Organisers of the GFI Hong Kong Football Club Tens 2010 announced the line-up for this year’s tournment. 

Sixteen teams comprising of former and future stars will come from every corner of the globe to celebrate 25 years of the Tens alongside the best that local rugby can offer.  Started in 1986 to celebrate the centenary of one of Asia’s iconic rugby venues, the Hong Kong Football Club, the tournament has earned a reputation as the world’s premier ten-aside competition and the unofficial kick off of rugby week in Hong Kong.

Sevens fans will be excited to know that rugby legend Waisale Serevi will be returning to Hong Kong as a Tens player, lining up with the Hong Kong Barbarians.  Serevi should be a useful addition to the Barbarians, a team drawn from players that play locally in the domestic league but who fall outside of the various eligibility requirements required to represent Hong Kong. 

Speaking about his “new” team from Papua New Guinea where he is coaching the Men’s Sevens side, Serevi said “I am excited to try my hand at Tens, especially back in Hong Kong. I understand that the Baa baas won the Plate in 2008 and I want to go one better in 2010.”

Defending Cup champions Aliens, runners-up Alternative New Zealand Legends and Plate champions Penguin International RFC are all returning for another tilt at the Tens title in Hong Kong. 

Samurais International, Scatterlings of Africa, Borneo Eagles, Australian Country Invitational, Germany’s Wild Titans and the KIR Club Pyrenees are just a few of the international complement appearing at the Hong Kong Football Club at the end of the month. 

Befitting their status as returning champions, the Aliens are the tournament top seeds and head Pool Awhere they will be joined by last year’s debut side and eventual Bowl winners, Scatterlings of Africa, which will again be led by former Springbok flanker Bob Skinstad.  Australian Country Invitational and mainland side China Agricultural University, China’s first established rugby club and a nursery for Team China, round out the pool.

Scatterling of Africa at last year’s GFI HK Tens (Pics: Mike Jansen) 

Pool B sees 2009 Cup runners-up Alternative New Zealand Legends in the top slot alongside the Wild Titans from Germany, the Hill & Associates Hong Kong Barbarians and British Forces side Flying Kukris. 

Pool C is headed by the world-famous Penguin International RFC under ex-Scotland coach Frank Hadden and Steve Hill.  The Penguins will be out for revenge after reaching the final in 2007 and 2008 and being the ranked as the tournament’s top seed in 2009 only to bow out in the Cup quarter final against Aliens.  Last year’s Plate win will not be enough to satisfy this brood of hungry Penguins.

Another UK-based team features in Pool C, Samurai International, who have announced that this year they will be dedicating their performance in memory of their former manager Colin Hillman, who was also the former Technical Coach for the Wales Sevens team before passing away last summer.  2009 Shield Champions Cardiff University and hosts Hong Kong Football Club complete the Pool.

Pool D is topped by tournament fourth seeds Borneo Eagles.  Also in Pool D is the KIF French Pyrenees team featuring towering forward Patrick Tabacco who was capped 25 times for France including at Rugby World Cup 2003.  The Irish Vikings and Old Boys complete Pool D.

GFI HKFC Tens Pools

 (the number in brackets denotes seeding) 

Legendary Springbok captain and World Cup winner Robert Brian (Bob) Skinstad has been confirmed as the guest speaker at the annual Tens Dinner to be held at the Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday March 7.  The Bok Great (wikipedia) has developed a reputation as a livewire after-dinner speaker and is sure to keep guests entertained with stories from his stellar career.  

Together with friend and fellow Springbok Robbie Fleck, Skinstad recently spearheaded the very first Cape Town Tens Tournament.  In addition to playing for the Scatterling of Africa-side in this year’s Hong Kong Tens, I’m sure Bob will be making plenty mental notes during the local Tens to take back to Cape Town.

Event: Hong Kong Tens Dinner

Venue: Hong Kong Football Club, Sports Hall

Time: 7pm till late

Price: HK$880 per person or HK$8000 per table of 10

Contact: Nicola Sawyer on 35 79 80 88 or nicola@laxtonmarketing.com

This sought-after event is usually over-subscribed, so get cracking!

Be a sport and help me circulate the poster below, will you?  Click on it, it will open in a new window, then print/copy and send it to anyone you think will be interested.

Cheers!

Rugby World Cup winner Bobby Skinstad will lead a strong South African challenge at this year’s GFI HKFC Tens.  The Springboks icon is part of a new team, Scatterlings of Africa, who will attempt to end New Zealand’s eight-year winning streak at the popular Hong Kong tournament.

Springboks icon Bobby Skinstad will play for the newly formed Scatterlings of Africa in the GFI HKFC Tens at Hong Kong Football Club on March 25-26, 2009. (GFI HKFC Tens) 

 ”All the boys have played at a high level,” revealed team organiser and player Rorke Slater.  “We have guys who have represented their provinces and played Super 14, plus of course Bob, who captained the Springboks and has won a World Cup.  ”We cannot wait to get to Hong Kong. Most of the guys haven’t been there before so we’re looking forward to seeing such a great city and hopefully playing some top rugby.”

 Back rower Skinstad played 42 tests for South Africa, including 12 as captain, and was a member of the victorious Springboks squad at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.  Scatterlings of Africa – named after a song by South Africa’s most famous musician, Johnny Clegg – are mainly Durban-based but will also feature three players from Cape Town and a trio of players based in Hong Kong.  “We are an independent side made up of friends, so we are not linked to one particular club,” explained Slater.

 Since Fiji’s Magicians triumphed at the Tens in 2000, teams from New Zealand have won the past eight editions of the tournament.  The 2009 GFI HKFC Tens will be held at Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley from March 25-26.  Sixteen club and invitational teams from around the world will compete for four trophies – the Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield.  The Tens was first held in 1986 to celebrate HKFC’s centenary and is now firmly established as a highlight of the Asian rugby calendar.

 Tens organising committee chairman Paul Smith predicted another high quality tournament.  “We’re delighted to welcome three new teams this year and it will be particularly interesting to see the South African challenge to New Zealand’s supremacy,” he said.  

 ”The tournament has attracted some truly exceptional players in recent years, including Jonah Lomu, Joe Roff, Toutai Kefu and Neil Jenkins, so it’s great news for rugby fans that Bobby Skinstad will be appearing this year.  ”The Tens has developed a reputation as the best ten-a-side rugby tournament in the world and we are all looking forward to what promises to be another two days of fantastic rugby.”

 The tournament is once again title sponsored by global cash and derivatives broker GFI.  Organisers have also confirmed that Skinstad will be making an earlier visit to Hong Kong as guest speaker at the Tens Dinner, to be held at Football Club on Saturday, March 7.  The Springboks great has developed a reputation as a livewire after-dinner speaker and is sure to keep guests entertained with stories from his stellar career.

 Australian TV sports anchor Toby Lawson will be the MC while the evening will also include a live interactive quiz and an auction of unique memorabilia.

 Johnny Clegg: Scatterlings of Africa