Penguins begin recruitment for Hong Kong 10s defence

THE Penguins have confirmed that they will defend their Hong Kong 10s title in April but manager Craig Brown said he will require a new-look squad.

The Penguins won this year’s cup in their 10th straight appearance at the 10-a-side tournament, which has been staged on the Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the Hong Kong Sevens since 1986.

After securing their first HK10s title in 2013 with a last-minute winner against Samurai, The Penguins won this year’s final by beating the same opponents 5-0 with a try in extra-time.

Brown is already recruiting players for next year’s tournament with a host of big names unavailable, including Kylem O’Donnell, Solomon Alaimolo and Jackson Garden-Bachop, all of whom have secured Super Rugby contracts.

In addition, co-coach Scott Waldrom and co-captain Antonio Kiri Kiri are contracted with New Zealand Sevens for 2016-17.

“I’ll be looking at last year’s team to see who is available, but O’Donnell, Alaimolo and Garden-Bachop have Super Rugby contracts so I expect a big turnover,” said Brown, who has managed The Penguins tours since 1999 including every visit to the HK10s.

“We’ll be trying to win the Cup again and we’ve already started speaking to players to determine their availability. We haven’t ruled out using two co-coaches and two co-captains again as that worked well for us last year.”

O’Donnell has joined the Hurricanes, Alaimolo has signed with Chiefs, while Garden-Bachop – nephew of legendary All Blacks No.9 Graeme Bachop – joins Melbourne Rebels.