[des lynam]

I was wondering what people make of the standard of Rugby in Hong Kong. I'm talking about amateur and international level Rugby in Hong Kong not school boys. Would like to know from people who played Rugby at University or club level. How do players compare in terms of fitness, technique, speed etc.

[PC_Man]

Standard is very varied.

1st division teams will have a few stars who have played top levels or on verge of top levels at home (Premier in UK, Super 14s in SH) plus a couple of specifically imported players (usually Pacific Islanders or Kiwis).
Rest of team will be made up of solid players but nothing special back home.

Haven't played 1st grade in years but wasn't totally out of place despite never playing national league levels in UK (generally a 2nd team player in UK).

Fitness - similar. Some very fit, tight five often lot less so as more likely to be there for technical ability and often older (seem to have probs attracting tight five here... locals not generally big enough for top levels, assume young expats have low on priorities - so lot of old hands filling these roles).

Levels lower drop quite a lot - lots of people playing here still who would have retired years ago in other countries. Played a game last month where I was one of youngest on team and I've retired three times in the last 4 years already....

PC_Man

[gilleshk]

Agree with previous poster's assessment.

I'd add that the commitment level for any sport in HK is generally nothing like what you'd find back home.

People come here to work, they travel a ton so you find that practices are often poorly attended, fitness levels are very uneven which can be frustrating if you have high expectations.

[Jon.E.Kong]

You'll notice a lot of 1st graders dropping down all the way to 3rd. I once played in a 3rd division game against a team with more 1st divs than 3rds, and we tied!

Standard is all over the place, teams change every week.

I only played for a few years in Canada before coming here, so all the kiwis and aussies on my team run circles around me. Depends what level you're looking for, but it's always fun regardless.