Skinstad and Edgar at the Hongkong Tens

 
Crowd magnets 10s and 7s Rugby – The Hongkong 10s is on 25th, 26th, followed by the HK 7s this weekend.
Rugby World Cup winner and UCT technical advisor Bob Skinstad has just landed in Hongkong, where he will lead a strong South African challenge at this year’s Hogkong Tens Tournament.

The Springboks icon is part of a new team, Scatterlings of Africa, who will attempt to end New Zealand’s eight-year winning streak at the popular Hong Kong tournament.

“All the boys have played at a high level,” revealed team organiser and player Rorke Slater. “We have guys who have represented their provinces and played Super 14, plus of course Bob, who captained the Springboks and has won a World Cup. “We cannot wait to get to Hong Kong. Most of the guys haven’t been there before so we’re looking forward to seeing such a great city and hopefully playing some top rugby.”

Scatterlings of Africa – named after a song by South Africa’s  famous musician, Johnny Clegg – are mainly Durban-based but will also feature three players from Cape Town, one of whom is UCT star center Dave Edgar who has also played Currie Cup for WP and a trio of players based in Hong Kong.

Since Fiji’s Magicians triumphed at the Tens in 2000, teams from New Zealand have won the past eight editions of the tournament.

The 2009 GFI HKFC Tens will be held at Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley from March 25-26 – here the website.

The tournament will also feature a German team for the first time – the Wild Titans, representing the Wild Rugby Academy in Heidelberg, the hometown of UCT veteran Bodo “The Door” Sieber.

“The Tens is an excellent opportunity to continue the development of young German players through exposure to a higher level of competition,” said Titans coach Murray Archibald who is excited to introduce his team of youngsters to an international arena.

Bob Skinstad, together with Rob Fleck is of course also the creator of the Cape Town Tens, which was played by 48 teams early February for the first time – he will certainly try recruit some of the international sides to join him in SA next year.

The Teams at the HK Tens are:
1.      Aliens      New Zealand
2.     Borneo Eagles      
3.     Cardiff University     Wales
4.     China Agricultural University     China
5.     CBRE HKFC     Hong Kong
6.     French Pyrenees     France
7.     Hong Kong Barbarians     Hong Kong
8.     Irish Vikings     Ireland / UK
9.     New Zealand Legends     New Zealand
10.     Overseas Old Boys     Worldwide
11.     Penguin International RFC     UK
12.     Ruck U      
13.     The Scatterlings of Africa     South Africa
14.     Wanchai Wanderers      
15.     Wild Rugby Academy     Germany
16.     Playmore Phantoms     Aust. / NZ / UK