Kicking Off a New Era in Hong Kong

British and Chinese soldiers confronted each other here Tuesday, three months before the mainland officially takes over this crown colony. But the battlefield was a rugby pitch, and the soldiers were dressed for “olive ball,” as rugby is known in Chinese, not in olive drab.

In an international 10-a-side tournament, the luck of the draw pitted players from Scotland’s Black Watch Regiment, now stationed at Hong Kong’s garrison, against the People’s Liberation Army team from just across the border. The last time the Black Watch faced the Chinese army was in the Korean War. Tuesday’s encounter was much friendlier but had its own historical significance.

“I think it makes a very nice point,” said Black Watch Commanding Officer Alisdair Louden. “The Hong Kong gents are playing the PLA who will take over from us on July 1.”

Moments before the Black Watch players followed a pair of bagpipers onto the field, their coach told them they had to defend not only their home turf but also the pride of the battalion, the honor of England and the glory of the queen.

The Chinese had a different view.

“It’s just a game,” shrugged Lu Yong from Anhui province.

In the end, the Black Watch bagpipes, a rowdy home-team crowd and ringers brought on just for the game didn’t help the British. The PLA won, 12-7.

Commander Louden praised the “verve” of the PLA players, who learned rugby only two years ago, but heartily defended the Black Watch team and its traditions. After all, the British invented the game.

“The difference is,” Louden said after the match, “I think they’ve got about 2 million people to pick from.”

Rugby first made its way across the Hong Kong border to China just a decade ago. But “olive ball” has taken off: The PLA fields three teams now and is trying for 200 within two years.

Rugby also fits the PLA’s campaign to show a softer side to a world that knows it mostly from scenes of the bloody suppression of demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square eight years ago. To reassure a wary public, the Chinese battalion that will be stationed in central Hong Kong after July 1 has been learning to speak the local dialect and to sing karaoke songs.

Although this was the first trip to Hong Kong for nearly all the Chinese players, they are quickly internationalizing. The team learned every rugby move, from the basic rules to how to pass the ball, from a Taiwanese trainer.

After the game, some players slipped on Nike jackets with American flags embroidered on the sleeve. But traditional rugby spirit--or spirits--seems to be an acquired taste. The Chinese players declined their British counterparts’ invitation for a noontime, post-game pint of ale. “Drink beer now?” said one player. “It’s too early.”

The 10-a-side games lead in to the yearly Rugby Sevens tournament, which brings revelers from all over the world for a three-day, beer-soaked rugby fest. “The Sevens” have become an annual excuse for an all-out British debauch that involves gallons of beer, assorted streakers and an unlikely hero called the Pie Man--an Australian businessman who unabashedly displays his ample belly.

Die-hard fans worry that after China reclaims Hong Kong in July, the tournament won’t be the same.

“There will still be rugby in Hong Kong, I suppose, especially now that the Chinese are playing,” said British fan Matthew Evans, who was stocking up on alcohol for the weekend games. “But there won’t be so many Brits.”

Then he laughed, looked at his stack of beer bottles on the shop counter and added, “Well, maybe that’s considered an improvement.”