The Rugby Roundtable

Righto.

Here I am neatly settled into the vibrant social hub of Hong Kong, situated to my right is an ice cold pint of stout, to my left a 40 inch plasma screen screaming out the best hits of the 80’s – Nick Kershaw… oh dear.

The start of the Asian Invasion was interesting to say the least, we arrived on the Friday morning, got squared away and made a luchtime meeting at Grappa’s with both eye’s hanging at different angles.  Grappa’s is unique in HK because it’s big enough to swing a Polynesian in, unlike Lockhart Road where the size of things indicates the size the of things in general.

The only negative was that the kick off here in HK was advetised as 9pm local, when it was 11pm.  The television channel showing the Rugby made not effort to correct their schedule so even on the day they were still telling viewers 9pm.  No amount of free publicity could have made a difference at such short notice so it was a hard thing to see half of the room drift away because of the late kick off, I admit one needs to shift mindsets if 11pm is going to be the starting line.

Never really been a problem for me, but then hey – I am a professional.

Still it was great fun and the HK locals made it a really enjoyable night, even a crook by the name of Grant was a valued part of the mix, thanks must also go to the local Irish contingent for their support, both at the show and afterwards – truly the Irish are the beacons in a dark night of debauchery – possibly because they set fire to things, but mainly because of the craic.

Only half a pint left now, but thankfully a burger has arrived – time to tuck in..