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10-Try Hong Kong Trash Malaysia in World Cup Opener

Hong Kong thrashed Malaysia 67-8 in a ten-try rout as they started their qualification for the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan.

Played in a wet and humid Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong mastered their opponents in the first half and the conditions in the second – the heavens opened after forty minutes, adding even more grease to an already slippy ball – as they extended a 27-5 half-time lead into a confidence boosting victory in their first Asia Rugby Championship match.

Malaysia, bolstered by the inclusion of several of their naturalized players from the Pacific Islands, enjoyed the better start, capitalising on a somewhat sluggish opening by Hong Kong with Matt Rosslee showing rare nerves with the boot early on.

After an exchange of missed penalties, it was the Hong Kong’s forwards who methodically built a base for success, aided in the early going by a yellow card against lock Aporosa Duwailea.

Hong Kong capitalised on their numerical advantage to score the game’s first try as No.8 Thomas Lamboley corralled the ball perfectly at the base of an attacking scrum to dive over the line. Rosslee struck his only penalty moments later to extend the margin to eight, before Malaysia returned to full strength.

Dominant at the scrum and the line-out, Hong Kong gained significant metres off of their structured set piece play. That dominance set up Lamboley for his second score in the 30th minute, as he again danced the ball over the line from the base of the scrum to push the lead to 13-0.

Soon after fullback Jack Neville finished a long counter attack started by scrumhalf Liam Slatem, who opted for a quick tap and run from a penalty deep in Hong Kong’s territory. Rosslee made sure of the conversion as Hong Kong pushed its lead to 20-0.

With the score line growing, Hong Kong’s discipline slipped marginally as they engaged in the freewheeling rugby the Malaysians were encouraging. That led to the host’s first try after Hong Kong took an unnecessary quick throw-in at a line-out in their own half, eventually turning the ball over to No.8 Etonia Saukuru. The big Fijian rumbled the ball deep before a lovely offload to fullback Samuela Taminisau – and a quick return – put Saukuru over in the corner. The missed conversion left Hong Kong leading 20-5.

Hong Kong responded clinically with Slatem’s sniping run releasing Max Denmark who slipped a neat offload to onrushing centre Tyler Spitz. Spitz one-handed the ball back to Slatem who finished with a 40 metre try – Rosslee’s conversion gave Hong Kong a 27-5 lead.

Shortly after the re-start, a disastrous clearance attempt by Malaysia’s veteran captain Syahir Asraf landed right in the hands of Rosslee, who shoveled a quick outlet pass to winger Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who finished off a gift try in the 42nd minute. With Malaysian heads dropping Yiu finished a pretty display of handling to cross over untouched in the corner, pushing Hong Kong’s lead to 39-5.

Prop Jamie Pincott was not to be denied moments later as the big man, who had built a head of steam in his supporting run, found himself in possession and clear space with 20 metres to the line. His try was converted to extend the lead to 46-5, before Conor Hartley added to the damage, taking another looping Rosslee pass to the line for Hong Kong’s eighth score and a 53-5 lead after the extras.

Jack Parfitt scored a second front-rowers’ try before Robbie Keith capped Hong Kong’s scoring at ten tries. Malaysia scored a long-range penalty late on to finish the scoring, 67-8.

“We started slowly but finished strongly,” said coach Leigh Jones after the match. “I’m reasonably happy. With conditions as they were last week we didn’t know what to expect today and it was again difficult to play, but I was pleased with our strike rate. We managed to finish off a lot of tries; there were also a lot of errors that I wouldn’t like to see normally, but I think many of those were down to the conditions.”

“It was a difficult game with the weather and the fact that Malaysiawere looking to slow it down at every opportunity, so it was a bit of a stop-start affair. But I thought it was a very competent second half performance in particular, very professional, and we have come out of it unscathed as well. No injuries today and a few players coming back next week, so we are in a very positive place going into Korea next week,” Jones concluded.

Jones was pleased with the way his bench contributed. “We thought they would add value and they did well. It is a 23-man game, I know it is a cliché, but it is right. I was particularly pleased to see young Max Denmark go. I’m very pleased with his development and it was good to get a chance to look at guys like Jamie Lauder, [who earned his first Hong Kong cap today], off the back of some great club performances this season,” Jones added.

New captain Jamie Cunningham was pleased with the result as well. “I’m really happy with how the boys went today. We held our composure under some real pressure at the start and played some good footy. The ball got away from us at times, but we were able to come back and put some points on the board, which is what we wanted to do.”

Hong Kong v Malaysia:

1. Daniel Barlow, 2. Benjamin Roberts, 3. Dylan Rogers, 4. James Cunningham (Captain), 5. Jamie Pincott, 6. Nicholas Hewson, 7. Toby Fenn, 8. Thomas Lamboley, 9. Liam Slatem, 10. Matthew Rosslee, 11. Max Denmark, 12. Tyler Spitz, 13. Max Woodward, 14. Salom Yiu Kam-Shing, 15. Jack Neville.
Reserves: 16. Alexander Harris, 17. Adam Fullgrabe, 18. Jack Parfitt, 19. Kyle Sullivan, 20. Michael Parfitt, 21. Jamie Lauder, 22. Robert Keith, 23. Conor Hartley.

Additional reporting and images: HKRU, Asia Rugby

First Step Towards Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup

Hong Kong’s men begin their attempt to qualify for the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup when they kick off their Asia Rugby Championship campaign away to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur (16.30) on the 5 May.

With Japan already qualified for the World Cup as hosts, this year’s Asia Rugby Championship will be contested by Hong Kong and South Korea (second and third on last season’s table) and Division I champions Malaysia in the home-and-away competition. South Korea beat Malaysia 35-10 in the opening round last weekend to go top of the table.

Hong Kong need to win the Asian Championship outright to advance to the second stage of RWC 2019 qualification, a home-and-away series against Oceania qualifiers Cook Islands. The winner of that series advances to a four-team knockout competition in the final stage of qualification in France in November.

Coach Jones has kept faith with the squad that started Hong Kong’s recent 49-27 warm-up match loss to the University of Waikato Chiefs Development side on 21 April.

“There is an element of ‘we’re not sure’ ahead of this match,” said Jones, “But, we’re going in with good preparation and confident that we can perform and cope with anything that Malaysia can throw at us.”

There’s one change in the forwards and one in the backs for Saturday, with lock Jamie Pincott and up-and-coming winger Max Denmark earning starts. Kyle Sullivan and wing Conor Hartley, both of whom started against the Chiefs Development squad, have moved to the bench for the Malaysia test.

“We have a couple of injuries heading into the campaign but are not making any excuses. We feel that this the best team to start the Asia Rugby Championship and are respecting Malaysia,” added Jones.

“The unknown elements on Saturday are primarily the conditions, which were horrendous last week, and perhaps did not give a fair impression of the quality of the players that were on show from both sides. We are very comfortable going to Malaysia and Korea and hopefully can steal a few wins, which would set us up nicely for a feel-good finish at home,” said Jones.

“We are not looking to get ahead of ourselves and know we have to focus on one game at a time and make sure we are playing to our structures and plans. We are not worrying about the outcomes because if we do we will put some pressure on ourselves that we don’t need,” Jones added.

The match will be live streamed on the HKRU Facebook page.

Hong Kong squad v Malaysia:

Additional reporting and photos: HKRugby

Rugby Sevens World Cup 2018 Fixture Schedule Announced

Hong Kong will take on Russia in their first game of the Rugby Seven World Cup in San Francisco this July, with the winners playing New Zealand for a place in Cup competition.

The 2018 Sevens World Cup features 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams and will be played on 20-22 July at the AT&T Park in San Francisco’s Bay Area.

An innovative tournament format will see every match count. In both the men’s and women’s tournaments teams will have to win every match in order to be crowned World Cup winners.

In the men’s competition, where nations will be competing to get their hands on the Melrose Cup, there will be an initial knock-out preliminary round featuring the nations ranked ninth to 24th, while the top eight seeds progress automatically to the round of 16.

The women will be the first to take to the pitch at AT&T Park as Fiji face Spain in the first match of the tournament on 20 July. Top seeds and reigning World Cup holders New Zealand, who will enter the competition high on confidence following their recent gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games, will face Mexico in the round of 16.

Olympic champions and current World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series leaders Australia will take on Papua New Guinea while hosts USA, seeded fifth, will wrap up the round of 16 action against China, who are an emerging force following their victory in the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier in Hong Kong in April.

The men’s tournament also gets underway on day one with Kenya, runners-up in the recent Hong Kong and Vancouver legs of the World Sevens Series, facing Tonga in the first game of the preliminary round.

In the evening session on the first day of competition current Olympic champions and World Rugby Sevens Series leaders Fiji will take on the winner of Japan v Uruguay in the round of 16, while reigning World Cup champions New Zealand will face the winner of Russia v Hong Kong.

Top seeds South Africa will encounter the winners of Ireland v Chile, while host nation USA, ranked fifth, wrap up the first day of competition as they are drawn against the winner of Wales v Zimbabwe in the final match of the day.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “The release of the match schedule marks another exciting step on the journey to the highly anticipated Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco. Fans can now begin to plan their tournaments and teams can focus on their prospective opponents.

“There has never been a more competitive World Rugby Sevens Series than this year’s edition, with five different winners in the first five rounds in the men’s series, and only 16 points separating the top four nations in the women’s series, we are all set for a great showcase of the drama and excitement of rugby sevens at the first Rugby World Cup event ever to be held in the USA.”

Additional reporting and photos: World Rugby

Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Final Results – 10 March, 2018

Premiership Grand Final

Gai Wu Falcons 31-10 Valley Black
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30

Gai Wu Falcons
Hoi Lam Ho, Nga Wun Lau, Ka Wai Lam, Debby, Ka Yin Wong, Yee Ching Chan, Wai Yan Pun, Christy Cheng Ka Chi, Ka Yan Chan, Wai Sum Sham, Tsz Ting Lee, Pak Yan Poon, Aggie, Greer Muir, Tsz Ting Cheng, Ka Yan Chong, Abigail Chan
Reserves: Ka Shun Lee, Chin Yee Wu, Hiu Ki Yip, Sharon Shin Yuen Tsang, Tsz Yung Ching, Suet Ying Wong, Wing See Chiu, Melody Blessing Li Nim Yan
Tries: Lee Tsz-ting (2), Chong Ka-yan, Nga Wun Lau, Sham Wai-sum
Conversions: Lee Tsz-ting (3)

Valley Black
KK Wong, Karen So, Jasmine Cheung, Ching To Cheng, Deena Ravi Thinakaran, Suzanne Sittko, Caitlin Spencer, Aroha Savage, Colleen Tjosvold, Bella Milo, Jessica Eden, Tanya Young, Zoë Smith, Nadia Cuvilier, Jade Birkby
Reserves: Akanisi Au Yeung, Li Lai Mang, Becky, Sonia Vashi, Wing Yan Leung, Kelsie Bouttle, Kim Senogles, Laurel Chor, Yuen Yin Lo
Tries: Nadia Cuvilier (2)

National League 1 Grand Final

Revolution SRC 10-7 HK Scottish Kukris
@ KG V, Kick-off: 16:30

Revolution SRC
Jacqueline Oi Ying Chau, Wai Ching Siu, Ho Yan Ho, Helene Hopman, In Kwan Lam, Tsz Ki Lau, Choi Fung Cheung, Wing Ying Chan, Yuen Shan Poon, Ting Ting Chu, Wing Yiu Ho, Stephanie Chor Ki Chan, Yuet Yi Yam, Tsz Ching Wong, Ka Yan Chan
Reserve: Ka Yee Yim, Wai King Shek, Ching Laam Shou, Hin Kiu Tsang, Sin Ting Lau, Tess Yeung, Tsz Ning Tsang, Wing Yan Wong

HK Scottish Kukris + Discovery Bay
Marianna Bigazzi, Yuen Chan, Gloria Chan, Laura Horsfall, Oi Yan, Crystal Lee, Wun Lo Chung, Pui Yau Chan, Myron Ng, Yik Sheung Andie Ma, Karis Cheung, Man Ling Hui, Sze Ting Li, Fung Yuen Ting, Vera Hei Ting Lau, Hau Yi Chung
Reserve: Hoi Tung Jim, Jia Choi Wan, Taro Yau, Yik Lam Lau, Celina Malunes, Chan Po Ki, Holly On-ting Yuen, Ket Robinson

National League 2 Grand Final

CWB Lammergeier 15-10 Police Sirens
@ KG V, Kick-off: 16:30

CWB Lammergeier
Cheung Yik Sze,Lydia, Tin Yan, Dora Chim, Wing Sze, Winnie On, Pak Wai Ling, Lin Yin, Liu Kit Ying, Ka Wing Ng, Tse Man Sze, Cookie, Ho Ting ‘Hoty’ Chan, Suet Ying Lo, Mo Tsz Ching, Stephanie Chan, Lau Sin Tung, Chan Ka Wai, Siu Man Nga
Reserve: Kitty Kan, Michelle Lam, Wong Man Yan, Ka Ki Cheung, Kara Jones, Kong ‘Koko’ Yin Ting, Li Man Yi, Suet Ni Pak, Tsang Yuen Ying, Wong Sze Man

Police Sirens
Edna Hiu-Tung, Edwina Ng, Idy, Yik Yan Chan, Man Yan Li, Yo, Kwan Yi Lee, Hoi Yan Li, Sue Yik-chi, Ade Lai-nga Wong, Sin Man Ng, Haysan Shiu Man Yip, Wai Yin Joker Lo, Wing Tan Yau, Chan Po Tung, Pui Pui Man, Van, Sze Wan Chan, Ching Man ‘Dee’ Wong
Reserve: Lan Fong Queenie Yip, Ngan Shan Shan, Ching Man Tung, Ling Shan Lam, Sze Ting Choi, Tsang Wai Ming, Yuki Lee

Images: hkru, revolution src, CWB Lammergeier

Gai Wu Dominate Valley to Win Grand Championship!

Gai Wu Falcons added the Grand Championship to their league title beating Valley Black 31-10 in the Premiership Grand Final. The victory gave the Falcons their first Premiership league and championship double since the 2012/13 season.

Gai Wu scored five tries and defended resolutely to nullify Valley’s potent attack. The Falcons led 12-0 at the break with fly half BB Lee Tsz-ting scoring 16 points with a try in each half and three conversions.

The final – featuring 11 of the Hong Kong national team that played at the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup – was a fairly evenly contested early on with both sides having chances on, but the defences held strong.

The first score came for the Falcons after Valley centre Tanya Young was sin-binned in the 26th minute. The one woman advantage was the little difference that Gai Wu’s forwards needed as they took full advantage of the extra space to drive deep into Valley’s half.

Valley’s first up defence held strong, forcing a ruck in the far corner, but a clever shift of play by Gai Wu scrumhalf Sham Wai-sum put fly-half Lee into a seam behind the Valley defence. The Hong Kong no.10 showed a clean pair of heels to sprint the last few metres and dive over the line for the game’s first try. Lee converted her own score to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

The three-time defending league and grand champions Valley conceded a crucial penalty shortly shortly after returning to full strength as they were pinged for going straight to ground at the ruck. Lee’s penalty attempt fell short, but the Valley defence bobbled the take, knocking the ball on beneath their posts to give Gai Wu an attacking scrum five metres from the Valley line.

No.8 Angela Chan Ka-yan did well to corral the ball at the back of the scrum and the Falcons carried the ball for three phases before scoring in the corner, with Sham scoring the try to extend Gai Wu’s lead to 12-0 after Lee missed the conversion.

Valley found themselves in the unfamiliar position of trailing at the start the second half and their discombobulation continued when play resumed as Falcons wing Aggie Poon Pak-yan ventured off her line to devastating effect on several occasions, while the direct running lines of centre Greer Muir kept the Valley defence off balance.

In the 43rd minute Poon timed her run off the opposite wing perfectly to enter the line between Sham and Lee and used her pace to turn a half-gap in the defence into a long meandering run that brought the Falcons close to Valley’s line.

Poon offloaded the ball in contact to her supporting forwards, who executed some probing attacks around the fringes of the ruck before Hong Kong prop Tammy Lau crashed over the line, extending Gai Wu’s advantage to 19 points after Lee’s conversion.

Lee collected her brace in the 58th minute after the Falcons backed themselves twice in opting for scrums rather than two kickable penalties. The Falcons pack was up to the challenge at scrum-time and Gai Wu found space along the left-hand side again, with Lee popping up deep with the ball to score her second try in the corner. Lee’s conversion was unsuccessful, but Gai Wu held a commanding 24-0 lead with twenty minutes remaining.

Valley wing Nadia Cuvelier scored the first of her two second half tries in the 62nd minute when she finished off a 70-metre break started by centre Zoe Smith to put Valley on the board at 24-5.

But before Valley could build any momentum, winger Chong Ka-yan flashed some individual brilliance and pace for the Falcons, selling a beautiful dummy deep in her own half to create space for an 80 metre solo try as Gai Wu extended their lead to 31-5.

Cuvelier replied with her second of the game in the 78th minute, but it would prove nothing more than consolation for Valley who saw their Grand Championship and league winning streak ended by Falcons this season.

Falcons coach “Sailo” Lai Yiu-pang hailed his side’s collective effort, saying, “What made me most proud today was the effort we put in as a team. We put our bodies on the line and you can see from the scoreline how effective we were.”

“I was surprised by the margin at the end. Like everyone, I expected a closer game, but I think our determination made the difference. We played better as a team,” said Lai.

Women’s Premiership Grand Championship Final:
Gai Wu Falcons 31-10 Valley Black

Additional reporting and images: hkru

One Cup To Rule Them All

Gai Wu Falcons and Valley Black have contested the past five Premiership Grand Championship Finals. Can Gai Wu add the Cup to their league title or will Valley’s reign as Grand Champions continue…

Kicking off at King’s Park at 4.30pm, this clash has an extra layer of spice with Gai Wu defeating Valley 22-15 last time they met to bring an end to the Black’s three year 51-game winning streak.

“Finally I have a full strength squad to select from this week so it will bring me a bit of a headache at selection,” Gai Wu coach “Sailo” Lai Yiu-pang said. “The set piece is going to be a big area, if we can secure the set piece, especially the scrums, and put pressure on them, then we will have more opportunity to create a platform for ourselves. If we fail to secure that platform in defence there will be more challenges.”

Gai Wu breezed past Tai Po 63-0 in the semi-finals while Valley outlasted a gallant Tigers side 17-10 and Lai knows his team will need to be on the ball throughout this weekend.

“The two teams will be throwing everything at it, I expect it to be a close game and a big battle,” he said. “We have to be able to play 80 minutes of rugby, they have some experienced players – Bella [Milo] and Aroha [Savage] can turn every opportunity into points.”

“We can’t let up and we have to defend well. The reason we beat them last time is because we defended really well, we shut them down early so they didn’t have too much front-foot ball and then we put pressure on them and forced them to make turnovers.”

Chong Ka-yan and Lee Ka-shun will be among the key players for the Falcons as they look to end Valley’s run of three consecutive grand championship wins.

For Valley coach Milo, it’s about building on the basics. “We’re excited and nervous at the same time,” she said. “We have got to get our set piece right and put a bit of pressure on their key players. Our biggest work this week has been our defence. We didn’t really slow down their breakdown last time we played so they had faster ball and we were just a bit too slow to get out wide.”

“We’ve just focussed on ourselves and how we can get better from last week’s semi-final, we didn’t start too well. We have been talking about how we can control our game, ” added Milo.

Grand Championship Finals 2018

Additional reporting and image: hkru

Women’s Rugby Grand Championship Finals – 10 March, 2018

Valley Black and Gai Wu Falcons Win!

Valley Black had to work hard to overcome a resilient USRC Tigers side in their 17-10 Women’s Premiership Grand Championships Semi-final victory. While Gai Wu Falcons posted a comfortable 11-try, 63-0 win over Tai Po Dragons. The results set up an intriguing, if familiar, final next weekend as Gai Wu look for a league and cup double.

The Tigers began the match making good use of their possession and Charlotte Myrans stroked them to early three-point lead with a well-taken penalty from the right wing.

USRC kept the pressure on and were rewarded with another penalty which fed into a series of ruck phases followed by some fast hands out to the right wing where Natasha Olson-Thorne scored in the corner. Another lengthy kick from Myrans added the extras for an early 10-0 Tigers lead.

Valley picked up some momentum in the second quarter with three points from the boot of Zoe Smith. Valley continued to attack and forced a lineout on the Tigers 22. Flanker Aroha Savage gathered the ball and powered her way over the line, Smith’s conversion tied the score 10-10 at the break.

In the second half, Valley held the lion’s share of possession, but were kept out by a solid Tigers defensive line. On 50 minutes, Savage picked the ball from the base of a scrum on the Tigers’ five-metre line and went over for her second try. Smith converted to give Valley a 7 point lead, which they defended until the final whistle.

Valley’s player-coach Bella Milo was pleased to get through a tricky match “It was a tough game,” she said. “Tigers defended well and made us work all the way. The first half showed we hadn’t had game time for the last few weeks. Then we found our groove and made the points to get us back in it before the break.”

“In the second half we built on the momentum we made. Our forwards played really well. They were dominant in our scrum, and in our lineout. We’ll take the win but it was hard one,” she added.

Milo continued “We’ve got a short turnaround. Now it’s back to the drawing board to get ready for next week’s match. I’m only hoping that we can go through and keep up what we were doing right today.”

Tigers’ coach Fan Shun Kei saw the match as one that got away, but nonetheless declared himself pleased with his side’s accomplishments this season. “We made a very positive start and controlled the first part of the first half. We were getting the ball out wide quickly and that’s why they struggled. Natasha played a very important role, maintaining the momentum. Later our forwards were playing more kick and go, taking easy options instead of going wide.” sais Fan.

“In the second half, when we had the ball, we were too rushed. Every time we got the ball, we’d make a mistake and gift it back to Valley. Under their pressure we didn’t use the ball efficiently.” Philosophical but quietly determined, Fan believes his side have a lot more to give.

“We defended very well all through – it was such a big difference to previous games and exactly the foundation I wanted. I was very pleased, especially with Maelle [Picut] and Lara [Schats],” Fan said. “The game could have been ours if we’d stuck to the plan. Valley kept it alive on our mistakes.”

“So in the end it was another learning experience. We lifted our game, and we made them fight for 80 minutes. It was one of our best games this season, and you could say we were unlucky, but our players can take a lot of positives from this game,” he smiled. “Hopefully next year we can come back faster and stronger.”

Click here for all the weekend’s women’s rugby results.