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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 Ready For Rugby 7s Olympic Repechage Challenge

The winner-take-all sixteen team Olympic Games repechage tournament in Monaco this weekend (18-19 June) will produce the 12^th and final team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Rugby Sevens competition.

After reaching the World Rugby World Sevens Series qualifier final at the Hong Kong Sevens in April, Hong Kong have been seeded as the top non-World Sevens Series team in Monaco, topping Pool D ahead of Spain, Mexico and South Korea. World Series veterans Samoa, Russia and Canada head the other three pools.

Coach Gareth Baber has selected an experienced squad with 11 of the 12-man team from the Asian qualifiers in November retained. The squad includes seven of the 12 players that reached the qualifier final at the Hong Kong Sevens last April. With some lingering injury concerns, the squad will travel with 13 players with the final 12-man squad to be named later in Monaco.

Baber has given the nod to up-and-comers Calvin Hunter and the 21-year old Eric Kwok Pak Nga, including them in the travel squad to Monaco. Kwok is in line to potentially mark his Hong Kong debut if he is included in the final 12 for this weekend. Hunter has had several senior squad selections on the Asian series in recent years but will potentially make his 7s debut in the Olympic qualification campaign in Monaco.

Captain Max Woodward, who was held out of the Hong Kong Sevens and the Asia Rugby Championship campaign to rest an ailing quad, returns to the squad as does winger Tom McQueen, whose recovery from a shoulder injury picked up in the domestic Premiership season remains on track.

Rowan Varty, Yiu Kam Shing, Jamie Hood and Alex McQueen add weight to a seasoned squad, while second-generation stars Cado Lee Ka To, Jack Capon, Chris Maize and Michael Coverdale are also included.

“It’s great to have Max and Tom back. They’re both good sevens players and big leaders in our team. They were born to play on stages like these and I hope there are more opportunities for them to do so,” said Baber.

“Both Calvin and Eric came up through the Under 20s sevens and have been training with the senior squad at the HKSI for years. They bring a bit of freshness, innocence even, to the side in just wanting to go out and play rugby. I’m excited to see how they will progress in a pressure tournament like this.

“Calvin has been there and done that – and equipped himself well. He made some mistakes, but he is learning from them and I think Eric will be in a similar position, but we all know that Eric is capable of producing good rugby for us when we need it,” Baber added.

Woodward is also confident in the squad saying, “We’ve kept a core group of players so our preparations have been good. Calvin and Eric have been training with us for a while and have improved a lot. They haven’t had much game time or a chance to show themselves, so it will be good for them get stuck in and gain experience.”

Woodward is also pleased with Hong Kong’s pool saying, “It’s good to have three teams we’ve played before in our pool as it can be a scary prospect playing teams you don’t know much about. Spain, Korea and Mexico are all good sides – we know this – but they’re also sides we’ve beaten before so we can take some confidence going in,” Woodward said.

The captain isn’t fazed by the prospect of meeting World Series core teams in Monaco either: “We know we have the game to challenge any team and win matches, but it’s about our consistency and hitting our performance markers every time we play. Regardless of what happens there isn’t really any pressure on us. These are the tournaments we want to play in. We don’t have enough chances like this so we’re excited to give it a go and see what happens,” added Woodward.

Before that prospect can be realised, Hong Kong will need to finish at or near the top of the pool. Spain poses the toughest challenge but Hong Kong will be buoyed by their 12-7 win over the Spaniards in last year’s World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier.

“This squad is experienced,” said Baber, “even the guys with few caps are part of the HKSI programme. We have some changes in personnel with the eligibility issue around what type of squad we can field, but the players know what they need to do and we set high standards for ourselves,” added Baber.

Baber knows that advancing at the top of the pool only earns Hong Kong the opportunity to play against teams like Samoa, who finished in the top ten on the World Series this season and collected their first Series win since 2012 in Paris just last month, but it is a prospect he relishes.

“That is where we want to be. We prepare the exact same way for a game like that as we would for any other game in the pool or on the Asian Series. We want to test ourselves and the World Series is the standard we want to be hitting.

“If we can play like we know we can, then there is an opportunity for us to nick results and push ourselves forward. But we need more opportunities like Monaco. What we can get done in two days of an international tournament like this is worth six months on the training field,” concluded Baber.

On the verge of his first appearance for Hong Kong young flyer Eric Kwok Pak Nga is trying to contain his excitement. “It has always been my dream to play for Hong Kong. I have a few goals in my rugby career. I want to represent Hong Kong, make the squad for the Hong Kong Sevens and of course represent Hong Kong in an Olympics. I have a chance to make two of those goals come true this weekend and I hope I can grab it. I’m excited, a bit nervous maybe, but I’m tying not to put myself under too much pressure. There are a few guys out with injuries, so I just want to make the best of this opportunity if I’m selected.

“I think my finishing and my stepping is one of my strongest skills. Hopefully I can contribute to the team offensively and also contribute to the team environment and bring my passion for the game and for the team into the competition environment. Even I’m not the most experienced guy I want to have an impact on the team,” said Kwok.

Olympic Repechage Tournament fixtures are here

Hong Kong 7s Squad for Olympic Repechage Tournament in Monaco
Max Woodward (Captain), Rowan Varty, Yiu Kam Shing, Jamie Hood, Alex Mcqueen, Tom McQueen, Lee Ka To, Calvin Hunter, Kwok Pak Nga, Jack Capon, Michael Coverdale, Chris Maize, Mark Wright.

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

Hong Kong Look to Regain Respect

Hong Kong women’s coach Jo Hull has made only one change to the starting VX that defeated Singapore 40-7 on May 14 for her side’s Asia Rugby Championship match against Japan on Saturday.

Lock Cheng Ching-to comes on to the ground and Claire Forster moves to the bench to make way, while Nam Ka-man and tighthead prop Lee Ka-shun also come in on the reserves bench.

Hull said the changes have been made predominantly to reward players for good form in the win against Singapore. “From the Singapore game, we took a lot of positives about what we can do and what we’d like to try and implement against a harder defence against Japan,” she said. “It’s given them a boost and I think it just gave them an opportunity to play a little bit more against Singapore. Going into to Japan it’s now all about transferring those skills.”

Hong Kong were outclassed by Japan in the opening match of the series, falling 39-3, and while making up the points to win the title may be unrealistic, for Hull closing the gap is not.

“It would be good to win the Asia Championship, but that’s more of an outcome for me,” Hull said.“Our goal in this game is our specific areas, because that’s how we can measure improvement as opposed to points for and against at the end of a tournament.”

The team has been training hard and will be looking for a kick start through its set piece work on the weekend after a poor showing in the lineout against Japan last time around. Hull is hopeful the fitness and in-match pressure gained by the extra game against Singapore will give her side a slight edge over Japan.

“The key thing is improvement,” Hull said. “We’ve talked about improving every time and that’s an absolute must. The result is important but the most important thing is that we improve on performances in some key specific areas that we’ve identified against Japan.”

The performance of centre combination Natasha Olson-Thorne and Rose Fong Siu-lan will be crucial to Hong Kong’s chances, while fly-half Lai Pou-fan should also have a big say on proceedings.

“Having Rose and Natasha in the centres, if they operate well, they could be a real good strike power both in attack and defence,” Hull said. “That is what are aiming to do, create a bit more space, hopefully, this week.”

Hong Kong will use the disappointment from their last effort against Japan for motivation and Hull hopes the match can set the ball rolling for the team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

She has an eye even further into the future as well: “In terms of the development, I’m hoping we can go out and put on a performance that really inspires young kids to play the game,” she said.“I’m not sure we did that against Japan at home so we’ve got a job on our hands Saturday.”

Hong Kong Women’s XV v Japan (28 May):
1. Lau Nga Wun; 2. Winnie Siu Wing Ni; 3. Cheung Shuk Han; 4. Cheng Ching To; 5. Chow Mei Nam (captain); 6. Christine Gordon; 7. Melody Li Nim Yan; 8. Amelie Seure; 9. Colleen Tjosvold; 10. Lai Pou Fan; 11. Chong Ka Yan; 12. Rose Fong Siu Lan; 13. Natasha Olson-Thorne; 14. Aggie Poon Pak Yan; 15. Adrienne Garvey.
Substitues: 16. Lee Ka Shun; 17. Ku Hoi Ying; 18. Angela Chan Ka Yan; 19. Claire Forster; 20. Tsang Sharon Shin Yuen; 21. Lindsay Varty; 22. Cheng Tsz Ting; 23. Nam Ka Man.

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.”

HK Largely Unchanged Against Singapore

Empty cliches abound as Hong Kong women’s coach Jo Hull names an almost unchanged squad for the one-off test against Singapore. Hong Kong, dire against Japan last week, should win comfortably but really need a ‘performance’ to show that the talented squad is improving not falling away as the quality of women’s rugby across the globe increases in leaps and bounds. The match will kick off at 17.30 and serves as the opener for the final Sunwolves’ Super Rugby match of the season in Singapore when they take on the Stormers.

Singapore are a relative unknown for Hull, who is in her first Asian Championship season as coach, but she expects a good challenge:“We don’t know too much about Singapore but we expect their forwards will be dominant and know that they have a good number of their sevens team in the squad. They will be massively up for this match being played in the new Stadium as well, but our focus continues to be on our own processes and correcting some of the faults we identified against Japan.”

“We know we have a job to do after last weekend. Our focus has been on defence and our set piece, as well as improving our accuracy in attack. We had a lot of opportunities against Japan but our accuracy wasn’t where we needed it to be. Singapore will provide another opportunity for us to refine that ability to play under pressure,” Hull added.

Hull has made three changes to the side that lost to Japan last week 39-3. The experienced Lai Pou Fan comes in to the squad for the first time this season at fly-half with Rose Fong Siu Lan moving to centre.

Lindsay Varty and Lau Sze Wa come on to the reserves bench, replacing Lee Tsz Ting and Nam Ka Man. Lee started at 12 against Japan with Fong taking her place against Singapore, while Nam Ka Man came off of the bench in the opening round of the women’s championship.

“We want to use this game to trial some new combinations,” noted Hull. “Lai brings a lot of experience and is a quality player, especially in attack. Rose is a natural 10 or 12 so there is no problem with her moving along the line. The addition of Dailo [Lai] should also help us improve our accuracy in the backline, which was an issue against Japan.

“Lindsay also adds another layer of experience and is very versatile and can play at scrumhalf or on the wing. She’s strong defensively, which is something we have bee focusing on this week. Sze Wa is a real attacking threat and I’m excited to see her play,” Hull said.

The tie with Singapore is a “massive” opportunity for Hong Kong’s according to Hull. “This game is massive for us in preparing for the away leg in Japan. Last week was our first match in five months so some of the issues were understandable, but I want action and not words and I am expecting our senior players to step-up tomorrow against Singapore,” Hull added.

“I was really impressed by the attitude in the squad this week. The girls were bitterly disappointed with the result against Japan but they aren’t feeling sorry for themselves and I’m pleased with the way they came into training this week.

“But now it’s time for some application. The girls are determined to address the issues from last week, but at some point we need to produce the results, and that starts tomorrow,” said Hull.

Hong Kong Women’s XV v Singapore (14 May):
1. Lau Nga Wun; 2. Winnie Siu Wing Ni; 3. Cheung Shuk Han; 4. Claire Forster; 5. Chow Mei Nam (captain); 6. Christine Gordon; 7. Melody Li Nim Yan; 8. Amelie Seure; 9. Colleen Tjosvold; 10. Lai Pou Fan; 11. Chong Ka Yan; 12. Rose Fong Siu Lan; 13. Natasha Olson-Thorne; 14. Aggie Poon Pak Yan; 15. Adrienne Garvey; 16. Karen So Hoi Ting; 17. Ku Hoi Ying; 18. Angela Chan Ka Yan; 19 Cheng Ching To; 20. Tsang Sharon Shin Yuen; 21. Lindsay Varty; 22. Cheng Tsz Ting; 23. Lau Sze Wa.

Additional reporting & image: HKrugby

Hong Kong 3-39 Japan

The Hong Kong Women’s XV lost to Japan 39-3 at Hong Kong Football Club in the first of a home and away series to decide the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2016.

A chronic lack of playing time, this was Hong Kong’s first XV’s game in over six months, was ruthlessly exposed in a four-try first half, as the Sakura easily and repeatedly created space on the edges of Hong Kong’s defensive line. Japan’s opening try came in the first minute with winger Honoka Tsutsumi finding ample space off a simple overlap to cross over untouched in the corner. Captain Ai Tasaka’s conversion from the touchline was unsuccessful, setting a disappointing pattern for the kicker who would miss six of eight conversion and penalty attempts on the day.

Hong Kong then enjoyed its best patch of the game with a sustained effort of possession and territory, keeping Japan penned in behind their 22-metre line for a ten-minute stretch. Hong Kong’s pressure earned a kickable penalty attempt but the hosts opted instead for the quick tap and run turning over possession deep in Japan’s half.

Hong Kong wouldn’t get its hands on the ball for significant periods for the rest of the match as the forwards struggled to set a positive platform. The host team’s ball-carriers were frequently met by a determined Japan defence that snuffed out any attacking opportunities before they could start.

While holding their own in the scrum, Hong Kong lost five line-outs in the first half, further damaging their ability to build successful phases in attack. The remainder of the opening half saw Hong Kong on the back foot defensively.

In the 22nd minute, Japan captain Tasaka picked an excellent running line from fullback to enter the backline at pace and against the direction of Hong Kong’s drift defence, creating space for a 30 metre try. Tasaka converted her solo effort to give Japan a 14-0 lead. Two further first half tries from winger Eriko Hirano in the 22nd minute and No.8 Misaki Suzuki gave the visitors a commanding 22-0 lead and secured the bonus point for Japan in the first half.

Hong Kong’s only reply came from a penalty in the 30th minute by winger Aggie Poon Pak Yan, who came off injured in the second half, bringing the score to Japan 22-3 at halftime.

With Hong Kong unable to establish an attacking platform and the margin of defeat continuing to mount, the hosts turned to dogged defence in the second half. Hong Kong made 80 tackles in the match, with centre Natasha Olson-Thorne leading by example with some emphatic hits that provided one of the few bright spots in Hong Kong’s defensive effort.

Japan started the second half strongly, putting the hosts under pressure from the outset as Hong Kong threw everything into maintaining their defensive line and keeping the scoring down. Hong Kong’s hopes of keeping a clean sheet after the break held until the final ten minutes when a raft of substitutions saw errors creep in on both sides. Angela Chan Ka Yan and Sharon Tsang Shin Yuen both marked first caps for Hong Kong this afternoon.

Japan took advantage of the disarray, exploding for three late tries in quick succession with centre Miki Terauchi scoring in the 72nd minute after another long break down the outside saw the Hong Kong defence conceding numbers out wide. Captain Tasaka collected her brace in the 72nd minute, converting her own try from in front of the posts, before lock Ai Hyugaji closed the scoring with a try at the hooter to give Japan the 39-3 victory after the missed conversion.

“It was a tough day at the office,” commented Hong Kong coach Jo Hull after her first test match against Japan, adding that, “Japan came out really strong and fast and with their fitness and skills they executed better than us under pressure. In the second half we held them at nil-nil for a good thirty minutes but at the end of the day we didn’t execute under pressure and we’re disappointed with that. The breakdown area really hurt us today and we didn’t keep our defensive structures in the first half. We just put ourselves under too much pressure.

Hull noted that despite the score line there was some positives to build on for the away leg: “There were some things in the second half we can build on and I’m really proud of the girls. Nothing changes there. This is the first game in what will be a very long international season for us so we just have to continue working hard.”

The comprehensive defeat owes more to poor planning and management at the HKRU than lack of talent on the pitch. The standard of women’s rugby is rapidly improving across the globe and long gone are the days where a team can get together once every six months and be competitive. There’s a strong nucleus of talented and committed players in the women’s squad, but to improve they need to play regularly against teams overseas. Why wasn’t there at least one if not two warm-up internationals for both the women and the men (who were also thrashed by Japan 38-3) before the Asia Championships started?

Hong Kong will travel to Singapore for a test match next Saturday with the away leg against Japan on 28 May in Tokyo.

Hong Kong: Chow Mei-nam (c), Adrienne Garvey (vc), Natasha Olson-Thorne, Rose Fong Siu-lan, Colleen Tjosvold, Lindsay Varty, Lai Pou-fan, Melody Li Nim-yan, Karen So Hoi-ting, Amelie Seure, Chan Ka-yan, Cheng Ching-to, Christine Gordon, Claire Forster, Ku Hoi-ying
Substitutes: Tammy Lau Nga-wun, Lee Ka-shun, Winnie Siu Wing-ni, Ku Hoi-ying, Ho Wing-lam, Cheng Tsz-ting, Chong Ka-yan, Lau Sze-wa, Mak Ho-yee, Aggie Poon Pak-yan, Sharon Tsang Shin-yuen, Lee Tsz-ting, Nam Ka-man

Japan: Mina Saito, Chihiro Kobayashi, Saki Minami, Hyugatera Ayo, Mimura Assay, Ayumi Inui, Yui Nozomi, Suzuki JitsuSaki, Noda Yume, Minoru Yamamoto, Eriko Hirano, Miki Terauchi, Zhongshan Shione, Tsutsumi Honohana, Ai Tasaka
Substitutes: Sayaka Yamamoto, Kataoka Mizuho, Shin Ito Aoi, Ayano Sakurai, Yuki Ito, Manami Inoue, Mana Furuta, Ayu Shimizu

Scores: 1m Japan – Tsutsumi T (5-0); 12m Japan – Tasaka T (10-0); 13m Japan – Tasaka C (12-0); 22m Japan – Plain T (17-0); 26m Japan – Suzuki T (22-0); 30m Hong Kong – Aggie Poon PG (22-3); 71m Japan – Terauchi T (27-3); 77m Japan – Tasaka T (32-3); 77m Japan – Tasaka C (34-3); 80m Japan – Hyugatera T (39-3)

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Women’s XV Squad for Asian Championship Annouced

Hong Kong Women’s XV will play a home and away series against Japan to settle the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) after perennial contenders Kazakhstan withdrew from the competition. The tests will be played before the respective Hong Kong v Japan men’s fixtures with the women opening their campaign at home at 1:30pm this Saturday (7 May) at HK Football Club – entry is free, so head down and cheer on our talented women.

Coach Jo Hull yesterday announced her debut squad of 28 players for the ARC campaign, which will include the two matches versus Japan and a game against Singapore on 14 May. With Kazakhstan’s withdrawal, Hong Kong’s tour of Spain last December – the first and hopefully not last ever tour for the Women’s XV outside of Asia – looks even more vital in hindsight.

Hull agreed that that opportunity will now prove even more useful than initially expected, saying, “I think now is when we’re going to see the pay-off from the Spain Tour. We have pretty much been working non-stop since we came back with the group and the players have had time to reflect on the tour and the physicality and skill level required in the elite women’s game. The last few months have been focusing on implementing what we have been working on since Spain.”

Hull has placed a premium on experience in the squad with 18 of the players coming from the Spain Tour. Of the ten not present in Spain, five come in from the sevens programme in experienced campaigners Christine Gordon, Lai Pou Fan and Lindsay Varty, and up and comers Nam Ka Man and Lee Tsz Ting. Those five join several of their fellow HKSI elite athletes in the ARC squad, with 13 of the 28 players coming from the sevens set-up including captain Natasha Olson-Thorne.

Also returning to the squad after a lengthy recovery from injury is the influential Rose Fong Siu-Lan, a top class player who will be a massive addition to the side. “Rose has been working really hard and it is great to have her back,” said Hull, who previously coached Fong in the United Kingdom. “She is a quality fly-half who can help direct our game on the pitch. Saturday will be her first test match since her injury and I know that she is really looking forward to returning.”

Reflecting the dominance of recent Premiership seasons, the majority of the squad come from Gai Wu Falcons and league title and grand champion winners Valley, with 12 and six players respectively in the final 28. USRC Tigers have six representatives followed by Kowloon and Hong Kong Football Club with two each. Gai Wu No.8 Chow Mei Nam will captain the squad with Valley’s Adrienne Garvey as vice-captain, reprising their roles from Spain.

Hull continued “Our back row is a real strength. Our tight five, while not overly experienced in numbers of caps, has really improved in their fitness and in mastering the unique skillsets required for their positions while our backs are hugely experienced and have some real pace.”

Hull is particularly excited about the new culture developing around the team since the Spain tour. “We’ve seen a huge improvement in the work the team has put into their strength and conditioning, something which has been helped by our access to the facilities at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi).

“With the recent tests in Spain, this year’s inaugural Super Series competition, the growing competitiveness of the Premiership and the facilities at THEi, I would say that this is the best and most intense build-up the Hong Kong Women’s XV have ever had ahead of a competition. The training centre at THEi is a fantastic resource and has not only enhanced our performance but helped focus the environment within and around the team,” Hull added.

“We target to take two from two against Japan, but we fully respect what they bring to the table and we don’t say that lightly. We haven’t beaten Japan for a long time, although we have come close on recent occasions. We know Japan will be supremely fit and ferocious in the contact area. The key for us is how we match that physicality and how we manage the game beyond the set piece. We want the players to express themselves. The team are getting much better at playing what is in-front of them and playing with innovation and we want them to feed off the occasion and the opportunity to play Japan at home.”

Hong Kong Women’s Squad for the Asia Rugby Championship 2016:
Chow Mei Nam (captain), Adrienne Garvey (vice-captain), Natasha Olson-Thorne, Rose Fong Siu Lan, Colleen Tjosvold, Li Nim Yan, Karen So Hoi Ting,Amelie Seure, Chan Ka Yan, Cheng Ching To, Christine Gordon, Claire Forster, Ku Hoi Ying, Tammy Lau Nga Wun, Winnie Siu Wing Ni, Cheng Tsz Ting, Chong Ka Yan, Mak Ho Yee, Poon Pak Yan, Sharon Tsang Shin Yuen, Lee Tsz Ting, Nam Ka Man,Cheung Shuk Han