Hong Kong’s new rugby sevens women’s head coach Andy Vilk goes in at deep end with Asian Games, Olympic qualifier and Asia Rugby Sevens Series
- Vilk starts with four key tournaments, the first being the Asian series event in South Korea this weekend
- The team’s new boss stresses the importance of team culture, but says: ‘I don’t want to create a shock, to change too much too quickly’
After 15 years playing and coaching rugby in Italy, Hong Kong’s new women’s sevens head coach Andy Vilk instinctively reaches for the country’s language to communicate a significant point.
He is honest to a fault in his native tongue, however, and Vilk freely volunteers that he “probably didn’t get a complete handle on the culture”.
Vilk was an England sevens captain and featured in more than 30 tournaments for his country. He won the Hong Kong Sevens in 2006, shortly after claiming silver at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games.
“I grew up English, that is my DNA, so I would still ask my Italian staff what they felt the team needed at specific moments,” Vilk told the Post.
“From a cultural point of view, as much as I try to understand, my default position is, ‘What would an Anglo-Saxon player or team need, right now?’ You don’t always have all the answers.”
Vilk is in the foothills of a steep learning curve after his appointment to the Hong Kong post this month.
