Hong Kong China Rugby Union

Hong Kong China Rugby Union
中國香港欖球總會
SportRugby union
Founded1952; 74 years ago (1952)
World Rugby affiliation1988
Asia Rugby affiliation1987
PresidentPatrick Donovan
Men's coachLewis Evans
Women's coachJo Hull
Websitewww.hkrugby.com

Hong Kong China Rugby Union (Chinese: 中國香港欖球總會; abbrev. HKCR) is the governing body for rugby union in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1952 and became affiliated to World Rugby (then known as the International Rugby Board) in 1988. It organises and oversees local rugby, including the annual Hong Kong Sevens tournament and the HKRU Premierships.

The organisation was formerly named Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, and Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) before 2023.

History

Old HKRU logo

In November 2022, Glory to Hong Kong was played after a match between the teams from South Korea and Hong Kong. The HKRU said "The HKRU expressed its extreme dissatisfaction at this occurrence and has received a full explanation of the circumstances that led to this. Whilst we accept this was a case of human error it was nevertheless not acceptable." Media reported that the local organiser had earlier asked each team for a copy of their anthems to play at the competition, but the Hong Kong team did not submit one.

Later in November 2022, the head of HKRU, Robbie McRobbie, said new rules that dictate athletes should correct organisers if the national anthem is played incorrectly were reasonable and practical.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) pp 67, 68
  2. ↑ "History". Hong Kong Rugby Referees Society. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  3. ↑ "Hong Kong's sports federation wants local sports associations to include 'China' in official names". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  4. ↑ "Hong Kong sports groups told 'put China into your names or lose all funding'". South China Morning Post. 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  5. 1 2 "Hong Kong demands probe as pro-democracy protest song played instead of anthem at Korean Rugby 7s". Hong Kong Free Press. 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  6. ↑ Lee, Peter (2022-11-15). "Hong Kong police probe playing of protest anthem at rugby match in South Korea as Lee links song to 'violence'". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  7. ↑ "No pressure for athletes over new anthem rules: HKRU - RTHK". RTHK News. Retrieved 2022-11-24.