Government quarantine exemption for Hong Kong rugby sevens team ‘best for the sport’, says star player
- Edmonton Sevens player of tournament Liam Herbert says November games are ‘our best shot’ of qualifying for World Cup – ‘we can’t just hold back’
- ‘I know we look like rebels … but we could end up quarantining over the whole of Christmas,’ Herbert says
Hong Kong men’s rugby sevens star Liam Herbert said the government giving the team a quarantine exemption after they returned from playing in Canada was vital for their chances of earning a spot in next year’s World Cup.
Players, coaches and back room staff returned home to undergo 14 days of quarantine that included four mornings of training sessions at King’s Park Sports Ground under strict conditions.
The group received some backlash given the government’s exemption rules do not explicitly include athletes, mostly exempting government officials, directors of listed companies, cross-border truck drivers, diplomats, and Covid-19 research experts.
The Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) justified the decision, saying the team had a “genuine need to maintain intensive training to upkeep skills and physical fitness” in preparation for the Asia Rugby Sevens Series from November 19 to 26. The two highest-placed teams at the event, to be held in the United Arab Emirates, will book a ticket to the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa next September.
“We saw the public got a bit mad about it, but we’ve got tournaments coming up in a month and we need to train,” said 23-year-old Herbert, who won the Edmonton World Rugby Sevens Series DHL Impact Player of the Tournament after some exceptional performances.
“We need our best shot because it’s a World Cup qualifier – we can’t just hold back.
“I know we look like rebels during this Covid-19 situation but it’s the best for the sport and we need to get to the best we can as a team. It’s not like singles sports.”
Herbert and teammate James Christie, who like the rest of the team finished their quarantine at midnight on Tuesday, passed the time by doing “a cycle to Wuhan”, which meant accumulating 980 kilometres on their hotel room cycling machine, taking turns to complete roughly 35km a day.
“But it was huge for us to finally get out onto the pitch,” Herbert said. “You can cycle as much as you want but it’s nothing compared to actually playing rugby.
“To get out for training on the last four days was good. It was only two hours a day. We got on the bus in the morning – only eight allowed per bus – and went to King’s Park when no one else was there. We trained, did a gym session, then cleaned up to make sure it was all sterilised, then jumped back onto the bus and into our hotel room for 10.30am.
“When we first got out for our first training session, we were all knackered in about 20 minutes. We had to get used to it again because we were just cycling or sitting in bed.”
Herbert also echoed the HAB’s description of the “bubble arrangements” in both Canada legs, recounting that they were stuck between their hotel and the respective stadiums.
“We haven’t been out to the shops or anything for a month,” he said. “We could only go to training and matches – no speaking to the public at games. In Edmonton, we had a spare last day but we were not allowed outside the hotel.”
Officially free to roam Hong Kong, the players are likely to be travelling between seeing their families, and using their respective club facilities and those of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, which supports the national sevens teams ahead of big events.
With an important Asia Series next month, Herbert is confident Hong Kong has made the right strides on and off the field to ensure they emerge as the continent’s best sevens team – and above perennial contenders Japan.
“We’re definitely going in to win it,” Herbert said. “The way we’re playing rugby now looks like the best we’ve been playing since I’ve been here.
“There are also Series tournaments in Dubai the week after that, and the week after that. If we play, we’ll be out of quarantine on December 28 after three weeks. People complain about us being able to train but we could end up quarantining over the whole of Christmas, pretty much.
“These are the sacrifices we’ve got to make. For me and the young guys it’s not too bad – some of us have girlfriends and stuff, but the older guys have kids and families and might not be with them. Not only us players, but the coaches do it for us, too. We’ve got to give back to them.”
