Meet the Girls #3 - Royce Chan

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Royce Chan, Ice's outstanding hooker and general enforcer. In the candid interview below, Royce reveals her soft spot for a certain Club physio and her love for the Hong Kong tabloid press. AH

Name: Royce Chan

Age: Get me drunk and I will let you know

Occupation: Assistant Property Officer

Nationality: Chinese

Rugby position: I want to be a scrum-half or fly-half, but coaches insist I'm a hooker

Previous rugby clubs: Luckily I started at HKFC and I'm looking forward to finishing there

Favourite things about HKFC rugby: Wider vision from my lovely team-mates and Mungo (I learned a lot from him)

One thing you would change/introduce: Summer Camp for the younglings

Most embarrassing rugby experience: When I couldn't finish a lap of Happy Valley at a rugby training session...

Meat or Veggies: Meat for sure, although I look like a vegetarian

Beer or Cocktails: Cocktails or shots - except tequila as I want to stay awake longer

Mint/Prive/Drop or Devils/Mes Amis/Dusk Til Dawn? What is this? I like coffee shops!

Gerard Butler or Orlando Bloom? Aiya, don't like either. I like Josh Harnett.

Cosmopolitan or Erica Jong? English is too complicated... I like Apple Daily

Life in the Ice Age

First of all, congratulations to Royce Chan, Kim Kan, and Antje Keim for making the Women's XV National Squad. They will be heading to Singapore in two weeks for two test matches against Singapore, used as a build-up to the Asian World Cup Qualifiers in 2009. Royce Chan will also be one of the Captains of the squad.

After substantial wins over the past two weeks, Ice is now the undefeated champions after Round 1 of the Women's League. According to the schedule, we now have a much needed rest before coming face to face with the ladies of CWB Phoenix again, followed by yet another clash with those known as Valley. So for now we will let things thaw a bit.

Back to the past two weekends. We at Ice decided that it might be best to lump the past two weeks of write-up into one as there really wasn't much to write about due to the bulldozer known as GAICE. The weekend before saw us pitted against the ladies of DeA Tigers at HKFC. For those who saw the game, I'm sure you will all agree it was a sound thrashing, despite the excellent DEA defense. Tries were scored by Kim Kan (x2), Emmy Chan, Fiona Foxon, and Royce Chan brought the score to 27-0.

This past weekend saw us against the combined team of Aberdeen and Kowloon, fondly known as Abaloon. Unlike DEA, whose team consists of mainly petite 18-year-olds, Abaloon has its share of sizable girls. Add the fact that the game is played on the Valley Pitch (a.k.a the Dustbowl) where the pitch becomes a sandstorm if more than one person runs and you can see it presents a big challenge indeed.

In the end though, it was once again our speed and fitness that won us the game. Tries were scored by Ah Ying, Ah Kwan, Royce, Emmy and Monster [Any relation to Animal? A.H.], with one successful conversion from Emma Holland, ending the game at 27-0 (again).

Valley caught in Ice storm

More from Kim Kan at the front line of women's rugby in Hong Kong.


GAICE vs. Valley - 25 October, 2008

It has been decreed since the dawn of HKFC Rugby that we maintain an intense rivalry with those who choose the dark side known as Valley. Any game between HKFC and Valley will usually involve a substantial build-up, interesting banter from both sides, and a hard fought match.This weekend's match against Valley/City was no exception.

Disadvantaged from the outset by Valley's gargantuan size, GAICE was in for a physical match-up. Valley's stiff arms and hard tackles rattled GAICE as soon as the whistle sounded for kick-off, but we quickly learned that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

GAICE regained our composure and began to drive them back using ourskills, speed, and most importantly, our fitness (Mungo's sessions really paid off!) A great play from fly-half Emma Holland got the ball out to winger Ah-Ying, who drew two defenders and then made a great pass to speedster fullback Aggie Poon. A missed conversation saw the score 5-0. It was only due to an unlucky missed tackle that Valley was able to put points on the board, with the half-time score being 5-7 to Valley.

Committing numerous infringements finally caught up with Valley as they were given a yellow card 30 meters in front of the uprights. Opting for the kick saw Emma Holland slot in a beauty bringing the score 8-7.

In retaliation for a Valley player intercepting one of her passes, Aggie Poon made it her mission to return the favour. In the end, her speed was just too much for Valley to handle and she intercepted the ball during one of their plays, and then dashed down the touch-line to score her second try. Another unsuccessful conversion saw the score at 13-7.

The final nail in the coffin came from a scrum down. Despite our size,GAICE wore Valley down and a tough drive by the forwards saw Royce Chan over the try line, bring the score to 18-7 after a missed conversion. Frustrated and out of breath, Valley still managed to find the wind to continue to argue with the referee over certain calls, resulting in another yellow card for a sizeable newcomer to the HK rugby scene.

Most teams will cite the reason as to why we won is due to the immense individual talent on GAICE. However, it wasn't individual play that got us around this big hurdle (pun intended). It was team camaraderie,coupled with good sportsmanship, which allowed us to keep cool under pressure. There are a few more kinks to work out before we face them again, but at this rate GAICE will once again be the top-team in Hong Kong.