Day two from the Hong Kong tour, courtesy of Director of Rugby Simon Amor…
We are another 24 hours into our tour to Hong Kong and the heat and humidity shows no sign of easing up.
The group are slowly getting over their jet lag and to help get their body clocks in sync with the Hong Kong time zone the players needed to find some entertainment to ensure they stayed awake and fought off the desire to sleep. The Star Ferry, which links Hong Kong Island with Kowloon, was the popular choice for most of the squad on Tuesday evening, with the view of the city skyline being spectacular.
This morning a number of the players supported our second CSR event with the Sarah Roe Jockey Club. Then it was a quick trip back to the hotel to grab some lunch before heading back out to the training ground. To continue with our acclimatisation and to ensure we are best prepared for Thursday's game, the intensity had to be cranked up from yesterday's jog through.
The team got their heads down and put in a good session, with the only negative being our head of Strength and Conditioning Tim Harper twisting his knee at the end of the session doing some extra fitness with our forwards and defence coach James Buckland. There are rumours that with Tim winning the fitness, a cheap shot was employed by Bucks, though we have yet to get this confirmed! However, with Tim now unable to run the water on during the game, the responsibility will lie solely with Adam Kwasnicki, our only injured touring player. With hydration being a priority for the players throughout the game, Kwas has manfully accepted that he is likely to do more running in the 80 minutes than some of those actually playing!
There are a number of great benefits that come with this tour but right up at the top of the list is the opportunity for the squad to grow closer together as a group and with four new signings for next season joining us on this tour this is a fantastic way of integrating them into the squad.
All four new players on tour, Jamie Kilbane, Dan Newton, Pete Homan and Mike Doneghan, will start tomorrow's game and we are all excited to see how they get on in their first games in a London Scottish shirt. We know the game will be tough but hopefully our debutants, along with the rest of the squad, will be celebrating a victory on Thursday evening.
