Rees optimistic despite defeats for sevens side
Hong Kong ended their rugby sevens campaign at the World Games in Kaohsiung. Taiwan, yesterday without a win, but the future looked bright for at least two new caps, coach Dai Rees said last night.
Having lost all three games on Thursday, Hong Kong were outclassed 39-0 by IRB Sevens Series champions South Africa yesterday, then lost to Taiwan 17-12 and Japan 19-5 to finish in eighth and last place.
'Coming to the World Games has been a great experience and a very valuable exercise for the squad,' Rees said. 'We could have won against Japan but for a bit of naivety and inexperience but overall I am pleased with the result. I think we have identified two to three new players from our five new caps who can have an impact long term.'
Eight of the 12-man Hong Kong squad were of Chinese ethnicity and two to stand out were debutants So Hok-ken and Salon Yiu Kam-shing.
'Apart from South Africa, when we were outclassed really, the other five games were all competitive,' Rees said. 'Playing against three of the top sevens teams in the world has highlighted the areas we need to improve.
'We were most disappointed to lose against the Asian teams but to our credit we have only been preparing for two weeks while Japan and Taiwan have been in camp and preparing for months. We were just a couple of tries off the pace in these games. For us it is still early days and we are looking ahead to the East Asian Games [in December] and playing these teams in Hong Kong.'
