National 15s
HKFC Fire 5-21 Gai Wu Fawkes
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30
Tai Po Dragons 5-27 HK Scottish
@ Tai Hung Tang Recreation Ground, Kick-off: 16:30
Revolution SRC 7-5 HKCC
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00
CWB Pheasants 15-0 Police Sirens
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00
Valley Red 21-10 City
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
Photo: Valley Women’s Rugby Club
The Hong Kong Women’s Seven had a tough day in Tokyo, losing crucial matches to Japan (5-27) and Kazakhstan (5-29) in the first day of the final stage of the Asia Rugby Olympic qualifiers. The competition’s format, which has all six participating teams in a single pool, sees day two’s finals placings determined directly by pool results.
Japan and Kazakhstan, the winners and runners-up in the opening leg of the Olympic qualifier held in Hong Kong, emerged undefeated from day one. Those results will likely put the finals beyond reach for Hong Kong, barring an upset in the final pool round tomorrow when Japan and Kazakhstan play the fifth and sixth seeds Guam and Sri Lanka respectively, before playing each other in the last pool match ahead of the finals.
On present form, that match could preview the final, which Kazakhstan would need to win to keep their hopes of a direct Olympic berth alive.
China also struggled on day one, dropping its opening match to Japan 7-20 before losing to Kazakhstan 14-0, further damping Hong Kong’s hopes as China were the only other side outside of the leaders capable of shaking up the standings.
Slow starts were the problem for Hong Kong. That trend started in the opening match when Guam dominated possession and territory against the third seeds overall for nearly the entire first half. Late first half tries from captain Christy Cheng Ka Chi and vice captain Natasha Olson-Thorne righted the ship and set the platform for the final half when Aggie Poon Pak Yan, Stephanie Cuvelier, Amelie Seure and Chong Ka Yan all scored. Poon added three conversions with Lai Pou Fan adding one.
Another slow start proved lethal against Kazakhstan who mounted their finest performance of the season with a 29-5 win. With size and pace across the side, Kazakhstan put on a display, suffocating Hong Kong of any possession and scoring three tries before the break to take a 19-0 lead.
Kazakhstan maintained the pressure in the second half, scoring twice after the break, but most of their work came in defence of the lead, with Hong Kong having the lion’s share of possession. Late in the match Hong Kong began to string together consistent and structured phase play that rattled the Kazakh defence. Hong Kong scored a consolation try at the hooter with Amelie Seure finishing off a good period of offensive pressure with her second try of the day.
Hong Kong dropped its final match of the day to Japan but played its best rugby. After going down 5-0 early on, Aggie Poon Pak Yan leveled the scores after capitalizing on broken play to score in the corner. Japan’s second try came from a well-worked move at the base of a scrum that outfoxed the Hong Kong defence putting Mifuyu Koide over untouched. Hong Kong conceded a third try late in the half after having a player down with injury for the last minute leaving them outnumbered.
The Sakura Sevens were superb in defence in the second half keeping Hong Kong off the board while adding two more tries to win convincingly.
Hong Kong will play China and Sri Lanka in the final pool rounds tomorrow.
The annual farce of the Sevens ticket ballot begins again today as registration opens for the public ticket ballot. The registration period runs from 27 November to 31 January, 2016 with the ballot taking place on the 5 February, 2016 and winners notified that day by email.
There are 9,000 individual tickets on-sale. Since regular tickets are sold as 3-day pass. There’s actually only 3,000 tickets available to the public each day in the 40,000 seater stadium. The rest are whored out to corporate sponsors or as a ‘reward’ for joining (and funding) a local rugby club. You don’t even have to play rugby, a social member as long as you’ve paid the membership fees (For example SCAA Causeway Bay charges $900 annually for a non-playing membership) can apply to buy a full three day ticket at cost price. Or roughly added in with membership fees, about the same as you’d pay a street ‘reseller’ – which is where many of those tickets and those reserved forsale overseas end up. Sadly as the minuscule crowd that turned up for the Olympic qualifiers showed, it’s the event not the rugby that’s the attraction. So if you want a better chance of a sevens ticket, join a rugby club – you’ll support the local game and you never know you might even enjoy the rugby.
Those who ‘win’ in the ballot will need to pay for their tickets by 19 February 2016. The ticket cost is HK$300 for Friday, HK$750 for Saturday and HK$750 for Sunday. In addition an administration fee of HK$50 will be charge for each ticket.
To register http://hksevens.com/tickets/ballot-registration
The Hong Kong Women’s Sevens squad departed today for Tokyo, Japan where they will play in this weekend’s second leg of Asia Rugby’s Olympic qualification tournament. At the end of which one women’s team from Asia will automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after the completion of the tournament on 29 November.
After winning this year’s opening Asia Rugby Women’s Sevens Series tournament in Qingdao China, what once looked like a goal for 2020 is now a real – albeit slim – possibility for the 2016 after Hong Kong finished third in the opening leg of the two-stage qualifier at the Hong Kong Stadium on 7-8 November.
The women’s seven finished that tournament with a four win and two loss record – with losses coming against the eventual finalists Japan and Kazakhstan – but dispatched pre-tournament favourites China twice, including a 12-7 win in the third place play-off.
The result leaves Hong Kong needing an outright win in Tokyo, but also dependent upon the two finalists from the first leg not reaching this weekend’s cup match.Should either opponent reach the final in Tokyo they will have done enough to book their ticket to Rio on overall points across the series.
If Hong Kong win in Tokyo and Japan and Kazakhstan fail to reach the final, tie-breakers will come into effect. First up will be the head-to-head results between the two tied teams across the two Olympic qualifier events. If three teams are tied at the end of play on Sunday, point differentials across the series will be the deciding factor.
Hong Kong must win and win well this weekend. The hometown heroes have the advantage of heading to Japan with an unchanged side including flying winner Aggie Poon Pak Yan, who has been the revelation of the series.
Poon again proved that she is the deadliest finisher in Asian women’s rugby, leading all players with eight tries in Hong Kong earlier this month. Those totals bring her remarkable season tally to 25 tries and 24 conversions over the qualifier and two Asian sevens events so far in 2015, for a combined 173 points.
Hong Kong will need Poon to be on song once again as the team looks to make an all-out push for a historic Olympic berth. Squad veterans in captain Christy Cheng Ka Chi, vice captain Natasha Olson-Thorne and Candy Cheng Tsz Ting will also need to peak at the opportune moment to give Hong Kong any chance of success.
The Tokyo qualifier will again see six teams competing in a single pool, round-robin competition. Hong Kong will face Japan, Kazakhstan, China, Sri Lanka and Guam. Hong Kong will open in Tokyo against Guam, whom they blanked 29-0 earlier this month but it is the last two matches on day one that will determine Hong Kong’s chances as they face Kazakhstan and Japan in the closing ties on Saturday. Both sides beat Hong Kong in the first qualifier, with Japan handing the hosts a 36-0 whitewash to end day one at the HK Stadium – that match coming on the heels of Hong Kong’s highly physical 5-0 victory over China.
Coach Anna Richards commented on the squad’s performance from the opening leg, saying, “We were up-and-down unfortunately, but we still have a mathematical chance. It will be a tough one and we must now win it all this weekend.”
In Tokyo, Hong Kong will need to take matters into their own hands and hand Japan and Kazakhstan early losses to prevent them from reaching the final. Hong Kong’s opening pool match on day two is against China in a potential trap game after Hong Kong gained the upper hand on China in recent tournaments.
China, perhaps the most disappointing performer after many expected them to be Asia’s representatives in Rio, will kick off the second leg against Japan in the first match in Tokyo, a tie that could help upset the formbook and set the stage for a weekend of hoped for surprises.
After looking imperious in the opening leg, Japan will enter the tournament as the heavy favourites particularly as they enjoy a rare opportunity to play in front of their home fans. Japan’s women’s sevens have never played an Asia Rugby tournament at home.
Led by the inspirational Chiharu Nakamura, Japan will be intent on joining their men’s counterparts, who secured the Olympic berth earlier this month after coming back from a 10-point first half deficit to beat Hong Kong 24-10 in the final, next year in Rio.
Hong Kong Squad for Olympic Qualifier – Japan Leg
Cheng Ka Chi Christy (Captain), Natasha Olson-Thorne (vice Captain), Amelie Seure, Cheng Tsz Ting, Chong Ka Yan, Kwong Sau Yan, Lai Pou Fan, Lindsay Varty, Nam Ka Man, Poon Pak Yan Aggie, Sham Wai Sum, Stephanie Cuvelier.
Premiership
Tai Po Dragons 0-20 Valley Black
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30
CWB Phoenix 5-10 HKFC Ice
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00
USRC Tigers 70-0 Kowloon
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 19:30
National 15s
HK Scottish 5-10 Valley Red
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 16:30
Revolution SRC 7-12 City
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00
Police Sirens v HKFC Fire – postponed
@ Police Boundary Street, Kick-off: 18:00
USRC Tigers 5-48 HKCC
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
HKCC Ladies: Joan Yip, Wawa Li, Jo Harvey, Izzy Rivers, Nobuko Oda, Carolyn Champion, Zoe Wong, Lynda Nazer, Ashley Brooks, Tinley Wong, Brenda Chan, Emma Chung, Tissia Polycarpe, Serene Yee, Diana Li
Substitutes: Mhairi McLaughlin, Charlotte Berry, Hoi Yi Li, Elane Lau, Angie Ng, Kassie Chapel, Margaret Chan.
Try: Ashley Brooks
CWB Pheasants 22-0 Tai Po Dragons
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 19:30
National 10s
Revolution SRC 19-17 Tin Shui Wai
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30
HK Scottish 0-17 University Unicorns
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 17:15
City 25-17 DB Pirates
@ Tin Shui Wai, Kick-off: 18:00
The weekend’s fixture saw the HKCC Ladies squad travel to King’s Park to play a USRC Tigers side sitting one place above them in the league.
HKCC had learned some valuable lessons from the previous weekend and had put that into practice in the training sessions leading up to the game. It showed from the off with HKCC putting pressure on the Tigers keeping them at bay, however fortune was not on HKCC’s side and a momentarily lapse in concentration led to Tigers taking a 5-0 lead with a break down the blindside wing.
The opening 25 minutes saw a tense battle between the two squads with HKCC playing some of the best rugby of their season so far, putting together phase after phase, gaining yard after yard ending in a superb team try finished off by Scrum Half Ashley Brooks.
The hard working start took it’s toll and as HKCC began to tire the Tigers were all too happy to take advantage, adding 2 unanswered tries and going in at half time 15-5 up.
HKCC tried to regroup at the break as injuries and players looked burnt out after the explosive beginning to the first half.
The second half continued in the same vain as the latter minutes of the first half with the Tigers showing no signs of slowing down adding three more early tries to take the lead to 34-5.
HKCC showed a lot of spirit, courage and determination trying not to be disheartened as they attempted to penetrate the Tigers defence but the fierce opposition had other ideas. The Tigers showed more clinical finishing to end the game 48-5.
Again this week saw some great phases of play for HKCC to take heart from particularly in the opening 25 minutes. What is needed is to play at that level for the full game. The Tigers showed they will compete with most teams will surely be amongst it at the end of the season.
Women of the match for HKCC:
Back – Angie Ng
Forward – Carolyn Champion
HKCC Ladies: Joan Yip, Wawa Li, Jo Harvey, Izzy Rivers, Nobuko Oda, Carolyn Champion, Zoe Wong, Lynda Nazer, Ashley Brooks, Tinley Wong, Brenda Chan, Emma Chung, Tissia Polycarpe, Serene Yee, Diana Li
Substitutes: Mhairi McLaughlin, Charlotte Berry, Hoi Yi Li, Elane Lau, Angie Ng, Kassie Chapel, Margaret Chan.
Try: Ashley Brooks
