Amonde welcomes postponement of Hong Kong, Singapore Sevens

National rugby sevens Shujaa captain Andrew Amonde has backed the move by World Rugby to postpone the Hong Kong and Singapore legs of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 in the wake of Novel Coronavirus outbreak.

The two events that were slated for April have consequently been pushed to October with Singapore Sevens slated for October 10-11 while Hong Kong Sevens will take place in October 16-18.

In a statement released Thursday, World Rugby alongside Hong Kong Rugby Union and Singapore Sport opted for the move owing to the safety of the participants.

“The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority,” read part of the statement.

In an interview with Citizen Digital, Amonde said the move was inevitable and at the same time a welcome rest for the team as they prepare for other tournaments.

“I think it a matter of safety,  we knew we weren’t going to Hong Kong with the looks of the fatality rate in china and this will both give us an opportune time to be able to prepare for the upcoming tournaments  and give our young guns a chance to build themselves even after the Olympics,” said Amonde.

The postponement of the two legs will thus create a 11-week gap in the men’s calendar between Vancouver Sevens slated for March 7-8 and the London leg due for May 23-24.

The move to postpone the events comes after other major sporting events in the region were cancelled including; the Chinese Grand Prix, World Athletics Indoor Championships, China Masters tournament among others.