Three from three at King’s Park sees Hong Kong juniors back in the groove
After a poor opening tournament in Malaysia, the home side prove a force to be reckoned with on day one of Asia Rugby U20 Sevens Series round two
A rejuvenated Hong Kong side will face a “quick and highly organised” Malaysia in the Cup semi-final of the Asia Rugby U20 Sevens Series at King’s Park on Saturday after three impressive wins on day one of the competition.
Hong Kong found a way to work together after a disappointing performance in Johor Bahru a fortnight ago, with the cohesion of the squad increasing markedly.
“We really improved since the opening tournament, especially in our team performance,” coach Fan Shun-kei said.
“We cut out the individual errors, which were hurting us a lot and improved game by game today. The boys are much more comfortable in their sevens now and their understanding of each other has really improved. We are gelling as a side.”
Daniel Archer starred with four tries on a day that began with South Korea in Hong Kong’s sights.
“We knew we needed to beat Korea to top the pool and we played our best match of the series so far against them,” Fan said.
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That game finished in a 33-0 win for Hong Kong and the side’s other two matches returned a 36-5 win over Singapore and a 40-5 drubbing of the UAE, with Cameron Smith and Alessandro Nardoni never far from the action.
Malaysia will present a stern test for a Hong Kong side hell-bent on going all the way on home soil.
“It is going to be a tough semi-final,” Fan said.
“Malaysia have performed very well so far across the series. They are quick and highly organised. We will need to keep up our level of performance and look to use our physicality as the difference maker.”
Sri Lanka and South Korea meet in the other semi-final.
Hong Kong will play Thailand in three matches in the final leg of the women’s series on Saturday after a number of teams pulled out of the competition.
