Rugby squads will hold bittersweet memories of missing out on glory

The abiding memory of these Games will be the sight of the Hong Kong women's rugby team crying their hearts out after being 'robbed' of a bronze medal by mainland referee Liu Hao.

The day after China's sporting icon, Liu Xiang, won gold in the men's 110-metres hurdles, a headline in a local newspaper screamed 'Liu-king Good'. In the case of the Hong Kong women's team, it should have read 'Liu-king Bad'.

It was a terrible decision by the referee to wrest the ball away from Hong Kong's Lai Pou-fan, who was about to convert the try scored by Samantha Scott which levelled the scores at 12-12 against Thailand.

The conversion in front of the post was a formality and it would have given Hong Kong the bronze medal. But instead, the referee decided the 40 seconds permitted to take the conversion had passed and broke Hong Kong hearts.

That Thailand scored the winning try in sudden death came as no surprise. Hong Kong were still trying to come to terms with the unprecedented ruling. It is something I have never witnessed in a lifetime of watching rugby, and especially at such a crunch time.

Hong Kong captain Royce Chan Leong-sze said: 'We were robbed.' She was a 100 per cent right. The heavy handed interpretation of the rule denied a once-in-a-lifetime chance of winning an Asian Games medal for many of the players.