Hong Kong women’s coach Jo Hull has made only one change to the starting VX that defeated Singapore 40-7 on May 14 for her side’s Asia Rugby Championship match against Japan on Saturday.
Lock Cheng Ching-to comes on to the ground and Claire Forster moves to the bench to make way, while Nam Ka-man and tighthead prop Lee Ka-shun also come in on the reserves bench.
Hull said the changes have been made predominantly to reward players for good form in the win against Singapore. “From the Singapore game, we took a lot of positives about what we can do and what we’d like to try and implement against a harder defence against Japan,” she said. “It’s given them a boost and I think it just gave them an opportunity to play a little bit more against Singapore. Going into to Japan it’s now all about transferring those skills.”
Hong Kong were outclassed by Japan in the opening match of the series, falling 39-3, and while making up the points to win the title may be unrealistic, for Hull closing the gap is not.
“It would be good to win the Asia Championship, but that’s more of an outcome for me,” Hull said.“Our goal in this game is our specific areas, because that’s how we can measure improvement as opposed to points for and against at the end of a tournament.”
The team has been training hard and will be looking for a kick start through its set piece work on the weekend after a poor showing in the lineout against Japan last time around. Hull is hopeful the fitness and in-match pressure gained by the extra game against Singapore will give her side a slight edge over Japan.
“The key thing is improvement,” Hull said. “We’ve talked about improving every time and that’s an absolute must. The result is important but the most important thing is that we improve on performances in some key specific areas that we’ve identified against Japan.”
The performance of centre combination Natasha Olson-Thorne and Rose Fong Siu-lan will be crucial to Hong Kong’s chances, while fly-half Lai Pou-fan should also have a big say on proceedings.
“Having Rose and Natasha in the centres, if they operate well, they could be a real good strike power both in attack and defence,” Hull said. “That is what are aiming to do, create a bit more space, hopefully, this week.”
Hong Kong will use the disappointment from their last effort against Japan for motivation and Hull hopes the match can set the ball rolling for the team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
She has an eye even further into the future as well: “In terms of the development, I’m hoping we can go out and put on a performance that really inspires young kids to play the game,” she said.“I’m not sure we did that against Japan at home so we’ve got a job on our hands Saturday.”
Hong Kong Women’s XV v Japan (28 May):
1. Lau Nga Wun; 2. Winnie Siu Wing Ni; 3. Cheung Shuk Han; 4. Cheng Ching To; 5. Chow Mei Nam (captain); 6. Christine Gordon; 7. Melody Li Nim Yan; 8. Amelie Seure; 9. Colleen Tjosvold; 10. Lai Pou Fan; 11. Chong Ka Yan; 12. Rose Fong Siu Lan; 13. Natasha Olson-Thorne; 14. Aggie Poon Pak Yan; 15. Adrienne Garvey.
Substitues: 16. Lee Ka Shun; 17. Ku Hoi Ying; 18. Angela Chan Ka Yan; 19. Claire Forster; 20. Tsang Sharon Shin Yuen; 21. Lindsay Varty; 22. Cheng Tsz Ting; 23. Nam Ka Man.
