you are active in opposition of course). Go there looking for trouble, or to prove a political point, and you will be dealt with.

I will never go there again, because the place has changed so much. But that is largely because of the passage of time, and the huge amount of development that has taken place. Plus I don't know anybody who still lives there!
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
dru said:
OK, that makes sense. I just don't see it happening in HK. Expats may not care about politics per se, but safety is another thing. They could be more adventurous than the average, I still just don't see HK being high on the list of attractive places to visit.
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What is, or was, attractive about the Sevens was that it was a lot of fun in itself, and to expats living in some other countries, it was a good chance to catch up with colleagues. HK had its attractions, probably still has most of them, particularly if you live and work in some other regional countries. There are still a lot of expats in Hong Kong, by the way, and this event is tailor made for them.
 
dru

dru

David Wilson (68)
wamberal said:
Covid aside, what has made HK less attractive as a party destination? The demonstrations have been stamped out (brutally in my opinion) but as far as I know (and Covid is a factor of course) if you have the money, and go there to have fun, you can still have fun. Hong Kong is probably safer now than it ever has been. What is effectively martial law has that effect (unless you are active in opposition of course). Go there looking for trouble, or to prove a political point, and you will be dealt with.

I will never go there again, because the place has changed so much. But that is largely because of the passage of time, and the huge amount of development that has taken place. Plus I don't know anybody who still lives there!
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We are drifting from rugby (almost inevitably) - but that bold statement is my problem. I don't think "being dealt with" is necessarily limited to that justification, and even if it is, it isn't your or my definition of "looking for trouble" that will be accepted. There are a couple of places in China where the place state is even more diligent right now - HK being obvious.

Also how many ex-pats (non-dual citizens) remain?

FWIW, if the 7's tournament wants to continue with success my advice is that they should think about an alternative location. HK is hardly a party city anymore.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
dru said:
FWIW, if the 7's tournament wants to continue with success my advice is that they should think about an alternative location. HK is hardly a party city anymore.
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The Hong Kong Rugby Union needs the Sevens, which has been a huge success for many years (except the last couple). I would be surprised if they don't host it on an on-going basis. And I would be more surprised if it is not sold out.
 
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KevinO

KevinO

Geoff Shaw (53)
Anyone had a look at the cross the line videos on World Rugby facebook? Will be interesting to see how they go given some more time.
 
Members Section

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
WorkingClassRugger said:
Confirmation that the Georgian RESC team the Black Lions will also compete in the Currie Cup first division from next year. That does not mean they are leaving the RESC or that the project has failed. They have been very vocal about wanting to find more games in their schedule and the double round robin CC 1st division fits that objective alongside the RESC. As well as reports that SLAR are looking at some kind of interaction. A part of me would like to see the CC 1st Div, SLAR and RESC work together and receive WR (World Rugby) backing to create some kind of unified structure. Would be kind of cool.
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Add to that Zimbabwe, Kenya & possibly the return of Namibia. Good on South Africa for helping develop 2nd tier nations

https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-get-currie-cup-slot/
 
WorkingClassRugger

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Members Section said:
Add to that Zimbabwe, Kenya & possibly the return of Namibia. Good on South Africa for helping develop 2nd tier nations

https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-get-currie-cup-slot/
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Yeah, saw that on the T2 forum earlier. It's a bit of a surprise albeit a pleasant one to see Zim, Kenya and Namibia involved in the CC 1st Div. They had been in line to compete in the SuperSport Challenge later in the year. This will be a solid challenge for each of them. Which is what is needed going forward. Will be interesting to see how they work the schedule. Last year each team played one another once for a total of 6 games plus finals. With these 4 that'll bring the total number of teams to 11. So will it be the same but with each team playing 10 games (which would be my preference) and then finals?

Anyway, it's good to see and for all of their issues SA is still very willing to open up it's competitions to developing nations.
 
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Rugbynutter39

Rugbynutter39

Michael Lynagh (62)
WorkingClassRugger said:
Yeah. I remain fairly sceptical about how likely that is but thought it was something interesting to add. I do know there was some movement with a NZ franchise to enter a team in GRR based out of the country had GRR continued.
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A team vs eatablIshing a professional league are two different things. Of course remember the massive investment in chinese rugby that was going to happen but didn’t.

I am now going to google rugby in Taiwan to learn how much rugby they play in Taiwan lol.
 
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