Patrick King has emerged as one of Guyana’s most important pieces in Rugby over the last year, especially in the Sevens format.

Having been one of Guyana’s premier athletes in Track and Field, it comes as no surprise that his sublime speed and agility, would catapult him to being an asset for the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU).

King’s exploit on the Rugby field didn’t went unnoticed by others in and around the Caribbean, given the fact he was named to the recently resuscitated West Indies Rugby team, along with fellow Green Machine teammate Claudius Butts.

However, on April 7 – 9, King will have his chance to see just how good he is when he faces some unfamiliar opposition when Guyana participates at the IRB’s Hong Kong Sevens. It will be the Green Machine’s second showing (first in 2012), but King’s first taste of competition at one of the IRB’s grandest stage.

Guyana was placed in Pool G, alongside Spain, Uruguay and Papua New Guinea. The ‘Green Machine’ as they are more popularly known, will open their account on April 7 against Spain and would wrap up day one of the tournament against Papua New Guinea. The men from the Land of Many Waters will play their South American neighbours Uruguay on April 8 in their final Group stage game.

“At the highest level, most teams, speed is one their attribute”, said King during a recent interview with Chronicle Sport, as the winger pointed out, “I think that one of our plus is that we have a lot of speed, not only from me but actually everyone has the speed because that’s needed at the top level since Sevens is a face pace game.”

Ryan Gonsalves was named Captain of the team, and will be joined by Butts, King, Richard Staglon, Ronald Mayers, Avery Corbin, Vallon Adams, Blaise Bailey, Rupert Giles, Rickford Cummings, Peabo Hamilton and Rondell McArthur. King pointed out that “most teams now working on speed on the main circuit and we could match them, whether it’s on the wing or at the forwards, so that’s something good for us.”

A member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), King didn’t shy away from the fact that he’s eager to see where exactly he stands among some of the world’s best, adding, “I’m very excited to play in Hong Kong. I think it will be good for me to know just how good I am and what I have to work on to be the best at what I do and also to help Guyana Rugby going forward.”

The team will depart next week for New York, where they will play several warm up matches to fine-tune preparation before heading to the East Asian city.