Sportslinkpk Latest Sports News in English
Mission Accomplished: HK M7 thrash Japan Thailand cup final; W7 claim 4th
[Hong Kong, 24 October 2022]: The Hong Kong Rugby Union men’s sevens squad completed a successful warm-up for the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens (4-6 Nov.) by winning the opening tournament on the Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2022 in Thailand. Along the way, Hong Kong dispatched rivals South Korea 26-0 in the semi-final before demolishing another team competing next month in Hong Kong – Japan, 36-19, in the cup final.
Men’s coach Jevon Groves was justifiably proud of his side’s performance saying: “Our leaders stepped up again and that inspired the rest of the squad. Great performances from Russ [Webb], Seb [Brien], Cado [Lee], and the whole team was energized by the way Max Woodward was throwing himself around out there, and Max Denmark again showed that he is a world class finisher.
“But all of the squad can be proud of themselves. Those 12 have put themselves in a good position as we narrow down selection for the Hong Kong Sevens. Now we will come back and assess our physical condition; reflect and learn from this performance, and rejoin the wider squad in preparing for the big show in November.”
Hong Kong’s women’s seven successfully blooded three new caps in an outing that saw them reach the bronze medal match after being ushered out of the cup semis by Japan, 14-7. After losing to China 33-7, a motivated Thailand rebounded in front of its home support to beat Hong Kong and claim bronze 10-0.
It was a gutsy performance against Japan by the women. Despite being starved of possession in the opening half, Hong Kong’s defensive structures were solid as they held their rivals to just seven points until the waning minute of the half. That was when another unforced error spelled doom for Hong Kong – as it usually does at this level; a crooked throw in to the lineout in the final minute of the half-allowed Japan to double their score through a second try from wing flyer Wakaba Hara.
It could have been a momentum shifting score for Japan who led 14-0 at half-time, but Hong Kong were tenacious in the final period and wrested more ball from Japan down the stretch. Some hard charging runs from Natasha Olson-Thorne helped the SAR get behind the Japanese defence, but Hong Kong still had nothing to show for their effort through 12 minutes. The addition of Nam Ka-man at half-back was a positive one as the veteran set up a late try by sucking Japan’s defence into the line before deftly offloading to the onrushing Vivian Poon Hoi-yan. Poon had plenty of work to do as she dragged defenders over the line for the score and converted her own try to close the gap to 14-7 with 1.30 left.
Hong Kong pressure forced a Japanese miscue as two backs collided, knocking the ball forward. Hong Kong had a last chance with an attacking scrum as the hooter went. They maintained possession well for another minute, but this time Japan’s defence was patient, forcing Hong Kong inexorably backward. A strong offload in the tackle by Jess Eden put Poon into space with a half break in added time, but she was bundled into touch and forced to release a speculative ball infield which went forward. Japan pushed the ball into touch from the scrum to advance to the final.
Thailand blanked Hong Kong 10-0 with a collected performance in the 3rd/4th final. Hong Kong struggled to get out of their own half for long periods while Thailand scored late in both halves to run out convincing winners. Hong Kong were again let down by some unforced errors and pressing at key moments as the new players adjust to the pace of international sevens. The three new caps: Julia Mba Oyana, Georgia Rivers and Cherly So Yee-kei, all saw heavy playing time over the weekend. In the cup final, China beat Japan 21-17 after a last-second try.
Hong Kong’s men’s seven fared much better against a Japan side featuring some new faces. Japan were made to work hard for a 19-5 victory over UAE in their semi-final, while Hong Kong shut out South Korea 26-0 in their semi, adding to their two whitewashes on day one.
Hong Kong entered the cup with a plus 125 points differential and pushed that margin to 149 after a five-try first half as they led 29-5 at the break behind braces from Max Denmark and Seb Brien. Denmark’s tallies in the final pushed him into the tournament lead with eight tries in five games.
Both of Brien’s tries came from aggressive defensive play; the first coming off of a Max Woodward turnover at the 22-metre line, leaving Brien a simple pick and go to the line. Harry Sayers then disrupted Japan’s restart with the ball bouncing right into Brien’s hands as he scampered away for his second.
Hong Kong never let its foot off the gas in the second stanza and replied magnificently when Japan eventually broke loose for a long score down the far touchline to close the gap to 29-12. Woodward continued his captain’s knock with another inspirational play in the loose, turning over Japan at the restart. He worked the ball back to Russ Webb who replied with an 80-metre score of his own to push Hong Kong’s lead to 36-12. Japan scored a consolation try late to finish at 36-19.
Groves paid tribute to the team’s consistency and defensive effort over the weekend. “That was something that we had targeted coming into this weekend, being consistent and playing attacking defence. Not playing defence to stop the opposition from scoring, but as a means of launching our attack, and it really shone today. We were very pleased with the team’s consistency and how they executed what we talked about in the final, especially being consistent around our kick-offs and restarts,” Groves added.
In the semi-final, Cado Lee Ka-to scored a brace of tries in the first half against South Korea, who looked gassed after three minutes while Hong Kong’s fitness shone through. Max Denmark collected his sixth try of the tournament with a simple step out of some poor Korean tackling for a 50-metre try on halftime to put Hong Kong up 21-0.
Korea never threatened after miscues at the kick-off of the second half and an overthrown lineout ball gifting Hong Kong possession. Liam Doherty scored in the 10th minute with Webb slotting the conversion to push the score to 26-0 and allow Hong Kong to use their bench players down the stretch as they rested up for the cup final.