Greater China test for Hong Kong's World Cup hopes
Hong Kong will meet neighbours China and Taiwan in the second round of the 2003 Rugby World Cup Asian Zone qualifying competition. The three teams emerged group winners after the preliminary round of matches ended at the weekend.
With the intensity of competition certain to move up a couple of notches in the next round, Hong Kong will need all the playing resources available to them - meaning prodigal wing Mark Solomon should be brought back into the equation. Solomon walked out on the Hong Kong squad on the eve of the tie against the Arabian Gulf last Saturday, miffed that he had been benched. While his actions should not be condoned, Solomon should be given the chance to redeem himself in the best interests of local rugby.
The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's executive director Allan Payne revealed yesterday that the selectors would meet this week to look at the contentious problem. 'They will look at the issue closely this week,' Payne confirmed.
Solomon was unavailable for comment yesterday. But it is believed he is remorseful over his decision to walk out.
While Hong Kong finished unbeaten with wins over Thailand (15-8) and the Arabian Gulf (17-7) in the first round, China and Taiwan had to wait anxiously before finding out that they would progress into the second round.
China qualified after Sri Lanka lost 20-14 to Kazakhstan in Almaty on Sunday. The defeat left all three teams in this group with one win apiece. But China, who lost 9-7 to Sri Lanka, progressed by virtue of hammering Kazakhstan 57-15 and thus having the best points differential of all three. Hong Kong head coach Chris Roden predicted a tough battle for the SAR. 'We have recorded close wins over both these teams recently and we know something about how they both play. But at the same time, they too know how we play. It will be a tight round,' Roden said.
China coach George Simpkin was a relieved man on hearing that Sri Lanka had slipped up. 'This is good news that we are through to the next round,' said a happy Simpkin. 'We were short of match practice when we played Sri Lanka, but we played really well against Kazakhstan the following week.'
Simpkin added: 'It will be a big task for us in the second round, but on our day we are capable of beating Hong Kong.'
Taiwan earned their place after the International Rugby Board awarded the unplayed tie against Singapore to them. Singapore refused to play in Taipei after an earthquake struck Taiwan earlier this month. Both Taiwan and Singapore had beaten Malaysia, the other team in the group.
Hong Kong meet Taiwan at home in the second round on May 11 and then play China away on May 18th. The Taiwan v China encounter is scheduled for May 25th in Taipei.
The second round will also be played on the same format as the preliminaries with each team playing a home and away tie.
The winners will progress into the final round where they come up against Asian powerhouses Japan - who have represented Asia in all four previous World Cups - and South Korea. This last round will be played on a home and away basis, and will start in mid-June.
Asia has only one berth for the 2003 World Cup in Australia. But the runner-up in the Asian Zone will get another chance of qualifying by moving into a five team regional repechage.
