The fifth wave of the epidemic continues. The Hong Kong Rugby Association announced today (12th) that it has decided to withdraw the Hong Kong men's 15-a-side rugby team from the "Asian Rugby Championships" held in South Korea from May 28th to June 6th. The Hong Kong team lost the chance to enter the World Cup.
The Rugby Football Association explained that since January, the rugby team has been restricted from gathering and cannot train. With the imminent competition date and lack of preparation time, continuing to participate in the competition will increase the safety risk of the players; Or postpone the holding time, but was rejected because Min finally decided to withdraw from the competition.
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Other participating rugby associations refuse to postpone
The Hong Kong Rugby Association announced today that the Hong Kong men's 15-a-side rugby team had no choice but to withdraw from the "Asian Rugby Championships" held in South Korea from May 28 to June 6.
The match is also a qualifier for the "15-a-side Rugby World Cup 2023", so the decision to withdraw means that the Hong Kong team will lose the chance to enter the World Cup.
Earlier, the Rugby Federation announced in January that the Hong Kong women's 15-a-side rugby team would not play in the World Cup qualifiers.
The Rugby Association said that it had repeatedly discussed with the organizer Asia Rugby and other participating rugby associations, asking for further changes or delays in the dates of the "Men's Triangle" with Malaysia and South Korea.
But the request has been denied.
The men's Qilan Hong Kong team won the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games. It is an elite project of the Sports Academy and is not affected by the total cost of the Lam.
(file picture)
Lam: Just a few weeks is not enough to prepare for battle
Mr. Lam explained that according to the current epidemic prevention restrictions, local sports venues and social distancing measures need to be maintained until April 21.
For the 15 rugby players, who have not been able to train since January, that is, they have not participated in any games for more than four months. Just a few weeks is not enough to prepare for the game.
The Federation also pointed out that the epidemic prevention measures may continue to take effect after April 21, which also limited the ability of the Federation to safely organize two international test matches within five days.
It is absolutely unacceptable for the team to injure players or affect the safety of the team due to hasty preparations. Therefore, the team finally decided to retire.
Hong Kong Rugby Women's Team.
(Rugby Association)
The Hong Kong women's 15-a-side rugby team also gave up playing in the Rugby World Cup in January
The General Manager of Lam said that the Hong Kong team originally played in the "Asian Rugby Championship" as the defending champion. Although the withdrawal this time can be expected to have a major impact on the game, he emphasized that the well-being of the players will not be taken as a bet.
The Rugby Federation also pointed out that for the elite rugby players, coaches, staff and supporters, the withdrawal is a very disappointing result. In addition, the Hong Kong women's 15-a-side rugby team also announced that they were forced to give up playing. The "Women's Rugby World Cup 2021" qualifying rounds gave up two consecutive World Cup chances, making Hong Kong's rugby world's hopes of entering the World Cup prematurely dashed.
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