Royce Chan Moves Into HKCR Girls’ & Women’s Rugby Development Lead Role

Chan’s role will align with the union’s goals, which include achieving a 40/60 gender split between women’s and men’s participation, addressing systemic barriers for women in rugby and integrating the women’s game into HKCR’s regional hub model.

Photo Credit – HKCR -Royce Chan with the Women’s Dragons Teams after the Showcase Match at Kai Tak Stadium (Oct 2025)

Royce Chan said of the move, “Stepping into this role is a chance to think strategically about the whole journey for girls’ and women’s rugby – from the time they played in their school and clubs to the moment they pull on a Hong Kong China jersey. A big focus for me will be using my performance background and experience to build a clear calendar of meaningful development training and matches which create regular opportunities for players to test themselves and grow on and off the field.”

Chan is also an inductee of the Hong Kong China Rugby Hall of Fame and has been most recebtly in the role of Women’s Rugby Programme Lead.

The HKCR Women are currently without a Women’s XV Head Coach but will be competing in the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2026 (due to be held in Kazakhstan in May) as well as the September World Rugby WXV Global Series.

Photo Credit – HKCR – Royce Chan passing on coaching advice to Scrum-half Wan Tsz Yau (2024)

HKCR has expressed its desire to qualify for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which the women have previously achieved once.

Dean McLachan, HKCR’s Executive Director of Domestic Rugby, said of Royce Chan into her new role:
“Royce has been an outstanding servant to rugby in Hong Kong. She has influenced the careers of many of our current and recent players, and she acts as a perfect role model for thousands of young female athletes at the start of their rugby journeys. She will also be a strong mentor for female coaches who aspire to grow and make a positive impact on the game.

He added, “We see this as the ideal role for Royce going forward. It will enable her to leverage her performance background, bring her strong programme leadership to a development context, and play a central role in identifying and nurturing the next generation of talent across our youth, tertiary, and senior development pathway programmes.”

Women’s Rugby – Hong Kong China

Chan explained of the women’s game in Hong Kong, “The women’s game here has consistently had a significant majority of Hong Kong-based players in our Women’s 7s and 15s teams, and I’m proud of how far the game has come.

My commitment now is to keep developing and expanding those pathways so that any player who wants to commit to Hong Kong China – whether they grew up here or have made it their new home – can see a future in our clubs and our representative programmes.

Hong Kong is a special rugby community, and I hope that by strengthening our structures and investing in the women’s game, we can continue to attract and inspire players from all backgrounds to play in our leagues and leave their own footprint in a Hong Kong China jersey,” added Chan.

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