Hong Kong won its first-ever European tour test series, sweeping the Netherlands with an 18-0 second test victory in Amsterdam. That followed last Tuesday’s 14-12 victory, which was the first for Hong Kong over any European opponent in a fifteen-a-side test.
Hong Kong had a fiery start, pressing the Netherlands from kick-off and dominating the first exchanges. With confidence high, fly half Lara Schats declined a makeable penalty to kick for the corner as the visitors backed themselves from the lineout.
Hong Kong’s set-piece functioned well all game with technique trumping the Dutch height advantage. The ball was claimed neatly at the back of the line out and the forwards unleashed six phases bashing the try-line before So found the gap to burrow over after five minutes. The conversion was missed but Hong Kong had again taken an early psychological edge.
They pressed their advantage again minutes later with prop Tammy Lau Nga-wun scoring after a series of short runs from the forwards. It was Lau’s second try of the series, Hong Kong 10-0.
The Netherlands responded physically and Hong Kong’s defence held firm against an athletic Dutch backline that threatened with several long-range attacks only to be foiled by a thundering last gasp tackle. Hong Kong were strong in the breakdown, generating regular turnover ball to launch their own attacks.
Despite plenty of opportunities at both ends of the pitch, tenacious defending from both sides saw the score remained 10-all until late in the fourth quarter. An injured Schats gave way to Aileen Ryan at ten and her fresh legs added energy to the attack. Ryan’s long run through the heart of the Netherland defence was ended close to the line.
But there was plenty of forward support following up with No.8 Suzanne Sittko driving over for her first try for her country on her second cap, pushing the score to 15-0.
Ryan added a late penalty to push the margin to 18, as Hong Kong kept the Dutch scoreless to capture a memorable series win.
Lead coach Fan Shun-kei was delighted with the efforts of the squad, saying, “This second win was so important to us. We just beat them in the first test, so it was a good challenge for the squad, especially with them bringing in more of their experienced players for this game.
“Our concern coming in was our physicality and the size difference between us and the teams in Europe. They are bigger than us, and that is just a fact that we have to live with.” Fan continued “Our game plan really worked, slowing them down at the ruck and attacking them low. They are tall and big, and we knew they would struggle with us attacking them low.”
With the series in the bag, the true results will only be seen next spring in the Asian qualifier for the Rugby World Cup and Fan believes this tour has them off to a good start.
“The girls proved something to themselves on tour, that even though we give up size, we can still play big.
‘This experience is an important moment in our build-up to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, which is what we are focused on now. This win will give us a lot of confidence going into the qualifiers with Japan and Kazakhstan.”
Fan expects the squad to push on to the next level now, warning them that there is still much work to do before facing Asia’s best in March.
“We need the same physicality we had today, more even, but we need to be much more skilful. The Asian sides are much faster and we will need to play differently against them,” said Fan.
Hong Kong Tour Squad v The Netherlands
Dr Karen So Hoi-ting (Captain), Lau Nga-wun, Vincci Leung Wing-yi, Winnie Siu Wing-ni, Iris Lam Tim-yeung, Riva Brill, Chan Hiu-tung, Cheung Shuk-hang, Hana Lane*, Lee Ka-shun, Maelle Picut*, Suzanne Sittko*, Roshini Turner* Au King-to*, Chloe Chan*, Fung Hoi-ching*, Tsang Ching-man, Chow Mei-nam, Jessica Eden, Jessica Ho Wai-on, Sarah Lucas, Lara Schats*, Vivian Poon Hoi-yan*, Amy Pyle, Aileen Ryan, Zoe Smith, Hebe Talas*, Bena Yu Bo-yan.* Hong Kong Debut.
Additional reporting and images: HKRU, USRC Tigers