Tag: rugby
Women’s Rugby Results – 25 October, 2014
Premiership
USRC Tigers 25-0 Taipo Dragons
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 16:30
Valley Black 89-0 Kowloon
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 16:30
CWB Phoenix 0-39 Gai Wu
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00
National League 1
Revolution SRC 0-24 CWB Phoenix
@ Tai Hang Tung Rec. Ground, Kick-off: 16:30
HKFC Ice 31-17 City Sparkles
@ HKFC, Kick-off: 18:00
HKFC Ice: Lucy Burton, Amy Kong, Kim Kan, Stephanie Wright, Martina Colombo, Zuzanna Osinska, Royce Chan, Daisy Miers, Vanessa Choi, Aileen Ryan, Jane Cheung, Aysha Fiaz, Nicole Pang, Natalia Lech, Emma Shields
Substitutes: Eleanor Nixson, Jena Saffery, Madeline Adcock, Emma Leeds, Iris Chan, Leah Leung
Tries: Royce Chan (2), Nicole Pang (2), Emma Shields
Conversions: Aileen Ryan (3)
Police 7-83 HK Scottish
@ Tai Hang Tung Rec. Ground, Kick-off: 18:00
HKCC 17-5 Valley Red
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
HKRFU announce training squad for November tests versus Russia
The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) today announced its 33-man training squad to prepare for the upcoming tests against Russia, ranked 20th in the world, in November. Hong Kong will play Russia in a two-test series on November 8th at King’s Park and November 15th at Hong Kong Football Club. Both matches will kick off at 18.00.
The November 15th match will be the showpiece of a festival of rugby at Football Club. The Hong Kong versus Russia tie will be preceded by the NATIXIS Cup between French Top 14 club Racing Metro and the Hong Kong Football Club’s President’s Select at 15.00 with an HKFC-Shanghai interport game at 12.30. Leading French financial institution Natixis sponsors both Racing Metro and Hong Kong Football Club’s Rugby section. Attendance to all matches on both dates is free. 
The Hong Kong management team, headed by senior coach Andy Hall and manager Dai Rees, have selected a squad of 31 players to train for the Russia tests while seven other players have also been invited to train or placed on standby to add strength in depth for the campaign.
Rees, also the HKRFU head of technical development and performance, commented on the opposition saying, “We have been working with the IRB on bringing a team ranked near us in world rugby to push us out of our comfort zone. We had some negotiations, and Russia on the back of fighting to qualify for the world cup, was the ideal opponent.”
Russia is currently ranked 20th in the International Rugby Board world rankings while Hong Kong is ranked 24th.
“From a performance perspective, the main reason behind these tests is to vary our opposition and to play other teams rather than the usual suspects in Asia. We need this to push ourselves to the next level with qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2019 in mind,” said Rees. “We played Belgium here last December in two tests and were lucky enough to push our world rankings up by beating them twice. Hopefully we can repeat the feat against Russia,” Rees added.
The training squad includes many veterans of Hong Kong’s recent international campaigns, including the sweep of Belgium last December and the ARFU Asian 5 Nations and RWC 2015 qualification campaigns earlier this year.
But the selectors will need to plug a few key gaps after the retirements of front row forwards Stephen Nolan and Tom Bolland and No. 8 Pale Tauti. This will become even more important as Russia is expected to bring a physical, forward-orientated side to Hong Kong.
“We expect Russia to provide a stern test up front,” said HKRFU senior coach Andy Hall, “But from the footage we have seen they also have a balanced attack and skill sets that allow them to play a physical but quick tempo game.”
“The retirements of Tom, Steve and Pale leave considerable holes in our pack as will the unavailability of James Cooper for the test series, but it has been great to see [Societe Generale Valley props] Leon Wei and Alex Ng wreaking havoc for opposition front rowers in the league and we are excited to have [USRC Tigers’ hooker] Alvin Chik return to the training squad to give us more strength up front,” said senior coach Andy Hall.
Hall will also be able to evaluate the Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish duo of Jack Parfitt and John Aikman as additional front row support. Both are in contention to make their senior debuts for Hong Kong after being included in the training squad.
Elsewhere, Hall will be comforted by the fact that the remainder of the training squad is highly experienced with 23 players in the training squad having been capped at full representative level over the past two seasons. That experience is reinforced by the inclusion of eight members of Hong Kong’s sevens team that clinched the Asian sevens title last weekend in Beijing, sweeping all three events on the series in 2014.
The sevens squad members are all professional athletes at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, while four additional HKSI rugby sevens athletes have also been called upon in Charles Cheung, Andrew Bridle, Adam Rolston and Calvin Hunter.
Outside of the front row, the remainder of the forward pack in the training squad has a settled feel to it, with Nick Hewson, Matt Lamming, Paul Dwyer, Jack Delaforce, Bill Brant, Alex Harris, Lachlan Chubb and Ng and Wei all having proved their mettle on previous encounters.
Five players in the training squad are in contention to make their Hong Kong senior debut after having satisfied eligibility requirements. Those players are Hong Kong Football Club fullback Jimmy Richards, Kowloon back Duncan Pollock, the Hong Kong Scottish duo of Parfitt and Aikman and Tigers’ lock Calvin Hunter.
Hong Kong and Russia share something in common as both their Rugby World Cup 2015 qualification derailed by Uruguay. Hong Kong lost to Uruguay in the first stage of qualification in Montevideo, 28-3, while Russia lost a home and away series to Los Teros by an aggregate points difference of eight.
“We left Montevideo thinking it would have been a different story if we had had a home and away Series and Russia gives us an opportunity to test that theory,” said Hall. “They competed well against Uruguay and we know first-hand how challenging the South Americans are as opponents. Russia will be another step up from Belgium last year and hopefully our experience against Uruguay will stand us in good stead,” said Hall.
“The tests against Russia represent the next exciting phase for our international programme. While the rest of the world awaits Rugby World Cup 2015 in England, in Hong Kong we are already looking ahead and planning for 2019,” Hall added.
HKRFU Training Squad: Calvin HUNTER (USRC Tigers); Josh LI (HKFC); Michael COVERDALE (HKFC); Nick HEWSON (Valley); Andrew BRIDLE (Valley); Matt LAMMING (HKCC); Dave WHITEFORD (HKS); Jake PHELPS (HKFC); Lloyd JONES (HKFC); Max WOODWARD (Valley); Chris McADAM (Kowloon); Jamie HOOD (HKFC); Niall ROWARK (HKFC); Alex McQUEEN (HKCC); Jimmy RICHARDS (HKFC); Alex HARRIS (Kowloon); Alvin CHIK (USRC Tigers); Lachlan CHUBB (HKS); Bill BRANT (HKCC); Jack DELAFORCE (HKCC); Paul DWYER (HKCC); NG Wai Shing, Alex (Valley); Jack PARFITT (HKS); John AIKMAN (HKS); WEI Hon Sum, Leon (Valley); Adam ROLSTON (Valley); Charles CHEUNG (HKS); Duncan POLLOCK (Kowloon); Rowan VARTY (HKCC); YIU Kam Shing, Salom (Valley); Tom McQUEEN (HKCC).
Invited to Train: Tyler SPITZ; Reece HAMON; Ari ROGERS; JW MARKLEY; Michael WOODWARD; LEE, Jun Sing; Phil LEUNG.
Standby: Damian BAILEY; Tom HAYMAN; Tomasi LAWA; Jack NIELSEN; Jonny REES; Seb ALFONSI
Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 25 October, 2014
Leighton Asia HKCC Babes 15 – 0 Comvita City Ladies
Defensive superiority made all the difference for HKCC Babes at the weekend as they held off the challenge of well organised but ill-disciplined Comvita City Ladies at So Kon Po on Saturday. The first ten minutes set the tone of the game – HKCC dominating possession and territory, camped near the City try line but lacking the killer touch in linking phases together.
Making her full debut at tighthead prop, Jo Harvey impressed in early scrum exchanges, as HKCC set out clear attacking intent. But the Babes’ attacking play in the loose was sloppy, with miscommunication and some badly chosen running lines meaning that City were twice able to break out of their own 22 after withstanding prolonged pressure. The third time proved the charm though, as the experienced head and hands of fly half Julia Mason darted through a gap for the first try. And City were soon down to 14, a sin bin for repeat infractions at the breakdown. The resultant overlap was exploited with a sublime, scintillating, beautifully weighted, miss pass to inside centre Harriet Jamieson to touch down for HKCC’s second. City came back strongly, turning over the ball within a few minutes of the restart and making their first sustained break into the Babes’ half. City established their most promising position, with a line out on the ten yard line, but were thwarted by the half-time whistle.
The second half was dominated by a mis-firing scrum, with City first looking to run down the clock on a second sin-bin, and then the tiredness of novice packs beginning to show. The referee patiently called multiple resets to ensure that both sides scrummaged safely as the spectators (both on the sidelines and amongst the backs) looked on. Once out, City proved unable to make forward ground as HKCC kept up their high tackle rate, whilst niggling errors meant HKCC was unable to convert possession into points. But Captain Emily Tuck kept a cool head, with the Babes making smart decisions at penalties and making more use of the kicking game. And this paid off, City pushed back into their own half by a thumping kick from the fly half, and from resultant phases (including some outstanding rucking from Harvey, cementing her status as Player of the Game) the ball was shipped out to the right wing for Rosie Hui, who didn’t put a foot wrong all day, to race in for the third try of the game.
The game ended on a slightly sour note, with the referee spotting a punch thrown and duly red-carding the offending City player. HKCC pressed for a fourth try in the final minutes, but couldn’t find the breakthrough, leaving Head Coach Darren Cartlidge to reflect after the game that, “A win’s a win, but there is much to improve upon from this performance, particularly in building our attacking phases of play”. HKCC will look to make it three wins on the trot, against Valley at 1800 next Saturday.
HKCC Babes
Eva Rona, Cheryl Gourley, Jo Harvey, Lainie Man, Katie Rowbottom, Sarah Higgins, Wendy Sham, Rosie Wright, Emily Tuck, Lynda Nazer, Julia Mason, Harriet Jamieson, Lucy Thomson, Rosanne Hui, Apple Ng
Substitutes: Christy Igksa, Serene Yee, Olivia Lai
Tries: Julia Mason, Harriet Jamieson, Rosie Hui
Women’s Rugby Results – 18 October, 2014
National League 1
HKCC 15-0 City Sparkles
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 16:30
Match Report
HKCC Babes : Eva Rona, Cheryl Gourley, Jo Harvey, Lainie Man, Katie Rowbottom, Sarah Higgins, Wendy Sham, Rosie Wright, Emily Tuck, Lynda Nazer, Julia Mason, Harriet Jamieson, Lucy Thomson, Rosanne Hui, Apple Ng
Substitutes: Christy Igksa, Serene Yee, Olivia Lai
Tries: Julia Mason, Harriet Jamieson, Rosie Hui
CWB Phoenix 20-5 HK Scottish
@ Kings Park, Kick-off: 18:00
SCAA CWB Phoenix: Bobo Chin, Man Lok Tang, Pui Yan Cooliy Wong, Wing Sze On, Yan Yi, Choco Chan, Yin Ting Koko Kong , Hoi Yuet Wong, See Wai June Au, Ka Lok Ng, Sze Man Wong (c), Yuen Ying Tsang, Tsz Ling Lui, Yi Ting, Yoyo Cheung, Tsz Ching, Bella Mo, Abigail Chan
Substitutes: Ka Wai, Rita Lam, King Tao Au, Po Yi, Valerie Chhan, Hsioa Ching Phoenix Wu, Man Yan, Bactee Wong, Ching Yin Ling, Sheung Yee, Stephanie Siu
Police 0-30 Revolution SRC
@ Tai Hang Tung Rec. Ground, Kick-off: 18:00
HKFC Ice v Valley Red
postponed
National 10s
DB Pirates 15-42 Taipo Dragons
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 13:30
HKFC Fire 0-34 Kowloon
@ KGV, Kick-off: 16:30
USRC Tigers 103-0 University
@ KGV, Kick-off: 17:30
Tin Shui Wai 22-5 Gai Wu
@ Tin Shui Wai Community Sports, Kick-off: 18:00
Hong Kong Men sweep ARFU Asian Sevens Series, Japan Women win Beijing but China Women claim Asian crown in 2014
Hong Kong was crowned Asian sevens champions after they won the third and final leg of the Asian Rugby Football Union’s Asian Sevens Series in Beijing defeating South Korea 36-19 in the Cup final on Sunday.
Two tries each from veterans Rowan Varty and Nick Hewson, plus tries from Lee Jones and skipper Jamie Hood, paved the way for what in the end was a comfortable match made easier in the second-half when Korea was down to six men after a sin-bin. The victory extended Hong Kong’s domination of the series, winning all three legs, to finish unbeaten this season and allowing Hood and his team to wrest the title away from Japan. Hong Kong also won the series in 2012.
“We have continued the momentum that we started at the beginning of the Series in Hong Kong and we have come away with three tournament wins and we are very happy with that,” said pleased Hong Kong head coach Gareth Baber. “The goal that we set ourselves was to be number one in Asia and progress as a squad and force our way into contention to play in as many competitive tournaments as we can. The Asian Sevens Series was one of those goals and it was certainly one of our goals to be at the top of that tree when the final came around,” Baber added.
Hong Kong and South Korea, who finished second in the overall standings, will also qualify for the 2015 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens which will host an IRB Sevens World Series qualifying tournament to decide the core team to be promoted next season. Japan defeated Sri Lanka 24-19 to finish third in the Beijing event. Japan had earlier lost to South Korea in the semi-finals. Korean captain Lee Yong-seung scored the match-winning try after the hooter had sounded to give his young team a fantastic 24-21 victory. The third place finish sees Japan finish in third on the Asian Series behind Hong Kong and South Korea.
Korea fielding a side mostly drawn from the universities trailed Japan 14-7 at halftime, and then 21-14, before two late tries saw them enter their second Cup final in the three-legged series this season. Lee was superb as he dotted down from a last-gasp move to give the Koreans their second win over Japan in the series, having beaten them in the semi-finals in the first leg in Hong Kong too. Japan had looked a shadow of the team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon.
The Asian juggernaut had made wholesale changes ahead of Beijing, bringing in 11 players, and the failure to gel proved costly for coach Tomohiro Segawa’s side. Japan only just squeezed past Kazakhstan, 14-12, in the quarterfinals continuing their stuttering run from the first day when they had two narrow shaves beating the Philippines, 21-19, and China, 26-14, in pool play. But Korea didn’t let Lote Tuqiri’s team get off the hook pulling off a tense win.
Hong Kong had earlier beaten Sri Lanka in the other semi-final 26-0, after having demolished Thailand 55-0 in the quarterfinals. A hat-trick from barnstorming forward Max Woodward was enough to take care of Sri Lanka who never really looked like they could match Hong Kong in the contact areas.
In the women’s competition, Japan defeated China 24-19 to win their first tournament this season. Japan had also defeated China in the preliminary round and the second loss could be a sign of a slight shift in power in the women’s game.
“We are very happy. This season has been very difficult for us and we had many difficult situations this season but we were hungry to win this tournament,’ said Japan coach Akane Kagawa. “Our players are not very big physically compared to the other teams but as a team we have a great team spirit and a great team ethic and our strength this weekend has been playing rugby as a team and this was our best rugby so far this year,” Kagawa added
China, who qualified as a core team on the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in September, had their work cut out beating Kazakhstan in the semi-finals. It took a try from the last play of the match to allow China to eke out a 17-14 victory after having led 10-0 at halftime. Japan booked their berth in the final with a 17-0 victory over Hong Kong. Japan’s superior defence laid the foundation for victory as they put pressure on Hong Kong, who although enjoying loads of possession in the match, could find no way through.
Hong Kong had a consolation 14-12 win over Kazakhstan in the third place play-off. “It was a fantastic game, we started really well and then we let them back in from our mistakes, but the girls realized what they were doing and I thought they played exceptionally well this weekend. They really put it out there and gave it their all the whole weekend and I couldn’t be happier with our final result,” said Hong Kong coach Anna Richards.
Despite being pipped in their home cup final, China’s earlier win in Hong Kong and its runners-up position in Beijing were enough to see them crowned Asian sevens champions in 2014. Japan finished level with Hong Kong on the series table but edged them into second based on a superior points difference in matches between the two sides throughout the series.
Kazakhstan men topped off a superb performance from a young side to claim the Plate in Beijing, beating the Philippines 26-10, while the hosts China rebounded from a disappointing day one beating Singapore 31-7 to claim the Bowl. The Thailand women’s seven won the Plate in Beijing, beating Sri Lanka 25-5 in the final.
Hong Kong’s Tom McQueen and Jamie Hood finish at the top of the men’s scoring table after the three Series events. Hood finished with 113 points from 39 conversions and seven tries. Tom McQueen scored 19 tries over three tournaments to finish as second highest scorer on the Series with 95 points. Korea flyhalf Oh Youn Hyung finished in third on the scoring table with 76 points from four tries and 28 conversions.
For full results from the 2014 Beijing Sevens please visit: http://www.asian5nations.com/node/970
For final standings from the 2014 ARFU Asian Sevens Series please visit: http://www.asian5nations.com/a7s-series-table
For more information on the Asian Sevens Series please visit: http://www.asian5nations.com/asian-7-series
Hong Kong men and Japan women impress on Day One of ARFU Asian Sevens Series in Beijing
Hong Kong is within touching distance of winning back the Asian Sevens crown after they swept into the Cup quarterfinals at the last leg of the Asian Rugby Football Union’s Asian Sevens Series in Beijing on Saturday.
Easy wins over Chinese-Taipei, 38-7, and Singapore, 33-0, saw Hong Kong coast into the knockout stage on Sunday leaving head coach Gareth Baber a happy man. “It is important to create a bit of momentum going into the knockout out phase and the two wins did just that. Our first goal has been accomplished and it was pleasing that all our 12 players started a game today,” Baber said. 
Winners of the first two legs, Hong Kong need to finish third to secure the Asian crown, which they last wore in 2012. But Jamie Hood and his men will want to go all the way and do it in style by completing a hat-trick of titles.
While Hong Kong looked good, arch-rivals Japan had to pull out all the stops to get past the Philippines and China in the preliminary pool play. Japan narrowly defeated Philippines 21-19 and then saw off a determined challenge from China winning 26-14.
Japan with 11 changes to the squad that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon earlier this month couldn’t quite find their rhythm as they struggled to gel together. Although the side included sevens veteran Lote Tuqiri and four other players who took part in the first leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Australia – Japan are now a core team – they were pushed all the way by their feisty pool opponents. “It was tough today but I am very happy with the results. We have had no practise time together with this group and three or four of our players were playing their first sevens game, so I am pleased,” said Japan coach Tomohiro Segawa.
South Korea had a far easier time, routing the United Arab Emirates 50-7 before knocking out Thailand 31-7 to top their pool. “I’m very happy with our two games as we had a number of new players for this tournament. I think they played well and we look forward to tomorrow,” said Korean coach Chung Hyung-suk.
Sri Lanka, the other seeded team, also emerged unbeaten after the opening day with wins over Kazakhstan, 31-12, and Malaysia, 26-10. Malaysia, who arrived only a few hours before the action began, looked leaden-footed and seemed to feel the effects of their journey.
Sri Lanka’s new sevens coach Glen Christini said: “The boys have done well with the most important thing being getting those two wins and getting into the quarterfinals. But it wasn’t perfect by any stretch. We set ourselves a few defensive goals more than anything, that was the big gain that we wanted to make today, and we definitely have a bit more work to do there.”
The quarterfinal lineup will see Hong Kong taking on Thailand while Sri Lanka meets the Philippines. In the other half of the draw, Japan come up against Kazakhstan while South Korea meets Chinese-Taipei.
In the women’s competition, favourites China will take on Kazakhstan in one semi-final while Japan meets Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was on the losing end to Kazakhstan again, going down 19-12 in the match to decide which team would top the pool. Hong Kong had earlier defeated Singapore 24-0 and Sri Lanka 24-7.
“Kazakhstan are proving to be a bit of our bogey team. We are much closer to them than we were a year ago but small errors at crucial times are costing us,” said Hong Kong coach Anna Richards.
China went down narrowly, 12-7, to Japan in the crunch match in their pool to finish second. Japan topped the pool and will meet the second-placed finisher in the other pool, Hong Kong.
For full results from day one of the ARFU Asian Sevens Series in Beijing and tomorrow’s schedule please visit: http://www.asian5nations.com/node/970