2026/27 Rugby For Good Hong Kong Premiership Season – A Look at the Head Coaches

The 2026-2027 Rugby For Good Hong Kong Premiership Season gets underway from 17th October and runs until March 2027. We take a look at the Head Coaches in charge this season of the six men’s and six women’s teams, as 5 new personnel are in charge for the domestic Prem.

Photo Credit – HKCR

Societe Generale Valley RFC – Sam Hocking (Women) and Augustine Leger (Men)

Sam Hocking takes up the mantle of the Societe Generale Valley RFC Women’s Club Coaching Officer (CCO) role and Head of Valley RFC Women’s Rugby. 

He replaced Bella Milo, who is now the Manusina Head Coach. Hocking has been part of the Valley RFC for the past five years as coach for the Men’s Premiership team, and has worked in several Hong Kong rugby programs over a decade; he is a former coach with the Hong Kong China Senior Women’s National team, and part of the coaching teams involved with both the Men’s National team and South China Tigers full-time program.

Valley RFC said, “Sam brings a wealth of high-performance coaching experience and a deep-rooted understanding of Valley’s values and, equally importantly, how rugby in Hong Kong ticks. He is the perfect choice to lead the next chapter of growth and success for our Women’s section. Sam is the perfect person to elevate our Women’s programs to new heights; the pen to write our next chapter is in good hands! 

The women won the League title but lost the Grand Final 24-27 to Kroll USRC Tigers last season.

Augustine Leger enters his 4th season (he joined in 2023) with the club as the Men’s CCO – they were runners-up last campaign – going one step better than the semifinals the season before. In the regular season, they notched up 11 wins to finish second on the log. Both he and the HKFC Head Coach might struggle the most with the absence of their HKCR Men’s XV contingent, though. 

Leger has prior experience and roles within Super Rugby with Moana Pasifika, Auckland Blues U20s, New Zealand Secondary Schools and the New Zealand Barbarian Schools programme.

Admiralty Asia USRC Tigers – Crystal Nuku (Women) and Nigel Hotham (Men)

Hong Kong Premiership 2025/26 season Women’s title winners USRC Tigers announced the appointment of Crystal Nuku as their new WCCO (Women’s Club Coaching Officer), replacing Conor Joyce, who guided them to their first title since 2019. 

She also previously played for their cup final rivals last season, Societe Generale Valley RFC, as well as being a former Black Ferns 7s and Hurricanes player, and was most recently the Head Coach of the Yokohama TKM in the Japanese Taiyo Women’s Sevens Series this year.

For the Men, Nigel Hotham had agreed to extend his stay and will be in charge for a third season. He took them to the playoffs last season, in which the team showed huge improvement and lost to Societe Generale Valley RFC in the semifinals.

He took them from 6th to 3rd in just his second season in charge, which saw them improve results-wise from one win to eight.

HKFC Natixis Club / HKFC Natixis Ice – Charli Jacoby (Women) and Ben Siffleet (Men)

Charli Jacoby is the newly appointed HKFC Natixis Ice Head Coach after joining the club last season as Assistant Coach to Hannah Edwards. She has, over the past year, been involved with the HKCR Women’s XV coaching setup.

In the off-season, Hannah Edwards was appointed as Director of Rugby Operations at HKFC, meaning Jacoby moved into the Head of Women’s Performance Role.

Photo Credit – HKFC – Charli Jacoby (right) and Hannah Edwards (left)

The team finished in the top four last season but were knocked out in the semifinals by eventual champions, Kroll USRC Tigers.

Jacoby said last season, “Something I have been impressed by is the amount of rugby the women get to play. There are 15 regular season rounds, and there are not too many competitions in the world where you get to do that and play opposition three times each. So, it allows everyone to learn and hopefully perfect.”

Andrew Durutalo was the HKFC Director of Rugby Operations, but the USA Eagles Olympian and XVs player joined as Fiji Rugby’s new Head of Men’s High Performance.

The HKFC Natixis Club Men won the League and Grand Final, defeating rivals Societe Generale Valley RFC 26-19. It was CCO Ben Siffleet’s first season with the club, and he joined late after former Head Coach Logan Asplin took up the HKCR Men’s XV coaching role.

The former Taranaki Rugby Coach Development Lead & Community Rugby Support will again face the challenges of not having any of the HKCR Men’s XV side preparing for the RWC 2027 available – and they made a massive difference in the second half of last season.

He knows they have a target on their backs and it will be tough to defend the League and Grand Final double success of last season. They used more than 50 players last season.

Image Credit – HKFC Rugby

He said of his first season, “All six teams have been highly competitive – genuinely, anyone can beat anyone on their day. That level of competitiveness makes every week a challenge and is great for the growth of the game here.”

Milwaukee Hong Kong Scottish – Will Webster (Men)

Hong Kong Scottish RFC appointed Will Webster as the new Men’s CCO for the upcoming season, taking over from former NZ U85kg coach Ngatai Walker, who was in the role last campaign.

The men came last of the six teams in the 2025-2026 Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Men’s Premiership but had several close losses and recorded 2 wins and a draw in the season.

The club announced on 29th June 2026, “We are proud to announce Will Webster as our newly appointed Club Coaching Officer. After a season within our performance coaching set‑up, leading our forwards with energy, detail, and genuine care for player development, we are excited for this next step as Will drives the next chapter of our rugby programme.”

Photo Credit – Hong Kong Scottish RFC

Will Webster has held roles within Kenya Rugby, serving as both Head Coach and Assistant Coach, contributing to national‑team development and elite performance structures, as well as defence coaching responsibilities for the Hong Kong China Men’s team, and led the Scottish Exiles at the HKFC 10s 2026.

He had previously been with Major League Rugby’s New England Free Jacks when they won the three-peat of titles (2023-2025).

Janus Henderson Sandy Bay / Causeway Sandy Bay – Lewis Evans (Women) & Marno Meyer (Men)

Marno Meyer continues his role as the Men’s Janus Henderson Sandy Bay Head Coach, and after being champions two seasons ago, they had a tough campaign last year as they rebuilt their squad and failed to make the playoffs.

Two seasons ago, they were Premiership Grand Final champions after beating HKFC 40-29 to earn their first title in 6 years, but last season they finished 5th overall and recorded just three wins.

Lewis Evans steps into the Women’s CCO role after Kevin Moggridge departed the role at the end of last season to return to the UK. The Women’s side had a tough season and registered very few wins and finished 6th overall – they only won once the season before.

Evans is a former HKCR Men’s XV Head Coach and had a 15-year professional playing career, previous Director of Rugby at USRC Tigers, and experience within the Hong Kong China Rugby coaching environment. He has been part of the Hong Kong China men’s national team set-up since 2021.

The club announced his appointment in July 2026 and said, “His proven leadership, high-performance expertise and commitment to developing talent will be invaluable as we strengthen the Bays women’s programme…..

His ability to design and implement structured development programmes will ensure that every player has the opportunity to progress, thrive and contribute to the long-term success of the Bays women’s game.”

Lewis commented, “I’m very excited to be part of the CWB/SB club. I’m looking forward to working with the players and coaches this season and ensuring we compete with the best teams in the league.”

DLA Piper Kowloon Rugby – Terry Sibanda (Women) and Lewis Wilson (Men)

Lewis Wilson’s Men’s side also went from 5th two seasons ago to reaching the semifinals last season. He said of reaching the playoffs last season, where they lost to HKFC, “I believe we only have one member of the squad who’s played in a Hong Kong Premiership semi-final in the last ten years, so for most of this group it’s new territory.” 

Now that they have reached the final four, they will want to go one step further this season. He said last year that the Men’s squad used more than 45 players across the season, and depth will be key once again.

He has also previously been the HKCR Women’s Lead Head Coach.

Terry Sibanda rejoined the club in 2024, and the Women’s side has struggled in the Prem. Last season, they defeated Causeway Sandy Bay 29-12 in the final round to overtake them on the table to finish 5th overall.

He had said at the start of last season he wanted to target a top-four finish, but they were well short. Like most of the WCCO’s he has also been involved with the HKCR Women’s XV side.

Clement Shield/VetiVa Gai Wu Falcons – Tumua Ioane (Women)

Fresh off being the HKCR Women’s XV Lead Coach at the WXV,  Tumua Ioane turns his attention to Gai Wu Falcons, who lost to the Societe Generale Valley RFC in the semifinals last season. He has led his team to 3rd and 4th over the last two seasons and will be in charge for his third season.

He said last season, “The effort and quality of the coaches involved in our Women’s program have driven a lot of growth and development across our three teams, allowing me to draw on quality depth.”

Photo Credit – Danny’s Sports Album – Hong Kong China Women’s Lead Coach Tumua Iaone & Gai Wu CCO

We will post an article later this week with the season launch and all the player signings this season. Unfortunately, we won’t be covering the Prem as we did for HKCR last season, but you can see last season’s write-ups in partnership with HKCR.

Hong Kong China Rugby News

• Sam Hocking Appointed as Head of Valley RFC Women’s Rugby.
• Former HKFC Director of Rugby Operations, Andrew Durutalo, Named Head of Fiji Men’s High Performance.
• Crystal Nuku Switches Clubs and Takes On WCCO Role With USRC Tigers.
• Hong Kong China Rugby and the Chinese Rugby Football Association Explain MoU.