| Date of birth | October 6, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Natasha Shangwe Olson-Thorne (born 6 October 1992) is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, it was their first World Cup appearance. She scored Hong Kong's first World Cup try in their match against Wales.
Olson-Thorne began playing rugby at the age of 15 while attending Sha Tin College. [1] In 2015 she graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Health. [1] [2]
Olson-Thorne made her international sevens debut at the 2011 Hong Kong Women's Sevens. [3] [2] [1] She captained the side for the first time at the 2016 Hong Kong Women's Sevens, it was her sixth appearance at the tournament. [1]
Olson-Thorne was also in the sevens team vying for a spot at the 2016 Summer Olympics via a repechage tournament in Dublin. [4] She was in the 2021 sevens squad that 'narrowly' missed their chance to qualify for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. [5]
She co-captained the Hong Kong sevens team at the 2021 Asia Women's Sevens Series, it was a qualifier event for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens. [6] [7] However, they lost to Japan in the semifinal and missed their chance. [8]
Olson-Thorne made her international debut for the Hong Kong women's national rugby union team in 2010. [1] [2] At the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, she created history when she scored Hong Kong's first World Cup try in their match against Wales. [9] [10]
In 2022, she was named in the squad that played in a two-test series against Kazakhstan in December 2022. [11] [12] [13] In 2024, she started in the opening match of the Asia Championship against Japan. [14] [15]
The Asia Rugby Championship for women's national fifteen-a-side teams is a rugby union tournament that has been contested since 2006. Organised by Asia Rugby, there are currently two competition divisions — the Championship, and Division 1. The championship is also the continental qualifying tournament for Asian women's teams in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup, and the WXV.
The Kazakhstan women's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Nomads, represents Kazakhstan in women's rugby union and is governed by the Kazakhstan Rugby Union. They have competed in six Rugby World Cup's, having made their first appearance in 1994 in Scotland. They compete annually in the Asia Rugby Women's Championship and have won five tournaments.
The Hong Kong women's national rugby union team represents Hong Kong in women's rugby union. They played their first international match in 1998 against Japan. They made their Rugby World Cup debut in 2017 in Ireland.
Salom Yiu Kam ShingMH is a Hong Kong rugby union player. He plays for USRC Tigers RFC, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens team and the Hong Kong national rugby union team.
Cado Lee Ka ToMH is a Hong Kong rugby union and rugby sevens player. He plays for USRC Tigers RFC, the Hong Kong national sevens team and the Hong Kong national rugby union team.
Royce Chan Leong-sze is a former Hong Kong rugby union player. She has represented Hong Kong internationally in rugby fifteens and sevens. She competed at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Jessica Ho Wai-on is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She competed for Hong Kong in their first World Cup appearance in 2017.
Chong Ka-yan is a Hong Kong rugby union and sevens player. She competed for Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Chow Mei-nam is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She captained Hong Kong in their 2017 Rugby World Cup debut in Ireland.
Christine Gordon is a Canadian born former Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, it was their first-ever World Cup appearance.
Christy Gunn is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong when they debuted at the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Lee Ka-shun is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Angela Chan Ka-yan is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She competed at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Agnes Chan Tsz-ching is a Hong Kong rugby union and sevens player. She competed for Hong Kong in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
Jasmine Cheung Shuk-han is a former Hong Kong rugby union player. She competed for Hong Kong when they made their first Rugby World Cup appearance at the 2017 tournament.
Tammy Lau Nga-wun is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She competed for Hong Kong when they debuted at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Dublin.
Wong Yuen-shan is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, it was Hong Kong's first World Cup appearance.
Svetlana Klyuchnikova is a former Kazakh rugby union and sevens player. She played internationally for Kazakhstan and competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup's. She also won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games.
The 2023 Asia Rugby Women's Championship is the 12th edition of the Asia Rugby Women's Championship, and took place from 23 to 28 May and was hosted in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The winner and runner-up will classify for the inaugural edition of the WXV. The winner qualifies for WXV2, and the runner-up competes in WXV3. WXV will also provide a pathway to the 2025 Rugby World Cup, with at least the top five non-qualified teams at the end of WXV 2024 earning qualification to the tournament.
The 2022 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the twenty secondth edition of the tournament. The series was played over three legs in Thailand, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
