Captains, coaches meet press at Hong Kong Sevens 2016

Per annual tradition, the captains representing all the teams in this year’s Hong Kong Sevens gathered at the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel for a photo shoot with the trophy overlooking Victoria Harbor.  This time, there were no staring contests between the current HSBC Sevens World Series leaders or a celebratory lion dance.  Instead, captains representing 28 teams stood under the warm Hong Kong sun to pose for photos with the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2016 trophy, as well as a new award, the Beth Coalter Trophy for Newcomer of the Year named after the late, former Hong Kong Rugby Union executive.

Captains of the teams that have qualified into the main draw of this year’s Hong Kong Sevens. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Sixteen of the captains represent the teams competing in the main draw of the men’s event, whereas the rest represent the entries in the qualifying tournament.  All 11 teams who have qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games so far are competing in Hong Kong.  The captains who appeared – along with, for kicks, their names translated into traditional Chinese mimicking their English names (courtesy of the Hong Kong Rugby Union) – were:

Main draw:

Fiji 斐 濟: Osea KOLINISAU高連尼修
South Africa 南 非: Kyle BROWN 布 朗
New Zealand 新西蘭: Tim MIKKELSON 米基臣
Australia 澳 洲: Edward JENKINS 真堅斯
United States 美 國: Madison HUGHES 曉 治
Argentina 阿根廷: Gaston REVOL 域禾爾
England 英格蘭: Tom MITCHELL 米 曹
Kenya 肯 亞: Andrew AMONDE 艾蒙迪
Samoa 薩摩亞: Falemiga SELESELE 施利施尼
France 法 國: Terry BOUHRAOUA 鮑威華
Scotland 蘇格蘭: Scott WIGHT 韋 迪
Wales 威爾斯: Luke TREHARNE 卡夏尼
Canada 加拿大: John MOONLIGHT 蒙勵治
Russia 俄羅斯: German DAVYDOV 戴耶杜夫
Portugal 葡萄牙: Pedro LEAL 尼爾亞
South Korea: KIM Hyun Soo 金玄樹

Qualifying draw:

The qualifying captains, including Ben Soto (second from left) of the Cayman Islands, who are competing at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time ever. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Brazil 巴 西: Juliano FIORI 費奧利
Cayman Islands 開曼群島: Mark SOTO 索 圖
Chile 智 利: Felipe BRANGIER 班基亞
Germany 德 國: Clemens VON GRUMBKOW 禾甘孝
Hong Kong 香 港: Jamie HOOD 賀 迪
Japan 日 本: Yusaku KUWAZURU 桑水流裕策
Mexico 墨西哥: Pascal NADAUD 蘭 度
Morocco 摩洛哥: Mohamed ABID 艾比迪
Papua New Guinea 巴布亞新畿內亞: Henry KALUA 卡盧亞
Spain 西班牙: Matias TUDELA 杜迪拿
Tonga 東 加: Taliauli SIKUEA 薜古亞
Zimbabwe 津巴布韋: Tafadzwe CHITOKWINDO 捷圖雲杜

Video: Hong Kong Sevens 2016 captains’ photo call
video by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine

Photos: Hong Kong Sevens 2016 captains’ photo call
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine

Australia captain Edward Jenkins leads the group selfie charge. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Also, per past tradition, the coaches of the current three leading teams in the standings – Fiji (Ben Ryan), South Africa (Neil Powell) and New Zealand (Sir Gordon Tietjens) – as well as the coach of the host city Hong Kong (Gareth Baber).  Ryan in particular referred to the resilience of players in disaster-hit Fiji, who are also the defending HSBC Sevens World Series champions.

Video: Hong Kong Sevens 2016 coaches’ press conference
video by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine

Photos: Hong Kong Sevens 2016 coaches’ press conference
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine

Left to right: South Africa (Neil Powell), Fiji (Ben Ryan), New Zealand (Sir Gordon Tietjens) and Hong Kong (Gareth Baber). (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)