Final squads announced for Asia Rugby Sevens Series curtain raiser in Hong Kong

The final squads for this weekend’s Asia Rugby men’s and women’s sevens series have been confirmed.

Off the back of winning gold at the recent Asian Games both Hong Kong and Japan women name strong sides to compete in the tournament.

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10 of the side to beat Japan in the final will be joined by Toby Fenn and Jack Neville for Hong Kong while for Japan women also have 10 of the same side to win gold.

Having beaten China 7-5 to claim their first-ever Asian Games gold medal they are joined by Hana Nagata and Honoka Tsutsumi in place of Ano Kuwai and Noriko Taniguchi.

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One of the members of Hong Kong’s squad, Max Denmark, is eager for his side to continue their journey following the success of the Asian Games.

“Winning the Asian Games is the most amazing thing I’ve done in rugby,” said Denmark. “It was made even more special seeing the reactions of guys like Salom and Jamie Hood because they missed out on gold twice and they finally achieved that.

“If I am honest, the Olympics is at the back of my mind. I try to focus on each tournament as it comes so for now all that’s on my mind right now is this weekend’s Asia Rugby tournament in Hong Kong.”

Denmark is also part of Hong Kong’s continued journey to Rugby World Cup 2019 having been part of the side to have won the Asia Rugby Championship and booked their place in November’s repechage.

“Qualifying has been great but as I said I am just looking to the next tournament this weekend before Korea and Sri Lanka. I am aware that Marseille is coming up but since coming back to sevens this is my focus.

“But being part of Hong Kong Rugby has been amazing. Especially since I only broke into the men’s squad this year, it’s been the best year of my life in rugby and otherwise and I’m excited to see what else we are capable of.”

This weekend’s tournament in Hong Kong is the first of three events for both the men and women in this year’s Asia Rugby Sevens Series with events to follow in Korea (29-30 September) and Sri Lanka (13-14 October.

In the men’s competition the highest ranked side after Japan will qualify to play in the Singapore leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series, and they will be joined by the next best team to take part in the Hong Kong qualifier tournament.

In the women’s competition the highest ranked side after China will qualify to play in the Kitakyushu leg of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, and they will be joined by the two next best teams to also take part in the Hong Kong qualifier tournament.

All matches from both competitions will be streamed live and can be watched the live on Asia Rugby’s Facebook page with the first match starting at 12:30 local time.

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