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Match Report: HKCC Ladies 10 – 36 USRC Tigers – 15 October, 2016

The HKCC Ladies were feeling hot hot HOT as temperatures soared last Saturday. You could practically see the steam curling up from the fizzling astroturf as Happy Valley baked in the afternoon sun. With another loss under their belts and few subs to offer respite from the impending dehydration, the Ladies demonstrated inspiringly strong determination ahead of the first half against USRC Tigers.

A great starting attack saw the ball heading straight towards the Tigers’ try line just after Kick-off, with a penalty leading to the first lineout won by the Ladies. The Asian communicator – Diana Li – made her comeback in full force, scoring the first try for the Ladies 7 minutes in. No conversion.

The rest of the first half saw each side constantly scrabbling and grabbing for the ball, with the Tigers showcasing their impressive mauling and rucking techniques. Despite some great defensive tackling, the heat got to the Ladies as the Tigers broke through the line scoring their first converted try. Half time 5-7.

A short half time water break saw both teams seeking sanctuary in the little shade that is offered at Happy Valley, and a pep talk from Coach Nesbitt gave the Ladies a second wind – despite the complete lack of it in meteorological terms!

The Tigers though seemed to have benefited most from the break, with one of their wings scoring a try almost immediately from the second half kick-off. Discouraged and slightly dehydrated, the Ladies struggled to keep up their defensive line, and a speedy pair of breakthroughs on the wings saw another two tries for the Tigers.

With the heat and glare from the sun becoming even more intense, both teams were certainly experiencing exhaustion and confusion. A couple of moments saw Tigers tackling players who weren’t even carrying the ball, and the Ladies were remineded to keep their tackles low.

A lack of communication in the defensive line opened up the pitch to the Tigers who scored another pair of tries, one converted (5-36), that almost pushed the Ladies to their limits. As usual, the Ladies fought back in a final push and found their second wind – albeit a little too late in the day.

The Ladies managed to steal the ball and formed an impressive maul, allowing Captain Lynda Nazer to place the ball over the line. A great show of teamwork despite the elements and a disheartening score to fight back against.

HKCC Ladies
Forwards: Nobuko Oda, Wawa Li, Jo Harvey, Katie Rowbottom, Mhairi McLaughlin, Terri Lau, Lauren Petersen, Carolyn Champion, Kikinay Kemp
Backs: Lynda Nazer, Tinley Wong, Diana Li, Josie Jolley, Isobel O’Connor, Allison Mak, Brenda Chan, Elane Lau, Hoiyi Li, Christy Ma, Serene Yee
Tries: Diana Li, Lynda Nazer
Coach: Jeremy Nesbitt

Match Report: HKFC Fire 14-10 Tin Shui Wai Ladies @ TSW – 15 October, 2016

This season the HKFC Fire team has a number of new players joining which makes them a much stronger team. Tracy Tong reports on their second game away against Tin Shui Wai Ladies in the National League 2. In training the Fire looked to adapt their match plan to prepare for the much wider Tin Shui Wai pitch.

On a warm sunny autumn afternoon the two teams started in high spirits with supporters of both teams making for a good atmosphere. HKFC’s Apple Lau scored the first try of the game, successfully converted by Helen Lee 7-0.

In a tough game there wasn’t much between the sides and play was fast and furious with lots of strong tackles flying in. TSW scored their first try minutes after the Fire’s opener but failed to convert. The pace and the heat meant fatigue was a factor as the HKFC Fire struggled in defence against the fierce pressure TSW Ladies put on their try line.

At the break the Fire’s coaches looked to get their players to slow the game’s tempo. The second half though started as the first ended with the match played at full speed. The TSW Ladies scored a second try forcing their way through the HKFC’s defensive line. The conversion though was missed and this proved crucial as Cynthia Luk answered as she scored the HKFC Fire’s second try of the afternoon. Helen Lee’s second conversion gave the Fire a four point lead which they defended to the final whistle. Final score of 14-10 toHKFC Fire.

A good win for the Fire in a close game.

HKFC Fire
Forwards: Nicole Lai, Amy Kong, Chan-Lok Ting, Louise Hou, Maureen Chen, Karus Leung, Doris Chen, Apple Lau
Backs: Henrietta Wong, Helen Lee, Wong-Hei Hei, Rabbit Leung, Maggie Wong, Sarah Thrower, Emily Chen
Substitutes: Cynthia Luk, Alex Fraser, Tracy Tong, Teresa Lee
Tries: Apple Lau, Cynthia Luk
Coaches: Gloria Cheung, John R Hannon

Sevens Ticket Ballot 2017 Registration

The annual farce of the Sevens ticket ballot resumes again as registration opens for the public ticket ballot. The registration period runs even longer this year from 14 October to 3 February, 2017 with the ballot taking place on the 8 February, 2017 and winners notified that day by email.

The HKRU has yet to announce the exact numbers but based on last year there are 9,000 individual tickets on-sale. Since regular tickets are sold as 3-day pass. There’s actually only 3,000 tickets available to the public each day in the 40,000 seater HK Stadium. The rest are given to local rugby clubs, allocated to tourist packages or whored out to corporate sponsors paying the big bucks.

If you want a better chance of a sevens ticket, join a local rugby club. You don’t even have to play rugby, join many of the clubs as a social member and as long as you’ve paid the membership fees you can apply to buy a full three day ticket at cost price. You’ll support the local game and you never know you might even enjoy the rugby.

Those who ‘win’ in the ballot will need to pay for their tickets by 22 February 2017. The ticket cost is HK$300 for Friday, HK$750 for Saturday and HK$750 for Sunday. In addition an administration fee of HK$50 will be charge for each ticket.

To register http://hksevens.com/tickets/ballot-registration

Image: HKRU

Match Report: HKFC Ice 22-17 Kowloon Ladies @ King’s Park – 15 October, 2016

HKFC Ice and Kowloon Ladies kicked off at 6PM at King’s Park. Ice gained early possession utilising their forwards with a ton of crash balls and strong running lines to push Kowloon back into their own half. Kowloon gained possession from a turnover ball and chose to kick it down the pitch to get out of their half. After a knock-on, the first scrum was evenly matched – with both teams having a strong forward pack. Ice held their own and worked the ball to their back line, but some poor handling saw the ball again knocked-on. Scrum to Kowloon close to their own try line. Ice won the scrum and fly-half Rose Hopewell-Fong grubber kicked the ball to the corner where a chasing Stephanie “SSY“ Siu picked it up and dotted it down on the line. Rose Hopewell-Fong’s conversion was unsuccessful. 5-0 to HKFC Ice.

Both teams looked to utilise their strong forward packs, putting in big crash runners. The fiercely competitive nature of the game led to numerous handling errors, from both sides, throughout the first half. Ice began to dominate their scrum, which allowed number 8, Bobby Wilson, to get hold of the ball and gain several metres down the pitch. After popping the ball out to the supporting backline, outside centre Jamie Bourk slotted the ball down on the try line. Rose Hopewell-Fong’s conversion was successful! 12-0 to HKFC Ice.

Kowloon made a quick come back by breaking through HKFC Ice’s defensive line making it to the 22, but Rose Hopewell-Fong gave Ice a bit more breathing room putting boot to ball. Kowloon regained themselves, making another quick break with their speedy backline, however an outstanding tackle by Rose Hopewell-Fong forced Kowloon to knock on. The ball changed possession several times, with scrums happening all over the pitch. After 25 minutes of play, a scrum was spun by Kowloon, and their scrum-half, Chloe Mak Ho Yee, picked up the ball, ran down the blind side and scored a try for Kowloon. The conversion was flagged away. HKFC Ice 12 – 5 Kowloon.

Both teams were creating some beautiful running lines courtesy of their backs, and Kowloon kept HKFC Ice on their back foot and under pressure. Another handling error saw a scrum for HKFC Ice, a powerful forward push secured the scrum and scrum-half Sophie Short picked the ball up, went to the blind side and dived over the line, try! The conversion was unsuccessful. HKFC Ice 17 – 5 Kowloon Ladies at half time.

Denise Nga Chi Chan came off to give the infamous Royce Chan a chance to get on the pitch as Ice kicked-off the second half. Kowloon had a chance when one of their speedsters made a line-break, but she was taken down hard by Royce Chan on the half-way line and lost the ball. Kowloon later regained possession and sent the ball flying down the wing again with an 80m sprint but she was tackled out-of-bounds to give Ice a lineout on their own 22. Kowloon exerted tremendous pressure and Ice lost the lineout. Kowloon went straight for a try. The Ice defence held their ground and the ball was held up.

50 minutes in and Nina Pirie came off to give Cheryl Gourley a run out. Later HKFC Ice’s Angelina Cheung was substituted by Zuzanna Osinska. Kowloon fought back hard, broke the line with speed again and managed to score a second try. Conversion unsuccessful. HKFC Ice 17 – 10 Kowloon.

Royce Chan and Jaime Ho had to leave the game after an accidental clash of heads. Doris Chen and Rabbit Leung came on as replacements.

The intense match continued with both teams knowing the next score was crucial with Kowloon having most of the possession. A recurring injury forced Claire Hunter off, Apple Lau came on to replace her. Again a knock-on resulted in a scrum which Kowloon won, their fullback hit the line hard and scored the try. Conversion successful. HKFC Ice 17 – 17 Kowloon.

Tied with only 9 minutes left of the game both teams fought hard and well but it came down to teamwork with HKFC Ice pushing forward together, crash ball after crash ball then out wide to the wingers. Good defence from Kowloon saw HKFC pushed back, which resulted in a lineout. A clean lineout win and the forwards got the ball to the backs, Rose Hopewell-Fong dummied her defender and broke for the score. She was tackled just just short and off-loaded the ball off to #8 Bobby Wilson who barrelled herself towards the line. Ruck formed. Scrum-half Sophie Short secured the ball and down the backline it went to Emma Shields who drew the defenders in and passed a quick pop to Crystal Wray who used her strength and finally got the ball down on the try line in the far corner! Conversion unsuccessful by Rose Hopewell-Fong.

HKFC Ice 22 – 17 Kowloon. The ref blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

HKFC Ice
Denise Nga Chi Chan, Shonagh Ryan, Megan Richardson, Angelina Cheung, Iris Chan, Claire Hunter, Nina Pirie, Bobby Wilson, Sophie Short, Rose Hopewell-Fong, Stephanie Siu, Jaime Ho, Jamie Bourk, Crystal Wray, Emma Shields.
Substitutes: Cheryl Gourley, Doris Chen, Zuzanna Onsinska, Royce Chan, Apple Lau, Helen Lee, Maggie Wong, Rabbit Leung
Tries: Stephanie Siu, Jamie Bourk, Sophie Short, Crystal Wray
Conversions: Rose Hopewell-Fong x 1

Photo: Phoebe Leung

Match Report: HK Scottish Kukris 5-44 Tai Po Dragons @ KG V – 15 October, 2016

It was a balmy evening at the KGV ground as HK Scottish Kukris and Tai Po Dragons met for the first time in National League 1, with the Dragons having previously played in the Premiership. The game started evenly matched, with the Kukris putting Dragons under pressure. But just as the Kukris game-plan was about to yield results, the Dragons turned over the ball and counterattacked. The Kukris were slow to respond and the Dragons scored and converted 7-0. Kukris immediately replied with a good team effort, and Fung Yuen-ting went over in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful 7-5.

The Kukris had a great chance to take the lead. The ball was worked out to Hui Man-ling on the left wing, who kicked it clear of the defence and gave chase. But as she headed for the try line under the posts, she was unable to gather the bouncing ball and knocked-on. The Kukris seemed overly disheartened by the missed oppourtunity. First they gave away a soft try. Then the Dragons scored twice more, by forcing their way through the Kukris’ defence, with two or more tacklers needed to stop each Dragon. Their conversions were unsuccessful, but the halftime score was 22-5 to Dragons.

The second half resumed in similar fashion. The physical Dragons continued to challenge the Kukris defence, and doubled their score; four more tries, with the first converted. However, just as the Dragons appeared to have total control, the Kukris fought back. The ball was won, retained, and then carried forward. Now the Dragons were under pressure, not that the outcome of the game was in doubt. First the Kukris moved into the Dragon’s half, then beyond the 22, and finally had the ball touched down. But the referee called them back for a scrum. And even though it was now the Dragons who were conceding penalties, the Kukris could not manage to score any more points.

Final score 44-5 for Tai Po Dragons. A well deserved win for a very strong Tai Po team, who now go top of the league with maximum points from two games, and impressive figures of 68 Points For, 5 Against.

Next week Tai Po Dragons take on Gai Wu, while Hong Kong Scottish continue at KGV for another 6 PM kick-off against Hong Kong Cricket Club.

HK Scottish Kukris
Neon Chau, Po-Ki Chan, Tung-Hoi Jim, Crystal Lee, Oi-Yan, Emily So, Myron Ng, Nieve Heskin, Kathy Yip, Karis Cheng, Hau-Yi Chung, Yuen-Ting Fung, Andie Ma, Ket Robinson, Man-Ling Hui, Lo-Ho Yau,
Substitutes: Yumi Fan Sau-Yi, Tiffany Tse, Nicola Yau
Tries: Yuen-Ting Fung

Premiership Round-up: HKFC Ice beat Kowloon in Dramatic Fashion

Kowloon Ladies lost a thriller as they nearly upended the Premiership form-book in round three – falling just short in a 22-17 loss to HKFC Ice. In other Premiership action, Valley Black outclassed City Sparkle 51-0, while USRC Tigers beat CWB Phoenix 32-0 at Kings Park.

HKFC scored twice as Stephanie “SSY“ Siu and Jamie Bourk both crossed the try-line before Kowloon put it’s first points on the board with an unconverted try by Chloe Mak Ho Yee. Ice scored a third try through Sophie Short just before the hooter to take a comfortable 17-5 lead at half time.

Kowloon fought back with two tries in the second half the last coming in the 75th minute to pull level at 17-17. Despite a rash of six injuries in the second half, it was Ice who used the clock best as Crystal Wray scored in the dying seconds to secure the 22-17 win.

“We lost in the last minute because we lacked a bit of control late. We didn’t have to rush things as much as we did, but the performance in the second half was exactly what I was looking for,” said Kowloon coach Jonathan Ho.

“Scoring in the first half gave us some belief and the second half was a huge improvement. Just a tiny bit more and the game could have been ours. We can now look ahead confidently to Tigers next week,” Ho added.

“It was a tough day at the office and we were glad to come through,” said HKFC coach David Wigley. “We expect every game to be tough and today shows why. At half time we thought we were in a comfortable position: our lineouts were going well, and even though our scrums were problematic in places, we felt well ahead. We let them start the second half better and fair play to them, they turned the screw quite well. We had six injuries in the second half so we had to do a lot of adjusting. We were successful in reshaping and that was pleasing to see.”

Valley Black ran out easy winners against City Sparkle, improving their record to 3-0 on the season. Valley led 26-0 at halftime and closely mirrored that strike rate in the second half, a remarkable output considering they spent stretches with 13 on the pitch after having two players sin-binned for repeat infringements.

“It was a good game and a good result. It was quite difficult and feisty in places,” said Valley coach James Elliot. “They were a bit physical and our girls couldn’t get the fast ball that they wanted.”

USRC Tigers beat CWB Phoenix 34-0 but coach Liu Kwok-leung seemed pleased to have come through with any type of win at all:

“It was a very hard game. In the first half we played great and everything was going according to plan. In the second half we got some injuries, and had to bring on some younger players. That was when we lost our concentration. We lost momentum and focus, and made a lot of errors. They put us under pressure, but we worked hard in defence,” said Liu

It was another tough blow for Phoenix, who have faced the stiffest schedule in the early going – meeting last season’s top three in succession to start the year.

“In the end, we were very strong in our attack, but the players were not ready,” said a disappointed Causeway Bay coach Ocean Chow.

“We weren’t mentally ready in the first half. We raised our game and created some opportunities to score in the second, but we failed to follow through. We didn’t play as well as we did last week against Gai Wu. If we had, then the scores would have been closer, or it could have even been a win.”

Additional reporting: HKRU

Women’s Rugby Results – 15 October, 2016

Premiership

City Sparkle 0-53 Valley Black
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
Premiership round-up

HKFC Ice 22-17 Kowloon
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
Premiership round-up, match report

CWB Phoenix 0-32 USRC Tigers
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 19:30
Premiership round-up

National League 1

HKCC 10-36 USRC Tigers
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 15:00

Tai Po Dragons 44-5 HK Scottish Kukris
@ KGV, Kick-off: 18:00
Match report

Revolution SRC 40-5 Valley Red
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00

National League 2

Uni-Pirates 0-31 Tai Po Dragons
@ KG V, Kick-off: 16:30

Tin Shui Wai 10-14 HKFC Fire
@ Tin Shui Wai, Kick-off: 16:30

CWB Lammergeier 5-29 Police
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00

Kowloon 17-7 Gai Wu Hawks
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 19:30

Photo: Phoebe Leung

Hong Kong Women Superb on Day 1 in Sri Lanka

https://youtu.be/BMEpKM0FOiQ

China vs Hong Kong (Women) (https://youtu.be/BMEpKM0FOiQ)

Hong Kong’s Women’s Seven topped Pool C at the end of Day 1 of the Columbo Sevens – edging Sri Lanka, 17-12, and blanking Singapore, 26-0, before a superb 19-12 win over China. The women had a slow start against Sri Lanka but did well to claim a win in a match played under the punishing noonday sun.

The result was not as convincing as coach Anna Richards would have liked, particularly with the next match against a Singapore side that has posed problems for Hong Kong in the series. But Hong Kong left no doubt in their second outing as they outmuscled and outran their opponents in a 26-0 whitewash. Hong Kong saved its best for last, producing a peerless performance in a 19-12 win over China to claim the top spot in the pool.

Natasha Olson-Thorne, who continues to stake her claim as one of the top players in Asia of any gender, provided the only scoring in the first half as the gritty centre demolished China’s defence with a huge fend en route to an individual try that put Hong Kong ahead 7-0 after Tjosvold’s conversion.

China drew level late in the half, but Hong Kong resumed service in the second half, taking the ball deep into Chinese territory after China flubbed the second half kick-off. Sensing that China was flagging, Hong Kong upped its intensity further as Adrienne Garvey, Olson-Thorne and Tjosvold put on a master class of support play to peg China on its own try-line. Patience over the ball paid off as Hong Kong mounted wave after wave of attacks sapping the defence.

China eventually regained possession but only momentarily as Nam Ka-man, who was influential throughout the day, levelled the ball carrier. Cindy Yuen Lok-yee collected the loose ball to score from in close. Tjosvold’s conversion gave Hong Kong a 14-7 lead with three minutes remaining. Another Chinese error at the re-start handed the put-in at the scrum to Hong Kong who won ball cleanly. Lindsay Varty immediately raised the stakes with a quick attack, carrying deep before offloading to Ivy Kwong Sau-yan who added Hong Kong’s third try in the 19-7 win.

The reward for topping the pool for the first time this season was bittersweet however, as Hong Kong will now meet series co-leaders Japan, who were unceremoniously beaten by an inspired Thailand seven, in tomorrow’s cup semi final (15.59 Hong Kong time).

“It’s been an interesting day. We struggled a bit in our first game, but played a lot better in the second. But I was really happy with our performance against China, especially our composure. We handled the pressure very well. We were able to keep calm and control the game a bit more and that was the key,” Richards said.

Richards was unfazed that the reward for the day’s graft was to face Japan: “That will be a really good test for us. We know what Japan are like. We will need more of what we showed today against China. We need to control what we can control, stay composed and work hard on defence,” said Richards.