Page 51 - QARANC Vol 14 No 9 2014

THE GAZETTE QARANC 49
players ahead of Olympic selection was clear they want to make a statement as a nation on the women’s rugby stage.
One noticeable difference when refereeing in Hong Kong is the humidity, whilst the temperatures never got as high as the previous event I attended in Dubai it was certainly more difficult conditions for breathing chasing some very quick and skilful players, the ice bucket at the side of the pitch was looking very inviting throughout the day. One thing that cannot be questioned is the enthusiasm of the organisers to create a great event and atmosphere, including rugby, music, food and occasionally being eaten by a dragon. This was most certainly directed to being a family friendly environment to potentially excite the players and maybe referees of the future.
Throughout the day I had the
pleasure of refereeing not only group games but following my performances I was selected to referee a cup semi- final and the plate final before heading over to the main stadium to be part of the referee team for the cup final in front of thousands of supporters. This was a great experience one I had not expected to have on this trip but certainly is something I would love to experience again in the future. However the day was not over there, following Canada’s successful win over France we travelled back to the hotel for the awards presentation dinner, which again was a fantastic selection of local cuisine. Followed by the medals presentation and some entertainment provided by the teams, each country preformed a song or dance and they as you would imagine all wanted to out trump each other with something
bigger or more extravagant. I must say the Hong Kong teams adapted ‘Hakka’ as a tribute to their coach who is a former New Zealand international player was fantastic about how to order Chinese and eat with chopsticks.
I have to say while this was a very short trip with only 2.5 days in Hong Kong it was worth every minute and I would like to thank the QA Association and Army Sports Lottery for their support allowing me to take up this opportunity following which I have further opportunities with the iRB in an attempt to continue my refereeing at the highest level.
Nikki O’Donnell Pte
Cohort 10/12