Kowloon 10s
March 2011, Hong Kong

The recent King Penguin tour to participate in the Altus Kowloon Tens could be deemed nothing less than a great success and an added pleasure was that the touring party was able to support the Penguin team in the Hong Kong Tens and enjoy the world class Hong Kong 7s on show all weekend.

Formed after our anniversary match against the House of Lords and Commons at Twickenham the King Penguins played against the Australian Parliament last October and a rematch is already scheduled during the forthcoming Lions tour.

Kowloon marked the team’s third fixture and in keeping with the traditions of the Penguin Club this makes three games in three different countries.

Ably led by David Harris and John Kerr the team, comprising older heads and a welcome injection of youth from Stellenbosch, combined well and after a slow start produced their best rugby against our friends the Rwandan Silverbacks in the semi-final of the competition winning by the narrow margin of 7 points to nil. We are coaching the Silverbacks too well! They are a most enthusiastic and athletic team and only lacking in experience, a team to watch.

In the final the team monopolised the ball for the first 5 minutes, playing excellent 7s possession rugby in their own 22, unfortunately it was 10s rugby that was required and before they knew it Penguins were 2 tries down, losing to the better team on the day. It will be a very motivated and wiser team that steps on the field at next year’s tournament.

The Kowloon hospitality was tremendous and an added and unexpected bonus at the tournament dinner was the surprise entertainment provided by MC and ex Lion John Bentley who was exceptionally enjoyable, he was joined by other England internationals Gareth Chilcott and James Forrester.

A tour to Sweden is in the works and a tour to Rwanda has also been proposed, the King Penguins are proving a great addition to what is already a great club. The team has been fulfilling their expected Penguin duties in giving to others and took part in excellent coaching sessions for young schoolboys, in particular at the Hong Kong Football Club, where they were ably assisted by the great John Kirwan and Lawrence Dallaglio with hard working Dean Herewini proving to be an exceptional organiser of this session.

The players volunteered their services to a charity fashion show as catwalk models and so impressed the Society Ladies of Hong Kong that a repeat performance has been requested for next year.

Well done King Penguins you did your club proud and roll on 2012 for more of the same!

Results

Team

Squad: John Kerr (Watsonians - Captain), Keith Wallace (Haddington), Graeme Inglis (Mosman Whales), Ashley Cole (Mosman Whales), Jon Williams (Old Varstonians), Nigel Jeynes (Wales), Marc Figgins (Old Varstonians), Ben Breeze (Bristol), Dawid Swart (Stellenbosch), Gordon Dickson (Watsonians), Andrew Schorn (Stellenbosch), Tom Schorn (Stellenbosch), Ian Hope (Dundee HSFP), Ross Ferry (Metropolitan Police), David Harris (Watsonians), Iain Sinclair (Watsonians), Paul Raeburn (Watsonians), Michael Tack (Stellenbosch)

Management: Craig Brown (CEO), John Zimnoch (Team Manager), Yuill Irvine (Bagman)

Photos