Hong Kong rely on seven-try line-up
Upbeat Hong Kong will field the same starting line-up that defeated Sri Lanka 45-14, in a make-or-break 2007 World Cup qualifying match against China on Sunday.
The SAR have made only one change to last weekend's squad with front-rower Simon Leung replacing Leung Ming-hong on the bench.
'It is important to maintain continuity,' Ivan Torpey (pictured), Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's head of performance, said on the unchanged line-up. It is tantamount to giving the side full marks for their seven-try, and seven-star, performance against Sri Lanka. The 22-strong Hong Kong squad will leave tonight, but with their destination changed from Shenyang to Beijing. The Chinese Rugby Union switched the venue for the match at the last minute - much to the pleasure of Hong Kong officials.
'We prefer to play In Beijing simply because it is easier to get flights to the capital. There is no need for some of the guys to take an extra day off work now,' Torpey said.
Everything seems to be falling into place for Hong Kong. The players are in fine nick, they are confident - and now they will be playing in the capital instead of in the boondocks. China were beaten 30-0 by Sri Lanka in the opening match in this three-team round-robin group. But Torpey remains cautious of the mainlanders, insisting that they are a far better side than the Colombo result indicates.
'They are a formidable team and we cannot underestimate them especially playing on their home patch,' said Torpey. With this being an Asian Games year, China have split the national squad into XVs and sevens squads. Players like Johnny Zhang Zhiqiang - who is a well-known face in local rugby - were missing from the XVs set-up as the Chinese build-up towards winning a medal in Doha this December.
'We don't know if they will bring their sevens' players back for this match. They are not revealing their team list,' said Torpey.
Whoever fronts up, Hong Kong's focus will be on victory. They are favourites to top this group and advance to the final qualifying round for France 2007, against Japan and South Korea this November.
HONG KONG: Pete Spizziri, Tom Cameron, James Wood, Ben Tibbott, Kwok Ka-chun, Andy Yuen Kin-ho, Nigel Clarke, Semi Iafeta, Mark Wright, Nigel D'Acre, Andrew Chambers, Brett Forsyth (captain), Jason Going, Simon Smith, Paul Morehu. Replacements: Jon Abel, Simon Leung, Ben Ho Tsz-chun, Jarrad Brownlee, Rob Naylor, Liu Kwok-leung, Ricky Cheuk Ming-yin.
