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Asia Sevens Series Korea: Day 1 Results – 24 September, 2016

Hong Kong’s men and women had a good first first day in the second leg of the Asia Sevens Series in Korea with both teams making it through to the Cup semi-final.

All the semi-finals and finals are being live streamed Asia Rugby‘s YouTube channel AsiaRugbyLive

Hong Kong’s women won their first two matches convincingly against Uzbekistan (51-0) and Singapore (24-0) but lost a closely fought final match of the day encounter against Japan 24-12. This though was a vastly improved performance against a team that thrashed them in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. Hong Kong finished second in Pool C and will play China, who easily won Pool D, in the second Cup semi-final on Sunday.

The men also finished second in their pool, after cruising to easy wins over Taiwan (47-5) and Japan (57-0), Hong Kong lost a thrilling match against hosts Korea 28-21 and will also play China in their cup semi-final. While Japan are looking to blood new young university age players, it does devalue the competition and dis-respect the other competitors that their side is not even competitive.

Hong Kong Women Head to Korea

After finishing third in the opening Hong Kong leg of the Asia Women’s Sevens Series coach Anna Richards is looking for significant improvement in Korea, but a challenging pool could complicate matters. Hong Kong are drawn in Pool C with Japan, Singapore and Uzbekistan. China top Pool D ahead of Thailand, South Korea and Guam.

For the second leg of the three leg series Richards has stuck with the core of the squad who played in the home leg earlier this month, making just two changes as Melody Li Nim-yan and prodigious finisher Aggie Poon Pak-yan make way for Amelie Seure who will reinforce the forwards and utility back Lindsay Varty.

Poon is out with an injury picked up in the opening tournament with a likely return for the series finale in Sri Lanka next month. Li makes way for Amelie Seure as Richards rotates from the wider squad.

“I need to make sure that we are looking at all of the players and with Aggie out injured Lindsay provides some good backline depth for us. We brought in Amelie to help counter some of the size differential that we saw against some of the bigger teams in Hong Kong. Amelie is a good ball-carrier and we want to see what she can bring this weekend,” said Richards.

“Our goal is to reach the final and give ourselves a shot to win. It will be tough because Japan and China again demonstrated that they are quality sides.” continued Richards who believes that wining the Korean leg is within reach as long as her charges can hold their nerve. “We need to cut down the errors from the first tournament and to make sure that we stay calm and focussed in the pressure games against Japan and China.”

“I thought we played quite well at times in the opening leg. We set up some opportunities against China but we didn’t capitalise on them and we just let in too many easy tries against Japan,” said Richards who continued that Captain Christy Cheng Ka-chi and vice captain Natasha Olson-Thorne have a big role to play in keeping the squad’s composure in the pressure games.

“It’s across the squad really. It’s everyone’s responsibility but we do rely on Christy and Tash to help keep the players in the frame in those pressure matches,” Richards concluded.

Hong Kong Women’s Seven for Korea Sevens (24-25 September):
Cheng Ka-Chi, Christy (captain); Natasha Olson-Thorne (vice Captain); Nam Ka-Man; Candy Cheng Tsz-Ting; Amelie Seure; Sham Wai-Sum; Colleen Tjosvold; Kwong Sau-Yan; Lindsay Varty; Chong Ka-Yan, Adrienne Garvey, Yuen Lok-Yee.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 24 September, 2016

Hong Kong Beat Thailand to Claim Third Place

Hong Kong women claim third place 36-7 with a convincing 6 try demolition win over Thailand.

Earlier in the day China’s women dashed Hong Kong’s hopes for cup final appearance at their home tournament with a 19-7 win in the cup semi final. A slow start proved disastrous for the hosts as the visitors dominated possession and territory en route to a 12-0 lead at the half.

Hong Kong brought the score back 12-7 with a try by Natasha Olson-Thorne in the second half. China proved too strong though and a late breakaway try clinched the match just as the hosts pushed for the win.

“We had a better second half, but we gave away some cheap tries early on and we can’t afford to do that,” said Hong Kong coach Anna Richards. “We have got to make better use of the ball when we have it. In the second half we were a lot better, there was greater urgency and we scored a good try, but we probably should have scored a couple more with the amount of ball we had,” Richards added.

The loss sent Hong Kong to the third/fourth place play-off against Thailand who had earlier lost to Japan in their semi final.

In the play-off, Hong Kong fired out of the starting blocks posting three unanswered first half tries with a brace from Aggie Poon Pak-yan bookending a try from Ivy Kwong Sau-yan giving them a 19-0 cushion.

On the back foot for the entirety of the game, Thailand’s only reply came from the kick-off of the second half, as Hong Kong expressed itself with three more tries in the second half to run out 36-7 winners.

“It’s nice to finish like that, but it’s been a disappointing weekend in some aspects. We have done some things quite well and when we give ourselves the opportunity to attack we look quite good, but we have to be able to do that in the big pressure games,” Richards added.

“This is a good start and we have two tournaments still to come. Our aim is to make the final in the next leg and to do that we need to work on keeping our composure and making the most of what we have in front of us. We turned the ball over too quickly and gave away too many cheap tries this weekend. If we continue to do that then we are going to be on the back foot from the start,” said Richards.

Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad (Asia Rugby Sevens Series – Hong Kong): Cheng Ka-Chi, Christy (Captain); Natasha Olson-Thorne (Vice Captain); Nam Ka-Man; Candy Cheng Tsz-Ting; Aggie Poon Pak-Yan; Sham Wai-Sum; Colleen Tjosvold; Kwong Sau-Yan; Li Nim-Yan, Melody; Chong Ka-Yan, Adrienne Garvey, Yuen Lok-Yee.

Hong Kong in Cup Semi-finals at Asian Womens Rugby Sevens

Hong Kong advanced to the Asian Women’s Sevens Cup semi-finals finishing second in their pool. Hong Kong beat Guam 29-0 in the opening match, followed by a stuttering 7-0 win over Singapore in their second encounter with Hong Kong striking early but then unable to add to the tally for the remaining 13 minutes of the match.

The early wins set up a climactic pool game against Japan to see who would come out on top of the pool. Japan were comfortable 28-0 winners in a one-sided victory. Hong Kong failed to fire from the outset, with an uncharacteristic amount of loose ball and turnovers putting the game out of the hosts’ reach by half-time.

Despite the down finish to the afternoon, coach Anna Richards was mindful that the team are still on target heading into day two.

“That match was a good wake up for the girls,” said Richards. “The first two games I didn’t think we really played that well and I thought that against Japan we played much better. We were made to work hard and we kept at it and I was really pleased at the girls energy levels in the second half. We kept at them and started to make some ground late,” Richards said.

The going will get even tougher for the hosts when they play China in the cup semi final. Japan play Thailand in the other bracket.

“China were heads and shoulders better than everybody else in the field I thought,” said Richards. “We are going to need to reduce our errors tomorrow and make the most of what ball we have. Make sure that we protect that ball and not let them turn us over. China are a big team like Japan so we need to put them on the ground quickly and cut off their attacking space.

“China like to play out wide and I don’t think they attack the ruck in the same way Japan does. We did a good job of sealing off the ball today against Japan so if we can get our halfbacks over the ball quicker we should have more possession.

“We need to play like we did in the second half against Japan. We need to cut China’s attacking space down for 14 minutes. It’s difficult to do but at this level it’s essential. We also need to be a bit more accurate with the ball and capitalise on the breaks when we have them as you don’t get many,” Richards concluded.

Singapore will play Uzbekistan in the first plate semi final followed by Guam versus Sri Lanka in the second. Japan will play Thailand in the other cup semi final. Match action starts tomorrow at 11.00am an Hong Kong will face China at 12.06

Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Date: 2-3 September, 2016
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: Free
More info: public entry via Happy Valley infield, via the tunnel near the HK Racing Museum
Live stream: http://www.youtube.com/c/AsiaRugbylive/live

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2016

The first leg of the Asian Sevens Series 2016 takes place in Hong Kong on the 2-3 September at the Hong Kong Football Club. The annual tournament comprises the Asian Sevens Mens Series and the Asian Sevens Womens Series and features the current top eight Asian countries in men’s and women’s 7s to decide Asia’s predominant team. This year’s series features three tournaments in Hong Kong, Seoul (24-24 September) and Columbo (15-16 October).

After their strong showing at the Olympics, Japan will be hot favourites in both the men’s and women’s eight team tournaments but Hong Kong will be looking to raise their game and make them work hard.

The men’s tournament features:
Pool A: Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore
Pool B: Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei

The women’s tournament features:
Pool C: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam
Pool D: China, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka

Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Date: 2-3 September, 2016
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: Free (tbc)
More info: public entry via Happy Valley infield, via the tunnel near the HK Racing Museum

Hong Kong Women Ready For Rugby 7s Olympic Repechage Challenge

Anna Richards, Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Coach, has an almost full-strength squad available for the Olympic Repechage tournament in Dublin, Ireland (25-26 June) to decide the 12th and final team to qualify for Rugby Sevens’ Olympic debut in Rio this August.

The squad includes captain Christy Cheng Ka Chi, who marks her first tournament action since the regional Olympic qualifiers last November after an injury kept her out of the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens in April. Cheng will resume the captaincy after handing the reins to Natasha Olson-Thorne for the Hong Kong Sevens, with Olson-Thorne resuming her role as vice-captain in Ireland.

Versatile back Cindy Yuen Lok Yee also returns to the squad after an arduous year long rehabilitation effort to recover from a shoulder injury. The 21-year old Yuen, one of Hong Kong rugby’s promising young players, started her rugby career on the wing but can now play anywhere along the back line as coach Richards continues to emphasise upskilling players to play across multiple positions.

“Cindy has done really really well. She worked hard to come back from her injury and I am pleased that she has returned to full fitness and can get this opportunity. She is a really skilful player with some good stepping ability and I’m excited to see how she will go in Dublin,” said Richards.

That excitement extends across the entire squad as Richards looks ahead to one of Hong Kong’s few opportunities to play in a fully international competition this weekend.

“It’s an exciting team and it is good to be able to include a few of the players that we haven’t seen in a while. The squad is keen to have another opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. It is our last chance to qualify but I believe we have the calibre of players we need to win the tournament,” said Richards.

The returning players gave Richards the opportunity to select from almost a full complement of talent in the elite programme at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

“I have never had so many people at training,” said Richards. “Christy is back training full time and Cindy has returned after 16 months away from the game. So I had nearly a full squad to choose from, which is really exciting.”

Many of the selected squad also featured heavily in Hong Kong’s three matches as part of the fifteen-a-side Asia Rugby Women’s Championship in May. “Our build-up was shortened by the Asian championships but the girls have been training hard. They had a good campaign in that competition, so hopefully they can carry on from there. It has been hot and the conditions have been difficult, but they have put the work in. We will start to dial it back a bit this week in training. Last week our focus was on getting everyone back into sevens mode, which was fun for the girls, now we want to keep that intensity as we head to Dublin,” Richards said.

That intensity will be in demand in Dublin with Hong Kong slotted as the top seeds in Pool D of the 16-team tournament, locking horns with Argentina, Kazakhstan and the Cook Islands.

“It is an interesting pool,” says Richards. “There are teams that we have played recently like Kazakhstan and Argentina (who Hong Kong played in the recent Hong Kong Sevens), but we don’t know anything about the Cook Islands. They are banded fourth in the pool but I think they will be tougher than that. I believe they have a lot of girls playing in New Zealand.”

Captain Cheng was pleased with the draw: “We’re happy with the pool. The girls have been training hard and as long as we hold up and perform well, we should be in a reasonable position. We know Kazakhstan well and are very evenly matched. It will come down to who has the better game plan on the day and who executes best. We split our results with Argentina before and know that their speed is their main strength. Size-wise they are similar to us so I think it will be a good match-up.”

But for Cheng the biggest result is already achieved in making her return to fitness in time for selection: “I’m feeling good and am happy to be back training with the team. I’m a bit rusty on my skills and conditioning but that will come in time and I’m just happy to be running again. Every athlete’s dream is to reach the Olympics so it is a great opportunity for me and all of the team to be able to have another chance at qualifying,” Cheng added.

Hong Kong are the highest seeded team in the tournament not currently playing on the Women’s Sevens Series. Russia are the top seeds in Pool A along with Samoa, Zimbabwe and Madagascar; Spain are atop Pool B with Mexico, Venezuela and Tunisia while hosts Ireland head up Pool C ahead of China, Portugal and Trinidad and Tobago.

Russia and Spain were among the nine nations to confirm their status as core teams for the 2016-17 Series. Russia finished seventh overall with Spain in ninth. Ireland finished the Series in 11th place. Spain were the only one of the trio to reach the Cup quarter-finals at the final Series tournament in France and will take heart from their improved form over the last two rounds of the Series, but it is Russia, bowl winners in France, who are the top seeds for the repechage.

Richards, a four-time Women’s Rugby World Cup winner is unfazed by the competition: “There are some really good sides, including core World Series teams, so we have to be the underdogs going in, but you have to be in it to win it, and we’re fortunate enough to be there. It’s just another really good opportunity for us to go and perform.”

According to Richards, the keys to victory lie in the team’s consistency and ability to execute under pressure. “We will be one of the fitter teams and our skills are improving so I think it will come down to decision-making and our ability to perform under pressure – and there will be a lot of pressure. It’s always a challenge, but we have the capacity to beat a lot of the teams at this level; whether we can take a step up to beat the teams on the World Series, we will find out,” concluded Richards.

Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad – Olympic Repechage (Dublin, Ireland):
Cheng Ka Chi (Captain), Amelie Seure, Cheng Tsz Ting, Chong Ka Yan, Lee Tsz Ting, Li Nim Yan, Lindsay Varty, Natasha Olson-Thorne (Vice Captain), Nam Ka Man, Poon Pak Yan, Stephanie Cuvelier, Yuen Lok Yee.

Japan 30-3 Hong Kong @ Tokyo – 28 May, 2016

A pretty poor Japan easily contained Hong Kong’s women who lost 30-3 in the second and final match of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship (ARWC) in Tokyo today. The win ensured Japan comfortably clinched the ARWC title, which was this year fought out between only two sides due to the withdrawal of Kazakhstan.

Hong Kong coach Jo Hull’s post match interview was full of positive cliches and comments (see below) about character and positivity but especially in the first half Japan were poor and yet Hong Kong failed to turn field position and possession into points. Hong Kong’s play was slow and painfully predictable and despite spending considerable time close to the Japan try line in the first quarter they never looked like scoring a try.

Ignoring the many handling and set piece errors the team were a step too slow mentally and physically. Rather than assessing what they saw infront of them, it was like ‘we’re here, we must do this’ which is all well and good but easily defended. When Hong Kong did penetrate it was instinctive and that faster speed of thought created the openings…. Patterns and structure are good, but the continually improving quality of the women’s game means that when an opponents structure has a weak point a player must instinctively attack it, taking a second to realise it’s there means it’s gone before you can take advantage.

“The character was there today,” Hull said, “We went out with a real belief that we could win and we showed some positive signs. In the second half, our defensive structure was there but they started to generate momentum in attack and some really poor decisions put us under pressure.

“We had a good 50 minutes but that’s not good enough. Whilst we did improve, which is what I asked the team to do, it still wasn’t a good enough performance at this level,” Hull added.

Japan were again the more switched on in the opening minutes of the game and easily scored the first try of the game, with prop Saki Minami driving over the line. Hong Kong responded well to the early set back and dictated play for a period, finding itself within metres of the line on a couple of occasions.

After spending some time off the ground in the first half for a concussion test after a heavy hit, Rose Fong Siu-lan returned to the field and provided a spark. Hong Kong’s relentless attacking earned it a penalty, with Aggie Poon Pak-yan opening the scoring for the visitors 16 minutes in.

When not in control of the ball in the first half, Hong Kong defended resolutely with scrum-half Colleen Tjosvold and centre Natasha Olson-Thorne leading from the front.

Japan, with Mizuki Homma and Yuki Ito to the fore punished Hong Kong in the lead up to the break and a try to winger Homma ensured the home side a 10-3 half-time lead.

A determined and persistent Hong Kong again matched Japan in the opening stages of the second half, but a try to Miki Terauchi after 56 minutes of play ended the away side’s hopes and the Sakura struck again nine minutes later, with Yuki Sue crossing after a sustained attacking effort from Japan. This opened the floodgates and turned what had been a tightly fought contest into another blow out, with tries to Riho Kurogi and Ai Hyugaji in the final 10 minutes stretching the margin out to 27 points.

“Their skills under pressure are better than ours. It really is as simple as that and that has to be our key focus going forward. You can have the best game plan in the world but you have to be able to execute under pressure,” Hull said.

Hong Kong showed some improvement in the scrum but was again let down by its lineout work, especially early.

“Our accuracy and decision making were issues, we lost our first three lineouts and at this level you can’t do that,” Hull said. “That was disappointing because that was a huge improvement area in Singapore.”

Fullback Adrienne Garvey and prop Lau Nga-wun also gave good accounts of themselves for Hong Kong as Hull now looks ahead to the Women’s Rugby World Cup qualifying period in December.

“We are now very aware of what we need to work on and we’ve got a committed group to do that. The responsibility has to be on us as coaches and the players to improve our skills and that’s through working harder and making sure we prioritise that over the summer, along with our fitness,” Hull added.

Hong Kong have the talent within the squad to compete and beat Japan, but realistically need to play more challenging games against players they don’t see every week and whose strengths and weaknesses they know. Perhaps the Premiership sides should have games against the top Japanese and Chinese clubs or a women’s professional squad similar to the men’s could make tours of Europe. Yes it costs money, which the HKRU has lots of, and commitment from the players but you sense that given the opportunity many would take it. And for now as the women’s game grows and with the talent we have the chance exists, can the HKRU stop their blinkered focus on the men’s game long enough to take advantage in away that the team couldn’t on the pitch today. We HongKongers can only hope so.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU