Hong Kong’s finest rugby players made the city proud over the weekend in the first leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series, milking the home advantage for all it’s worth at the Hong Kong Football Club.
According to the Asian Rugby Football Union, the men breezed through the tournament to victory, letting only one opponent, Kazakhstan, score any points against them. After beating Sri Lanka 21-0 in their semi-final, the boys scored six tries against Korea to win 40-0 on Sunday, with Tom McQueen managing a hat-trick. South Korea was a most unexpected finalist; Japan was hotly tipped, but were beated 29-21 by Korea in a huge upset in the semi-finals.
The women, led by veteran captain Royce Chan, also did astoundingly well, but were over-empowered by China in the final, losing 38-5. Natasha Olson-Thorne scored Hong Kong’s only try in through a great succession of team phases.
But there is still much to celebrate after the ladies put in a stellar performance in the semi-final against Japan, winning 10-5. It was the first time Hong Kong’s women had ever beat Japan, which, until Sunday, was ranked #1 in the region. Hong Kong women’s team ranking got boosted from #4 to highly respectable #2 after the tournament.
Rose Fong, long-time member of the Hong Kong team, said: “We knew going into the final it was going to be a tough match. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fight hard enough and let errors cost us. However it’s the first time we have reached a cup final, the first time we’ve beaten Japan, hence it’s a very bittersweet learning curve. Our job now is to keep improving and learn from our mistakes, and our bodies and minds must start getting used to playing these kind of high level and high-pressure matches.”
For the full results, click here.
You can also watch the entire men’s final courtesy of the tournament organisers:
And the women’s final:
Photos: HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens Series via Facebook
