Category: womens rugby

Modern Heroines Set For World Cup Challenge

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The 9th December 2016 will live long in local rugby history, on a sensational night at King’s Park Hong Kong’s women rugby players beat Fiji 45-7 to effectively secure a place at the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Today after seven grueling months of training the 28, mostly amateur players, who will make that trip to Ireland to compete in the World Cup next month were announced.

The Hong Kong squad will depart on 4 August – head to airport to cheer them off – for Dublin, where they will play 2013 runners-up Canada (7 August), four-time champions New Zealand (13 August) and Wales (17 August), before heading to Belfast for the semi-finals, final and the placing matches.

“We are going to use every woman in the squad in Ireland, and that is a key to our larger goal and mission: to ensure that our first World Cup appearance isn’t our last,” said national coach Jo Hull.

“Qualification for the World Cup is a good start, but our objectives transcend wins and losses,” continued Hull “We also want to change the perception of the women’s game in Hong Kong and to show how tough you have to be, how dedicated and how resilient you have to be – rather than giving in or walking away when it gets tough.”

The squad features a healthy mix of experience and potential, as Hull looks to leverage the Rugby World Cup as a transformative event for the women’s game locally – where it’s been under-funded and often viewed by the male dominated HKRU hierarchy as an irrelevance.

“We have gone with our experience and some of our more physical players that can withstand the challenge of a World Cup, but we are really excited to see the number of young players who have raised their hands during the campaign,” Hull added, singling out emerging players like scrumhalf Chloe Mak, flyhalf Lee Tsz-ting, flanker Agnes Chan and 18-year old centre Kelsie Bouttle.

“These players have really come into their own and are improving every game. We have rewarded that potential and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to shine,” said Hull.

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Lock Chow Mei-nam captain’s the squad and the 29-year old physical education teacher is relishing the opportunity ahead for both herself and her side.

“My ambition is to be a world-class lock and the World Cup will provide a stage for me to try and achieve that. By the end of the tournament, I want the other teams to know about Hong Kong Rugby and respect us. That’s my main goal, earning that respect on the pitch.” Chow vowed.

Chow is joined by a core of experienced campaigners, particularly in the forwards, where former captain Royce Chan selection offers her a fitting highlight for Chan’s 13 years of endeavour in support of the women’s game.

Amelie Seure, Christy Cheng Ka-chi and Christine Gordon offer experience in the pack, alongside relative newcomers in flanker Agnes Chan and lock Chan Ka-yan.

“We have gone with some players that we know can get us out of trouble in a game,” confirmed Hull. “For a World Cup you need that balance, you have to have a team. It isn’t just about the players, the combinations have to work, on and off the pitch, to carry the team through those three weeks.”

“We have also given opportunities to some X-factor players. If they get things right, players like Agnes [Chan], Kelsie [Bouttle] and Rosie [Rose Hopewell-Fong] can help us break down defences. These players also help us have a multi-functional squad, with players that are comfortable playing in more than one position.”

“We are confident that we have that strength in depth we are going to need to take on three world-class teams in the space of two weeks,” Hull concluded.

The backline is anchored by vice captain and centre Adrienne Garvey, as well as experienced fly-half/fullback Rose Hopewell-Fong and sevens squad members Natasha Olson-Thorne (centre/wing), Aggie Poon Pak-yan and Colleen Tjosvold in the back three.

The emerging players among the backs are young scrumhalves 22-year old Chloe Mak, Ho-yee and 25-year old Jessica Ho Wai-on, while Lindsay Varty adds experience at the pivot. 21-year old ‘BB’ Lee Tsz-ting has been included at fly-half and will hope to add to her eight caps.

The youngest player in the squad is 18-year old centre Kelsie Bouttle who impressed in her first season of Premiership rugby and won her first cap last month.

“It’s been an eye opener for me to be involved and a great motivator to develop my rugby. The World Cup will be an incredible experience,” said Bouttle. “It’s good to be included because I am still young and hopefully have a long way to go in my rugby, so I will be in a position to share that experience and transfer my knowledge to other young players.”

While several of the squad are full-time athletes from the HKRU sevens programme at the HK Sports Institute, the majority are amateurs, who have put it massive amounts of time throughout the campaign to train.

“These are not professional players, but they train professionally,” said Hull. “They are doctors, teachers, social workers and students, and they deserve praise and respect for the commitment they have shown.”

This is Hull’s third World Cup “The opportunity to bring my own squad to the World Cup is a tremendous honour, especially with this group of players. I feel a lot of responsibility because of it.

“I’m looking forward to that buzz and excitement that surrounds a World Cup. I know from my own experience that this will be the most amazing three weeks of their sporting lives and to be able to lead them through that is a privilege,” said Hull.

HKRU Squad for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017:

Forwards: CHOW Mei-nam (captain); CHAN Ka-yan; CHAN Leong-sze, Royce; CHAN Tsz-ching, Agnes; CHENG Ka-chi, Christy; CHEUNG Shuk-Han, Jasmine; Christine GORDON; LAU Nga-wun, Tammy; LEE Ka-shun; PUN Wai-yan; Amelie SEURE; SIU Wing-ni, Winnie; SO Hoi-ting, Karen; TSANG Sin-yan; WONG Yuen-shan.

Backs: Adrienne GARVEY (vice captain); CHONG Ka-yan; CHOR Lik-fung, Laurel; Kelsie BOUTTLE; HO Wai-on, Jessica; Rose HOPEWELL-FONG Siu-lan; LAU Sze-wa; LEE Tsz-ting; MAK Ho-yee, Chloe; Natasha OLSON-THORNE; POON Pak-yan, Aggie; Colleen TJOSVOLD; Lindsay VARTY.

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Additional reporting and images: HKRugby

Sevens Ticket Prices Increase

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After last year forcing children to pay adult prices for their tickets. Those prices have gone up as the Hong Kong Rugby Union announced that tickets will increased by $50/day, approximately 8%.

Not that the general public can buy them anymore, but from 2018 a three-day ticket – except HK rugby are not calling them tickets anymore they’ve been rebranded as “event packages” – costs $1950, up from $1,800 in 2017.

There’s so much guff verbiage and faux justifications within the HKRU release announcing the price increase that you’d swear they’ve been taking lessons from Trump.

The guff includes that fans at the stadium have to pay more so that other people can watch the Sevens for free “HKRU is also expending significant funds to share the excitement of the Sevens with the wider community, with its free admission fan zones in Chater Garden and Lee Gardens”.

I wonder what the sponsors and suppliers who paid HKRU massive sums to have their brands linked to the Sevens and have a presence at those two locations think about that fiction.

The HKRU claims the Sevens are “still excellent value” but there was a lot less actual rugby played at the 2017 Sevens than in years past – so fans of rugby are being shafted twice… paying more for a lot less.

Robbie McRobbie, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Rugby Union states that “We have an obligation to generate as much revenue as possible from the tournament to support the growth of the game in Hong Kong.”

This from an organisation that is quite probably the richest rugby union in the world and has according to a recent annual return assets of well over $250 million.

The Sevens will still sell out because it’s a unique event and can trade on it’s name and reputation for years to come, but the atmosphere at recent events is not what it used to be and the fans disquiet and sense of being milked increases every year.

What the HKRU and World Rugby fail to understand is that fans do go to watch the rugby. The non-stop run of games throughout the day keeps fan energy high. Now with big gaps in the rugby, the atmosphere and energy sags. We don’t need bands with awful sound systems playing 5 songs. The energy from the rugby drives the Sevens fan experience which powers the rugby… More rugby, more women’s rugby and less of the insipid distractions.

Hong Kong Sevens
Date: 6-8 April 2018
Venue: Hong Kong Stadium
Tickets: $1,950.

Japan Retain Asian Crown With 60-19 Victory

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Japan retained the Asia Women’s Rugby Championship title easily beating Hong Kong 60-19 at Kings Park to complete a two game sweep. The home side made too many individual errors and gifted points to the Sakura with missed tackles galore.

Hong Kong coach Jo Hull tried hard to put a positive spin on her side’s last competitive match before the Women’s World Cup in Dublin next month. “It was another disappointing result, and obviously we aren’t happy with that, but there was some positives compared to last week’s loss in Japan,” said Hull.

“Our defence was good for parts of the game, as was our commitment and physicality in the contact area. Our performance at the breakdown was good and I think we improved in the set piece and were carrying the ball a bit better than last week.”

“At times we were building good momentum in our attack, but there were some real individual errors that cost us quite dearly. We are disappointed, but at the same time we needed that game,because the next time we play it will be against Canada at the World Cup,” added Hull.

Japan centre Riho Kurogi opened the scoring, converting her own try as visitor’s size and speed came to the fore. Further tries to fullback Ai Tasaka, second rower Aoi Mimura and Captain Seina Saito pushed the score out to 24-0 after 30 minutes.

One-on-one tackling is still a massive problem area for Hong Kong with players outright missing tackles or just not being strong enough in the tackle to bring the player down. There was an improvement on last week at the breakdown, but this was largely achieved by having more players in and around the breakdown – which left space out wide which Japan consistently exploited.

The home team struggled to gel on attack in the opening stages with the interchange between scrumhalf Ho Mak-yee and fly-half Rose Hopewell-Fong an issue early on. Consistently though Hong Kong contrived to put themselves under pressure. All too often with the ball around the half-way line and the backs angled deep. The passing was slow, to players who were static and within seconds from looking to be on the attack the ball was back inside the HK twenty-two and having to be kicked away…

Captain Chow Mei-nam put Hong Kong on the board in the 30th minute, finishing off a solid patch of play by crashing over the line from second phase ball, after Hong Kong won an attacking line-out on Japan’s five-metres. Winger Aggie Poon Pak-yan added a difficult conversion from along the right touchline, 24-7.

But Hong Kong failed to push on from their score, defending poorly to allow Japan to add another try shortly before half-time, 31-7.

In the second half, scrumhalf Sham Wai-sum came on to good effect, helping to inject some fluidity into the attack. Winger Chong Ka-yan capped that early momentum by opening up the Japanese defence in the 42nd minute to score the host’s second try which Hopewell-Fong’s converted, 31-14.

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Tries to Takano and winger Honoka Tsutsumi pushed the score along to 43-14, effectively ending the contest. Although Maki Takano’s 56th minute yellow card for repeated infringement allowed the veteran Sham to exploit the extra space as she darted over for a try in the right corner in the 58th minute. Poon missed the touchline conversion, leaving Hong Kong trailing 38-19.

Japan confirmed their superiority with tries to Sachiko Kato, Yumeno Noda and Yuki Oyokawa in the final 20 minutes to secure a comfortable victory 60-19, and claim a second straight Asian title.

The loss left Hull with much to think about ahead of next month’s World Cup. “Full credit to Japan, they played very well and are coming along nicely. They are always clinical but today they were very accurate and played at good pace. I think they will do well at the World Cup,and we hope they do, as we are all representing Asia at the end of the day.”

“For us, we have a good idea of our squad selection for the World Cup and today and last week was about getting those players some game time.”

Hull singled out two up and coming young players in 21-year old flanker Agnes Chan Tsz-ching and 18-year old centre Kelsie Bouttle. “Agnes played well, as did Kelsie. That was the second cap for both of them and I think we have a couple of exciting young players coming through there,” said Hull.

“We’ve identified what is working well and what isn’t, and we aren’t going to change what we are doing. We will keep emphasizing the things that are important to us. We’ve been working hard on our game and our fitness and now we need to start transferring that to actual matches.”

“Over the next few weeks, we just need to try and improve in those little areas that are holding us back. We just need to keep believing in ourselves and keep working on what we can control,” said Hull.

Hong Kong are pooled with Canada, runners-up at the last World Cup, as well as four-time champions New Zealand and Wales in the Women’s Rugby Cup which starts in Dublin, Ireland on the 9 August, 2017.

Additional reporting and images: HKRugby

Hong Kong Search for Self Respect

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After last week’s comprehensive 58-0 defeat in Japan, coach Jo Hull has named an experienced starting XV for the home leg of the Asia Rugby Championship against Japan at King’s Park.

“This is a crucial hit-out absolutely,” said Hull. “This is our last international before the World Cup and whether we win or lose, we want to perform the way we know we can. Last week was about getting players game time and looking at some new combinations, but this week we have gone with an experienced squad.”

“It is an experienced group, but it is also a performance group; a lot of these senior players have been performing to standards throughout the build-up, not just in games but in training. It will be good to have players like Christy [flanker Cheng Ka-chi] and Natasha [centre Natasha Olson-Thorne] back.”

Hull expects to need every bit of that experience with Japan, coming off a big win last week, likely to further bolster their squad with their own senior players.

“They will bring back some of their key players, as well. They have their own objectives building up to the World Cup and will come out even harder than last week,” Hull added. “We are prepared for that.”

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“It has been a massive re-focus week this week for us, and I’m proud of the level of accountability in the camp. We have worked a lot on eliminating the high number of individual errors from last week, even amongst the senior players; that has been a focus area, as well as the set piece.”

“We’ve had a good week of training and have been replicating a World Cup week where we will be looking to back up again for another big performance like we have to do in Ireland. But all of that doesn’t count for anything, it’s about putting it out on the pitch and the players are aware of that.”

“If they get their individual and team jobs right, we could have a special performance and that is our focus. If we get those things right, the results will follow,” Hull said.

Captain Chow Mei-nam leads an experienced group of forwards with the front row anchored by props Wong Yuen-shan and Lee Ka-shun with Karen So at hooker. Chow will assume her normal second row spot, partnering with Amelie Seure, who moves into the tight five to create room for Christine Gordon at No.8. Gordon will pair with sevens captain Cheng and Chan Tsz-ching at flanker.

Mak Ho-yee gets a run at scrumhalf and will combine with Rose Hopewell-Fong, who came of the bench last week to good effect, at fly-half. “Ho-yee can inject a bit of pace into the game which is something we are after,” said Hull.

Out wide, an all-sevens line-up of backs will also be keen to perform. Vice captain Adrienne Garvey will pair with Natasha Olson-Thorne in the centre with Aggie Poon Pak-yan and Chong Ka-yan on the wings and Colleen Tjosvold at full-back.

The bench has experience and depth with Royce Chan Leong-sze, Cheung Shuk-han, Lau Nga-wun and Pun Wai-yan as the front row reserves. Scrumhalf Sham Wai-sum, Lee Tsz-ting and Ivy Kwong Sau-yan as backs reserves, alongside Kelsie Bouttle, who has earned a second appearance after making her debut last weekend.

“Kelsie didn’t get much of an opportunity last week, so we wanted to give her another run. She brings a different dynamic to the centres for us, which is what we are after,” Hull added.

The match against Japan will offer the selectors a final opportunity to examine their charges in a match environment before naming the final 28-strong squad a week from Saturday at Kings Park.

Hong Kong v Japan
Womens Asia Rugby Championship
Date: 6pm, 15 July, 2017
Venue: King’s Park
Tickets: Free

Additional reporting: HK Rugby

Japan Thrash Error Prone Hong Kong 58-0

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Hong Kong’s Asian Rugby Championship campaign got off to a disastrous and error prone start with a 58-0 loss to Japan in the first of the two-match series in Odarawa.

From the outset, the Sakura dominated the set piece and contact area in a clinical performance that caused real problems for Hong Kong coach Jo Hull’s squad. Japan jumped out to a 22-0 lead, and claimed the bonus point for scoring four tries, in the opening 25 minutes. The Sakura went on to score ten tries in total, five on either side of half time.

“It was a disappointing performance obviously, but fair play tothem, they came out hard and fast and dominated in all areas really,” said Hull.

“We played some okay rugby in parts and forced them into some mistakes defensively, but we let ourselves down, particularly at the contact area, and our set piece is underperforming at the moment,which is hurting us,” Hull added.

“We are bitterly disappointed, but no one is feeling sorry for themselves in that locker room. We know we had a bad day at the office. We need to learn from that and also put it behind us now,” said Hull.

“Collectively, we need to look inward, and ask ourselves what weare going to do as a team, as the entire squad including the girls at home, for next week. That is my challenge to the players the management, to everyone,” Hull said.

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For Hull, the side now has an important opportunity to test it’s mettle for the last time in a match environment ahead of the world cup next month.

“We have seven days before our next test, so we need to review and get back to work on what we need to get right. That will be a good preparation for us for the World Cup, where we are going to have to be able to contest back-to-back tough matches,” added Hull.

“We are a month out from our biggest ever challenge and the players are aware that today was an unacceptable performance when we are wearing the Hong Kong jersey, but it doesn’t change what we are doing, or our belief in ourselves, our training and what we are working on. This is another opportunity now for us to get better,” said Hull.

Hong Kong’s best passage of play came early in the second half after reverting to a forward-heavy pick and roll style, but lost out on their best opportunity to add points and gather some momentum after a knock-on on the try-line.

Other than that, it was heavy going for the visitors, but Hull did take some positives from the encounter: “We exposed more players to this level and tried out some new combinations. That ability to get players this experience is a massive plus for us. If we continue to play the same girls, we risk taking a very limited squad in terms of our experience to Ireland,” noted Hull.

“BB Lee [Tsz-ting] played well at fly-half today. Her kicking game was very good and she managed the ball well despite being under pressure,” Hull added.

Hull was also pleased to see the subs bench make an impact, including 18-year old Kelsie Bouttle who earned her first cap.

“She did well; it’s tough for an 18 year old to debut in that scenario: being away versus Japan and coming on with a big deficit, but she showed composure and had some good ball in hand moments.”

Hull also complimented Rose Hopewell-Fong who came on for the second half and contributed to the positive start after the break by pairing well with captain Adrienne Garvey in the centre, before dropping back to fullback as positional cover.

“Rosie did well in a tough spot after coming on at 12 but having to move back, I think she showed how she has matured as a player today.

“We’ll continue to make changes this week to expose more players and combinations. My challenge to the team is to come back and show how we are going to collectively regroup and move forward,” said Hull.

Hong Kong v Japan
Date: 6pm, 15 July, 2017
Venue: King’s Park
Tickets: Free

Additional reporting: HKRugby
Photos: Japan Rugby, Toru Ikegami

Hong Kong Set for Asian Women’s Rugby Championships

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Ahead of their historic first appearance at the Rugby World Cup in Ireland in August, Hong Kong’s women’s rugby team will face Japan in a home and away series to decide the Asia Rugby Championship.

The matches on 8 July in Japan and 15 July at King’s Park are the teams final competitive warm-ups. “These games are a great opportunity as they come so close to the World Cup” said Hong Kong coach Jo Hull.

In announcing her squad for the away match (8 July, kick-off at 11 am HK time) Hull has given National Age Grade graduate Kelsie Bouttle a chance to earn her first cap after a standout season for League and Grand Championship winners Valley. There’s also a return for some of the side’s senior campaigners in centre Adrienne Garvey, who will captain the team in Japan, and flanker Christine Gordon.

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“It is a bit of a different squad,” confirmed Hull, who hailed the team’s, “good mix of experience. It is great to have Rocky [Garvey] and Chrissie [Gordon] back, and we are excited to be able to blood another new cap in Kelsie, along with the first-timers who went to Spain.”

“We are using this opportunity to look at a few different starters and combinations, like Lindsay Varty at scrumhalf and ‘BB’ [Lee Tsz-ting] at ten. We think that could be an exciting combination as both are playing well at the moment.”

“The selection reflects our preparations for the World Cup, which is our only focus at the moment. Everything we’re doing is building towards being ready for the first match against Canada next month,” Hull said.

The match also represents another opportunity for the players who made their Hong Kong debuts against Spain in Valladolid last month – and although the squad’s focus is fully on Dublin in August, Hull is demanding results from her side in the Asian Championships.

“This is international rugby and we are representing Hong Kong, so results matter. We started to close the gap over the week against Spain and now we need to do that against Japan.”

Hong Kong lost it’s last outing against Japan in December’s World Cup Qualifier, 20-8, improving on 39-3 and 30-8 losses in last spring’s Asian Championships.

“This is a big test of our progress for the World Cup,” said Hull. “There has been a clear message to the girls selected about accountability and we’re putting a premium on efficiency and accuracy. Each game is about getting us one step closer to how we want to play on the world stage.”

“While the squad has really come into their own over the past six months, at this stage of the campaign, there are no second chances. The players have to be accountable, plain and simple. They know and accept that.” Hull warned.

Both Hong Kong and Japan advanced from December’s triangular World Cup Qualifier to their first ever World Cups at fifteen-a-side. Since then Japan have also been busy preparing, splitting matches against Wales and Ireland in June.

“Japan have had some good results and they should be proud of themselves. They are a good team and are very disciplined. To put them off their game we need to start fast and get into the mix early on. That fits with our objectives for the Rugby World Cup, to play much faster and be more efficient on the pitch, particularly in the contact area and set piece.”

“We really saw how important those things are in Spain and we will be looking to make improvements from our tour last month,” Hull concluded.

Hong Kong for Women’s Asia Rugby Championship 2017:

1. LAU Nga-wun (Gai Wu), 2. Royce CHAN Leong-sze (HKFC), 3 WONG Yuen-shan (USRC Tigers/EdUHK), 4. CHAN Ka-yan (Gai Wu), 5. TSANG Sin Yan (Kowloon) 6. Christine GORDON (Kowloon), 7. CHAN Tsz-ching (Tai Po Dragons/HKBU), 8. Amelie SEURE (Valley, vice-captain), 9. Lindsay VARTY (USRC Tigers), 10. LEE Tsz-ting (Gai Wu/HKBU), 11. LAU Sze-wa (Valley), 12. Rebecca THOMPSON (Valley), 13. Adrienne GARVEY (Valley, captain), 14. Laurel CHOR Lik-fung (Valley), 15. Aggie POON Pak-yan (Gai Wu), RESERVES: 16. HO Hoi-lam (Gai Wu), 17. CHEUNG Shuk-han (Valley), 18. PUN Wai-yan (Gai Wu/EdUHK), 19. Winnie SIU Wing-ni (USRC Tigers), 20. TSANG Sin-yan (Kowloon), 21. HO Jessica Wai-on (USRC Tigers), 22. Rose HOPEWELL-FONG Siu-lan (HKFC), 23. Kelsie BOUTTLE (Valley/ICHK).

Additional reporting: HK Rugby

Spain 41-18 Hong Kong

Spain beat Hong Kong 41-18 in the one-off Valladolid test as a disastrous start by the visitors saw the hosts establish a matching winning lead in the first quarter and lead 22-0 inside 30 minutes.

“That start was disappointing as we had talked a lot about how we needed to get at them early,” said coach Jo Hull. “We knew Spain would come out of the gate hard and we wanted to strangle them and prevent them from getting any momentum. We weren’t able to achieve that, unfortunately, but we did well to claw our way back into it.”

“Most importantly, we saw significant improvement from game one to two which was our main objective from the tour,” Hull added.

A gritty effort – led by the determined defence of flanker Cheng Ching-to and the inspired attack of winger Aggie Poon Pak-yan, saw Hong Kong claw its way back into the game in a more evenly contested second half.

Poon scored all of Hong Kong’s points, opening her account with a penalty in the 33rd minute to bring the half-time score to 22-3.

In the second half, the match opened up even further, with Spain starting the scoring in the 46th minute with a try to extend their lead to 29-3.

Hong Kong gained in confidence as the match wore on and were rewarded for their resiliency in the 51st minute when Poon, showing her skills, turned the corner on the Spanish defence to dash away for a forty-five metre try.

Poon’s try finished off a perfectly executed planned move that started from a scrum on the far side of the pitch. The ball passed cleanly though five pairs of hands in the back-line before Poon spotted the gap. Poon’s conversion of her own try edged Hong Kong back into the match at 29-10. Minutes later, another Hong Kong foray was rewarded, with a penalty, which Poon slotted to narrow the gap further 29-13.

Spain pushed right back with a barnstorming attack, throwing the ball around with abandon as they went 80 metres before creating a massive overlap on Hong Kong’s try-line to cross over for their sixth score and a 36-13 lead.

Moments later, Spain scored a final, fortuitous try to widen the margin to 41 points, leaving Hong Kong in danger of conceding a bigger loss than the 49-12 Madrid test defeat in 2015.

But Hong Kong re-grouped to marshal a final attack on the Spanish line and Poon stepped up once again, collecting a well-timed pass from fullback Colleen Tjosvold to dash 25 metres dragging three defenders across the line for a second try. Poon’s conversion was unsuccessful leaving the final score at 41-18.

Hull said before the tour that one of the goals of the trip was to expose the squad to more high-intensity matches and Hong Kong certainly experienced that as Spain were relentless in attack.

“Our tactical kicking still wasn’t good enough today,” said Hull. “We let them play too much rugby and we let their nine and ten get too involved. There were periods that we managed their pressure well, but our challenge now is to turn that 50 minutes into 80 minutes. But, overall, it was an improved performance against a much stronger side than the mid-week game.”

“We were more accurate in our attack and we had less handling and unforced errors, despite a big increase in the intensity of the game, so I’m pleased with that,” said Hull.

“This experience will absolutely hold us in good stead. Since we left this group has shown significant improvement and we have capped five new players on tour, which is vital for us in extending our squad ahead of the World Cup,” concluded Hull.

The squad returns to Hong Kong on Monday to prepare for the upcoming Asia Rugby Championship series with Japan in July.

Additional reporting and images: HK Rugby

Hong Kong Ready for Spain Test

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Jo Hull, Hong Kong’s coach, has named a strong squad for the one-off test match against Spain, currently ranked seventh in the world.

Two years ago Spain beat Hong Kong 49-12, with the World Cup two months away the match is an important indicator of the squads recent development.

“We’re still experimenting to some degree with our combinations, but we’ve gone with our strongest team against what we’re anticipating will be a much more experienced Spanish side,” said Hull.

“They played a lot of new players mid-week and we’re expecting more of their experienced players to play on Saturday, particularly in the forwards,” Hull noted.

That could be problematic for Hong Kong, who struggled mightily in the scrum on Tuesday. “Spain bullied us a bit so we need to use our strengths to our advantage and manage games against those bigger teams. We have to stop their ball carriers and bring them to ground early and we have to be able to live with that pressure for a full 80 minutes,” said Hull.

“We panicked a bit under pressure on Tuesday. We aren’t going to score from our own half against world class teams so we need to play smarter and use territory much better,” Hull added.

Rose Hopewell-Fong at fly-half will look to impose more control in those areas. While Chloe Mak Ho-yee hopes to ask more questions of the Spanish defence. “We’re giving Chloe the start as she offers something a bit different. While Rosie has that experience in controlling a match, Chloe will help us speed things up a bit,” Hull said.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Hong-Kong-v-Spain-30-May-2017-courtesy-of-JFS-Rugby/i-TKp7LRW

Hull has also turned to an experienced backline with all of the outside backs coming from Hong Kong’s sevens squad, including Ivy Kwong and the hard-running Natasha Olson-Thorne in the centres.

Chong Ka-yan’s performance in Tuesday’s friendly has earned her a start on the wing with Aggie Poon Pak-yan, while Colleen Tjosvold, who scored all of Hong Kong’s points in the opener, retains her spot at fullback.

“It’s an experienced backline, but they need to perform and to step-up really. We’re disappointed that we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities on Tuesday. We had two or three scoring chances that we squandered and we’ve given them a chance to put that right on Saturday,” Hull added.

In the forwards, Lau Nga-wun, Lee Ka-shun and Karen So will start in the front row with captain Chow Mei-nam forming a locking partnership with Tsang Sin-yan, who impressed on her senior debut earlier in the week. Vice captain Amelie Seure anchors the pack at No.8 with ball-fetcher Cheng Ching-to and Winnie Siu, another senior debutant earlier this week, on the flanks.

“Winnie was dynamic on Tuesday and we need a similar performance from her. Sin-yan earned her first cap by putting in a lot of work in the warm-up match. She hit a huge amount of rucks and was very effective around the pitch. Shedid the work we need our tight five to do – those unsung hero roles.”

Already conceding significant size to their opponents, the pack will have its work cut out for it as Spain are likely to field more of its veteran forwards, battle hardened from numerous matches against Women’s Six nations sides.

“We need to keep hold of the ball. We had too many turnovers on Tuesday, both forced and unforced. We also need to get our kicking game right and ensure we’re playing in the right areas,” said Hull.

Saturday’s test is an important step in Hong Kong’s build-up to its first ever Rugby World Cup appearance and the squad understands what is on the line.

“The girls are actually hugely disappointed with Tuesday’s performance. We’ve received a lot of messages from home, a lot of congratulations on the score, but the girls are setting a higher goal.”

“Our message this week has been about earning the right to play. This is our first international step towards the World Cup. We aren’t treating this like a normal tour, our only objective and ambition is to get better. No matter how well we do, we can’t be satisfied until we know our performance is where it needs to be, at World Cup level,” Hull added.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Hong-Kong-v-Spain-30-May-2017-courtesy-of-JFS-Rugby/i-fSQ5cPT

Hong Kong squad v Spain (3 June 2017)

1. LAU Nga-wun, 2. Karen SO, 3. LEE Ka-shun, 4. TSANG Sin-yan, 5. CHOW Mei-nam (captain) 6. CHENG Ching-to, 7. Winnie SIU, 8. Amelie SEURE (vice capt), 9. MAK Ho-yee, 10. Rose HOPEWELL-FONG, 11. CHONG Ka-yan, 12. KWONG Sau-yan 13. Natasha OLSON-THORNE, 14. Aggie POON Pak-yan, 15. Colleen TJOSVOLD (vice capt). 16. Royce CHAN Leong-sze, 17. HO Hoi-lam, 18. PUN Wai-yan, 19. CHEUNG Shuk-hang, 20. Eunice LAI Ming-yan, 21. Lindsay VARTY, 22. LEE Tsz-ting, 23. Laurel CHOR

Photos : JFS Rugby Photography
Additional reporting: HK Rugby