HKCR Women 15s Head To Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2025 With New-look Coaching Team and A Debutante

The HKCR women 15s will play annual rivals Kazakhstan and Japan as part of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2025 in Fukuoka, and travel to Japan with a interim new coaching setup and one debutante selected in the touring party of 28.

Feature Photo Credit – HKCR

The HKCR women will play both fixtures over the space of a few days on 20th and 25th May and new HKCR Women’s Head Coach Lewis Wilson is relishing the opportunity, saying, “I am awesomely privileged to work with them. The group’s outstanding, and I love working with the girls. They’re pretty inspirational, balancing their off-field work commitments and on the field. I love every minute working with the group and am grateful for the opportunity to lead them into this championship.”

The HKCR are in the process of employing a new full-time Head Coach with more details to be annpunced in due course, but Wilson is relishimg the opportunity aling with his coaching staff, which consists of the domestic Women’s Club Coaching Officers (WCCOs), while Pun Wai-yan (PY) is set to captain the team.

Photo Credit- HKCR – Women’s Head Coach Lewis Wilson

Lewis Wilson has been with the union as Club Coaching Officer at Kowloon Rugby Club and with the Women’s national representative team in the role of their forwards coach at the 2024 Asia Rugby Women’s Championship and the WXV .

He said of the new coaching team, “It’s a brand new on-field coaching team, which is exciting. They’re the women’s CCO group, so they are the head coaches of their respective women’s clubs. That means it has been a really easy transition as they see the girls day in and day out. Royce Chan has also been massively supportive and a key supporting person for me. She has years of experience working with the group and has been a big help to me.”

HKCR Women 15s Squad Selection – AREWC 2025

Wilson confirmed that the wider training group heads to Japan, they will have had more than 25 sessions together as the group of 35, which include as many as six potential new debutantes. Ultimately only one new potential debutante has been selected – second row Naomi Peeters.

The head coach explained, “That player pool is expanding. The competition is getting bigger and bigger for spots. Some key names from previous campaigns are missing, but there’s some really exciting talent in the group. I’m really looking forward to seeing a few debutants as well. That competition is exactly what we need to push us forward to chase that World Cup dream in 2029.” 

Photo Credit – HKCR

Some experienced HKCR Women 15s players were being rested or missed out due to studies or recovering from injury but captain Pun Wai-yan (PY) led the team all of last year and earned her first Sevens cap this season. 

Wilson elaborated, “She is outstanding. The stuff she does on the field and off the field is amazing. She’s extremely inspiring and a role model for not only me and the coaching group, but also for every female who plays or is thinking about playing in Hong Kong. She’s a credit to Hong Kong China.”

He added that there would be some disappointed players, but that competition was exactly what they needed. “As we board that plane and fly on the 18th of May to Japan, we will all be very excited about what we can deliver.”

Focussing on Themselves

For himself, the Head Coach added, “My focus has always been developing the players as much as we can and supporting the group on and off the field as much as we can as a coaching group. My only priority at the moment is getting the girls best prepared for these two upcoming test matches, and that’s all I can do.”

He added of the oposition in Japan, “We’re not focused too much on our position to be honest. It’s a little bit of a rebuild and a fresh start. There’s a new coaching group, and a new head coach is soon to be appointed, so we’re just focused internally. We’ve been focusing very much on ourselves and trying to progress the group as much as we can.

I think a lot of the girls watched the Japan-USA game, which was an awesome game to watch. But for us, we’ve definitely got a DNA in Hong Kong of how we play the game. The first time we got together as coaches, we sat down and looked at those player profiles and identified what we’re very good at, what stuff we want to really lean into.”

PY said of the changes for this championship, “We have got a quite different squad, but the mix of some senior players as well as new players, means I am excited to play. It is a new environment, and we have had to help the new players adjust to the national team standards and intensity. 

She is adamant that the group still wants to go out to Japan and deliver performances they can be proud of. “We are still looking for good performances as we cannot say we are looking at development and rebuilding, but then don’t deliver the performance. I don’t want to mention results, but I hope we play well and the results will follow. We need to focus on how we play our way and in our style and to show that we are a competitive team, in Asia, and around the world.”

Photo Credit- HKCR – Captain Pun Wai-yan (PY)

The advice PY would give to any players who want to play the game and put the effort in to be play for HKCR on the international stage, “I think it is not only about playing in this jersey, or even the training team or training jersey. I always feel proud as I never thought that I could go this far, and I started playing rugby quite late. I want my journey to inspire others, and young players as well. If I can do it, then why not others? 

I want them to know how rugby has had a positive influence on my life, and we do bring a lot of positive energy, and positive values too, that I feel other sports could not give me. I hope they can feel that way, and we bring positive energy to them, to their lives, and they also feel happy to play for their home country or city,” added the Hong Kong China Women’s 15s captain.

HKCR Women 15s AREWC 2025 Management and Squad

Team Management: 

• Royce CHAN (Programme Lead)
• Lewis WILSON (Head Coach)
• Tumua IOANE (Coach)
• Conor JOYCE (Coach)
• Bella MILO (Coach)
• Kevin MOGGRIDGE (Coach)
• Ian BONNET (S&C Coach)
• Jake MARTIN (Analyst)
• Sophie RAINE (Physiotherapist)
• Suzzen CHONG (Sports Rehabilitator)
• Dara KWOK (Team Manager)

Players

• Front Row: Tanya DHAR, GOT Yuei-Tein Fion, Kea HEREWINI, LAM Tim Yeung Iris, LAU Nga Wun, LEE Ka Shun, LEUNG Wing Yi Vincci, NG Ki Sum
• Second Row: Chloe BALTAZAR, CHOW Mei Nam, Naomi PEETERS*, Roshini TURNER
• Back Row: AU YUENG Sin Yi, Shanna FORREST, PUN Wai Yan ©, SIU Wing Ni Winnie
• Scrum Halves: AU King To, WAN Tsz Yau
• Fly Halves: LEE Tsz Ting, LO Wing Yin
• Centres: Abigail CHAN, Grace HOOD, Qian Jiayu
• Outside Backs: CHONG Ka Yan, Zoe SMITH, Jessica EDEN, POON Hoi Yan, Haruka UEMATSU

*Potential debut

How To Watch Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship 2025

The hosts confirmed that all tournament fixtures will be free of charge for spectators at JAPAN BASE, and our understanding is that all matches will be broadcast via Asia Rugby and possibly RugbyPassTV for international audiences.

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