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Second tour brings third-place
finish in Kowloon RugbyFest

The Silverbacks’ second tour to Hong Kong was a 10-day visit in late March 2011. They again competed in the Altus Kowloon RugbyFest, a 10-a-side tournament at King’s Park featuring teams from around the world, and gained valuable coaching and training experience along the way.

The Rwandan squad began their week with a joint training session with the French Pyrenees, one of the top teams competing in the HKFC Tens. The following day they took part in RugbyFest and made a storming start, topping Pool D with victories over Laos Development (14-0), Hong Kong Cricket Club (7-0) and Macau and Shenzhen (7-0), before defeating tournament hosts Altus Kowloon 12-0 in the Cup quarter-finals.

Their run ended with a narrow 7-0 defeat – the first points they had conceded in the tournament – by King Penguins, a veterans team organised by renowned UK-based touring club Penguin International RFC. But the Silverbacks recovered to finish RugbyFest on a high with a 33-7 victory over Australian side Double Bay in the third-place playoff.

The following day, the Rwandan squad completed a Level 1 coaching course organised by the Penguins Coaching Academy. Many of the players also took part in the annual Bali Memorial Game at Hong Kong Football Club. The match, between the Pot Bellied Pigs RFC and HKFC Vandals, is played every year in memory of those who lost their lives in the 2002 Bali bombings, including 12 players and supporters from Hong Kong.

The entire Rwandan team then attended the world famous Hong Kong Sevens, enjoying the atmosphere of the tournament’s infamous South Stand. In addition, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union director of development Ruth Mitchell organised another huge collection of rugby kit, playing equipment and other gifts – all donated by the Hong Kong rugby community – for the Silverbacks to take home.

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