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Anna Richards Picks Experienced Women’s Squad

Two years ago, at the first ever hosting of an Asia Rugby Sevens Series event in Hong Kong, the HK women’s team beat Japan in the semi-finals to reach their first ever Cup final, losing there to China 38-7.

Women’s Sevens coach Anna Richards is hoping to capitalise on home field advantage again as the ARW7s opens today at the HK Football Club. Richards has picked an experienced side for this week’s competition with the objective of going one step further at team’s home event and lifting the trophy..

“Marky (Komar, Women’s Sevens assistant coach), and I are very happy with the make-up of the side. We had almost everyone to choose from and we chose the side we thought would get us a win in the first leg,” said Richards as the squad trained. The squad has a familiar feel to it with captain Christy Cheng Ka-chi once again leading from the front while Aggie Poon Pak-yan and Natasha Olson-Thorne will provide a potent force out wide.

Hong Kong are the second seeds in Pool A tomorrow behind Japan and ahead of Singapore and Guam. Pool B features China, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

While Hong Kong beat Japan in their last outing at the HK Women’s Rugby Sevens in March, Richards says the stakes have grown for all the teams in the intervening months and expects a stiffer challenge from the Asian champions tomorrow who will be looking to improve on their disappointing Olympics where they finished tenth.

“We’re six months down the track from that win, and Japan have brought their top side here this weekend. They are no longer a core team on the international series so like all the teams here they will need to finish in the top two in the Asian Series to gain entry to the Women’s World Series qualifiers. I see a lot of their top girls in their squad for this weekend, which is what we want. It’s always good to play Japan no matter what and we want to face their best.”

A strong day one will be essential and Richards is pleased that the opportunity will come in front of a friendly audience. “It is always nice to start a competition like this at home. It is only our third tournament of the year so the girls are excited. We have done a lot of training, but haven’t played in a lot of tournaments. The girls are keen to get out there. They love to play in Hong Kong in front of their families,” said Richards.

A positive start is a priority for Richards who recalled that Hong Kong’s impressive finish in 2014 was nearly derailed by a sluggish start. “In 2014 we had a poor first day. We just snuck into the semis on goal difference as we drew with Thailand. Then on day two we had a great win over Japan but didn’t do so well against China in the final.

“That was the first time the girls had won silver, but I would like to emulate last year’s Season opener in Qingdao when we played really well to win our first Cup on the Series.” Hong Kong beat China convincingly in the final 24-15 in Qingdao to claim their first ever Asia Rugby Sevens Series event title. “Qingdao was really a watershed moment for the girls and I would like to carry on from there,” said Richards.

The Asian Sevens Series serves a qualifier for the global qualification tournament for the Women’s World Sevens Series with invites handed out to the top two finishers.

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.

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

Kenya 34-10 Hong Kong

Kenya thrashed Hong Kong in Nairobi, 34-10 easing up in the second half or the scoreboard could have looked a lot worse for the visitors such was the home side’s superiority. As their Sevens team has shown on the World Sevens Series with their inaugural win last season Kenyan rugby is vibrant and full of powerful skilled players.

For Hong Kong it was a pretty abject performance full of far too many basic rugby and unforced errors gifting the Kenyans easy ball. That the tour is taking place at all is good news, but the scheduling just before the Asian Sevens Series rather than just after meant that far too many of Hong Kong’s key players weren’t on the pitch. We complain that teams don’t respect us when they send understrength sides to Hong Kong, yet here we are doing the same to Kenya.

“Today’s match was not dissimilar to Tuesday’s loss (28-14 to Kenya A). We looked like a side that haven’t played together and we struggled to put any constructive phases together. They scored 3 or 4 tries purely as a result of us turning the ball over. At this level you get punished for those errors and that was the case,” said coach Leigh Jones making the same excuses as in many of Hong Kong’s recent loses. “It is just getting guys used to playing under this type of pressure. At the moment, the step up is too much for some of them, which forces a large number of errors. But the only answer is to expose them to this level of rugby more often.” Talk about stating the obvious, so why then is this Hong Kong’s first ‘tour’ against non-Asian opposition since 2012? The players can only play against the opponents the HK Rugby Union picks for them.

The test match was effectively over by half time as the visitors conceded two tries and two penalties in the opening forty minutes to hand Kenya an unassailable 20-3 lead at the break. Hong Kong’s only reply came from a late penalty by Matt Rosslee after the centre’s committed chase of fly-half Liam Owen’s booming up-and-under from the Kenyan 22-metre line put the defence under pressure.

Rosslee and Owens marked their international debuts today with four other newly capped players joining the fray from the bench in the second half.

Kenya added two more tries after play resumed to put the game further out of reach. Winger Darwin Mukidzu was a one-man wrecking crew as he paced his side with a perfect six goals from six attempts (two penalties and four conversions), while setting up Kenya’s third try before claiming the fourth.

The scrum was perhaps the only bright spot for the visitors, with Hong Kong’s eight competing well, including in the second half, when hooker Alexander Post, lock Mike Parfitt and flanker Joey Cheung Ho-yin all came on to earn their first caps. The forwards were unable to match that performance in the lineout however, damaging their hopes of playing an old fashioned structured possession game and slowing down their opponents.

Hugo Stiles made it on late in the match as Jones ensured all of Hong Kong’s potential debutants saw the pitch. The new caps accounted for all of Hong Kong’s points when Stiles crossed for his first test try late in the match as Hong Kong took full advantage of a yellow card against Kenya in the 60th minute to camp out on the Kenyan five-metre line. Liam Owens nearly scored in the corner, but showed good awareness and off-loaded the ball to his long-time U20s backline partner Stiles for the try. Rosslee added a nice conversion from the touchline to bring the final score to 34-10 to Kenya.

The result will likely see the two sides swap places in the World Rugby rankings after Hong Kong entered the test ranked 22nd trailed by Kenya at 24.

Watching the match stream it was massively frustrating to see Hong Kong continue to make basic unforced handling errors. The All-Blacks have shown for a decade that ball skills and being comfortable with ball in hand are the way to win modern rugby matches. The vast improvements that teams like Argentina and Kenya have made in recent years is because they have taken this lesson to heart.

So as a fan it’s sad to see that despite being far better funded than both those countries we continue to lose games because of our unforced basic handling errors. Losing because you are outplayed by a better team on the day is one thing, continually losing important games year after year because we gift the opponents the ball is getting really frustrating.

Hong Kong SAR v Kenya:
1. Ben Higgins, 2. Jamie Tsang, 3. Jack Parfitt, 4. Adrian Griffiths, 5. Fin Field, 6. Nick Hewson (Captain), 7. Mathew Lamming, 8. Dan Falvey, 9. Adam Rolston, 10. Liam Owens*, 11. Charles Higson-Smith, 12. Tyler Spitz, 13. Matt Rosslee*, 14. Jamie Robinson, 15. Ed Rolston. Reserves: 16. Alex Post*, 17. Alex Ng Wai-Shing, 18 Adam Fullgrabe, 19. Mike Parfitt*, 20. Tony Wong, 21. Joey Cheung Ho-Yin*, 22. Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, 23. Hugo Stiles*.
*First Hong Kong Cap

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Kenya A 24-18 Hong Kong Select

Hong Kong’s Select XV, with eight players marking their senior debuts, lost to Kenya A 24-18 in Nairobi in the opening encounter of their two match tour.

The Kenya ‘A’ team featured some familiar names to those who watch sevens rugby, with the side led by Kenya’s sevens captain Innocent Simiyu and featuring sevens internationals Patrice Agunda, Mike Agevi and Dan Sikuta.

HK coach Leigh Jones’s pre-tour assessment of the opposition, when he summed up the two encounters as a test of Hong Kong’s collective organisation versus Kenya’s individual flair, proved correct with Kenya scoring several tries off counter attacks from deep within their own territory, including scoring twice in quick succession to open up the game shortly after half-time.

Hong Kong enjoyed the more positive start, attacking from deep early on to put the hosts under sustained pressure in the early stages. A series of minor miscues and unforced errors left the Kenyans’ dangerous attack stuttering and Hong Kong took full advantage of the gifted possession putting in sustained drives and penning Kenya deep in its half before the pressure told in the 20 minute. Winger Conor Hartley collected the ball off a driving attacking lineout deep in Kenya’s territory to barrel across the tryline for the first points of the match. The difficult touchline conversion attempt from Kjestrup was no good leaving Hong Kong 5-0 up.

Fiercely committed in defence, the intensity of the Kenyan tackling put the visitors on the back foot as Hong Kong began to concede possession. Late in the half, fullback Mike Avegi put the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty to close the gap to 5-3. Hong Kong replied well moving the ball methodically up field and forcing the Kenyans into conceding a second penalty for Kjestrup who struck it well pushing Hong Kong ahead 8-3.

In an early warning sign for the visitors the game started to get loose as the half wore on with Hong Kong’s accuracy suffering as a result. The forwards responded again with another massive effort from Hong Kong’s scrum forcing the Kenyans to concede a kickable penalty that Kjestrup slotted home to push the lead to 11-3.

In injury time, the Kenyans ignited with winger Cyprian Kuto breaking away for a late try from deep in his own half. Avegi’s conversion was good and Kenya trailed 11-10 going into the break.

Kenya book-ended that momentum building score with another to start the second half as reserve back Samson Onsomu collected the ball off a turnover before tearing away for another lengthy try against the run of play. Scrumhalf Kelvin Masai was on target with his conversion as Kenya took its first lead 17-11.

Moments later, Kenya struck again from deep with Kuto securing his brace after capitalising on an overthrown lineout on his five-metre line. 95 metres, a clean pair of heels and a second Masai conversion later and Hong Kong were left trailing 24-11 after a display of individual skills.

Hong Kong battled back with reserve front rower Jack Parfitt scoring the riposte. Matthew Rosslee made the conversion to bring the visitors back within a converted try at 24-18 with fifteen minutes remaining but despite opportunities to draw level Hong Kong couldn’t cross the line before time expired.

After the match Jones commented “I’m never too happy with a loss but it was a worthwhile game. There is a lot to be pleased with. We controlled the first half and created several chances that we weren’t able to finish today. In the second half they hit us with those two breakaway tries and their tails were up. It was pretty textbook in many ways to what we said before the tour. If your accuracy isn’t there or if you slip off the tackles with these guys they have the power and pace to make you pay and that was the case.”

“The experiment in coming here to look at guys under test pressure was a success and we got a lot from it. Now we’ll look to regroup and work on some of our accuracy issues and lick our wounds for the test,” Jones concluded.

Eight Hong Kong players made their senior squad debuts last night including Premiership standouts Ben Roberts and Matthew Rosslee, both of whom will likely win their first caps in Saturday’s test. Also among the new faces was former U20s captain Mike Parfitt, who formed a locking duo with Fin Field playing in just his second senior match. U20s sevens captain Hugo Stiles started at fullback while his long-time backline partner Liam Owens came off the reserves bench in the second half.

“I’m really pleased with the young lads. They performed well. Mike Parfitt and Fin Field were strong in the second row and Liam Owens did well when he came on. Young Hugo Stiles at fullback showed the class that he has,” said Jones.

Hong Kong Sevens players are not involved in the tour as they train for the upcoming Asia Rugby Sevens Series which kicks off on 2 September at HK Football Club.

Hong Kong Select:
1. Adam Fullgrabe, 2. Jamie Tsang, 3. Rohan Cook, 4. Mike Parfitt*, 5. Fin Field, 6. Tony Wong, 7. Joey Cheung Ho-Yin*, 8. Nick Hewson (Captain), 9. Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, 10. Jason Kjestrup*, 11. Conor Hartley*, 12. Jamie Robinson, 13. Matt Rosslee*, 14. Jonny Rees, 15. Hugo Stiles*. Reserves: 16. Ben Roberts*, 17. Ben Higgins, 18. Jack Parfitt, 19. Dan Falvey, 20. Matt Lamming, 21. Charlie Higson-Smith, 22. Liam Owens*, 23. Adam Rolston
* on debut

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Hong Kong on Tour in Kenya

Hong Kong takes on Kenya today in Nairobi as part of it’s first non-Asian fifteen-a-side tour since 2012. The sides currently ranked 22and 24 in the world respectively will play a two match series with the second game an official test match taking place on the 27 August.

Coach Leigh Jones 28-man squad for the tour features a majority of the members of the new Elite Rugby Programme, Hong Kong’s first ever professional programme for fifteens rugby, and several U20 players. Back row forward Nick Hewson will captain the tour party.

Although 22 top players are unavailable Jones added “Kenya is an important opportunity to examine these players at effectively a test level. It will be a fair step up from what they are used to at club level and we will see how they adjust”.

The four U20 players named in the squad, forwards Alexander Post and Mike Parfitt and backs Hugo Stiles and Liam Owens, will be hoping to make their full debut and join Finlay Field, another U20s veteran who made his senior debut versus South Korea earlier this year.

“It’s great to have the young guys involved. In the past we haven’t been able to keep tabs on them or influence their rugby or physical development and ultimately they lose out on three years of preparation. Recently we have started to reverse that trend. We are working hard to maintain ties with our top young players both in Hong Kong and overseas to ensure that they are involved at a reasonable playing level and provide them with solid programmes while monitoring their progress,” Jones said.

“The tour will give these players an opportunity to acquire a senior international cap in the second game, but it also provides them with some important exposure and makes them feel they are a part of something,” said tour manager Dai Rees.

“The players have trained hard all summer and want to represent Hong Kong. All of them are still a couple of years off of finishing university but we hope their inclusion will encourage more and more kids to return or even stay in Hong Kong. This will not only benefit the international side but the domestic league as well,” Rees added.

The remainder of the squad is drawn from players within the Elite Rugby Programme, including several players on the cusp of Hong Kong eligibility, among those is Valley standout Matthew Rosslee, who will become eligible during the tour and looks likely to return from Africa with his first senior cap. Hong Kong Cricket Club hooker Ben Roberts is another soon-to-be eligible player from the domestic leagues likely to earn his first cap on tour.

“Tours like this send an important message to players that if you make the effort, if you come back, participate and commit yourselves you can be selected for Hong Kong.” said Rees who added “Kenya and Zimbabwe regularly feature in the final repechage for Rugby World Cup. We are targeting to reach that stage again for 2019, so it is advantageous to measure ourselves against our potential opposition. We have played Zimbabwe recently in the Cup of Nations so this is a great opportunity to front up against Kenya”.

Jones is under no illusions about the challenges: “We want to win of course, but we are travelling effectively without 22 first-class players and Kenya are a big, athletic outfit. They have lots of pace and individual power. I think it will come down to our collective strength as opposed to their individuality and I’m interested to see if we can be organised enough on the pitch to nullify their threats.”

Hong Kong previously played Kenya in Dubai in 2011, winning 44-17 en route to a victory in the four-team tournament that also included Brazil and the UAE.

Hong Kong Team for Tour of Kenya
Adam Fullgrabe, Adam Rolston, Adrian Griffiths, Alex Ng Wai-Shing, Alexander Post, Ben Higgins, Ben Roberts, Charles Cheung Ho-Ning, Charles Higson-Smith, Conor Hartley, Daniel Falvey, Edmund Rolston, Finlay Field, Hugo Stiles, Jack Parfitt, Michael Parfitt, Jamie Robinson, Jamie Tsang, Jason Kjestrup, Jonny Rees, Liam Owens, Matthew Lamming, Matthew Rosslee, Nick Hewson (Captain), Cheung Ho-Yin, Rohan Cook, Tony Wong Ho-Yeung, Tyler Spitz.

Additional reporting and photos 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

Singapore 7-40 Hong Kong

Hong Kong scored seven tries in a 40-7 away win over Singapore at the National Stadium in a warm-up match for the final leg of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship series with Japan on 28 May.

It was a match Hong Kong should have won comfortably and did, but the scoreboard hides another error strewn performance, riddled with handling errors and turnovers. Coach Jo Hull is effusive in her praise of the team, but must know that a better team than Singapore would have punished the away side’s generosity. The Hong Kong squad know they have a lot of work to do if they’re to ‘live up to’ their potential and pose Japan any sort of challenge in the away leg of the Asian Women’s Championship.

A hot start saw Hong Kong score in the opening minute through sevens captain Natasha Olson-Thorne, playing at outside centre. The visitors’ second try came through prop Tammy Lau Nga Wun in the ninth minute. Aggie Poon Pak Yan converted Olson-Thorne’s tally but missed on Lau’s, before adding a penalty in the 14th minute.

One of Asia’s premier finishers, Poon scored Hong Kong’s next ten points with a try in the 26th minute and a second ten minutes later for a first-half brace, giving Hong Kong a commanding 25-7 lead at the break. Poon finished with 15 points from the outing from two tries, a penalty and a conversion.

In the second half, Hong Kong exploded out of the blocks once again with a try in the 43rd minute as Lau, the HKRU Women’s Premiership player of the season, collected her brace.

Captain Chow Mei Nam added to the forwards’ contribution with her first try for Hong Kong in the 60th minute. Candy Cheng scoring Hong Kong’s seventh try of the match twelve minutes later to give Hong Kong the 40-7 win.

Hong Kong coach Jo Hull credited her forwards for a “dominant” display against an imposing Singapore pack as a key part of the victory. “Our set piece performed very well and we were able to set up a dominant platform at the scrum and line-out which led to the pack tries,” said Hull.

She also credited Lai Pou Fan, who came in at fly-half this week. “She really controlled the game and the combination with Colleen Tjosvold at scrumhalf worked really well,” said Hull, adding that, “We used our full bench today to have a look at some new combinations and the girls are creating some real selection dilemmas now. There is a lot of positive competition, not just to stay in the match-day 23 but to crack the starting XV which shows the growing confidence in the side.”

After calling for action and not words, particularly from the senior players in the squad, after last week’s 39-3 loss to Japan, Hull was pleased with the performance and her first win with Hong Kong.

“We played with a lot of confidence today, which was great to see. We generated a lot more go-forward ball and were much more accurate under pressure then last week,” Hull said. “We can take a lot of confidence and some good lessons away from this match, particularly about what kind of shape we want to be in in our attack, but we’re under no illusions about what this result means for Japan.”

“We didn’t talk about the result after the game, we were purely focused on our own performance goals which is another positive indicator of what we are building. It was my first win with the team in four outings so far, so I’m obviously happy to get that under my belt, But the win is more important as a building block now and I’m just really pleased with the way the team responded after last week.”