OLD campaigner Gary Cross epitomised the battling spirit of the Hong Kong team as they won three drama-packed matches yesterday to lift the Plate title at the Taiwan Sevens.
Cross, out of contention for several seasons because of injury and on the bench during the group matches, was outstanding at hooker in the 31-24 win over the United States. He made several try-saving tackles and then put the result beyond doubt with a gut-busting pushover try in the dying seconds.
'Cross is a great campaigner and I think he is going to be a vital part of the team in the future,' said Hong Kong captain Rodney McIntosh.
'We have struggled for a lot of the tournament because we did not stick to our pattern but we have so many match winners, Isi Tu'ivai, Vaughan Going, Stuart Krohn, who played well in particular games. That was the key.
'We have a team with potential to win something of note and hopefully we can go on from here and do that.' Added Hong Kong coach George Simpkin: 'For part of the final we played the best rugby since I have been in charge. We were stringing together 20 or 30 passes but we are still making mistakes which would not happen if we had more intensive rugby in Hong Kong.' Hong Kong raced to a 19-0 lead in the final with two tries from Stephen Kidd and a typical kick ahead and catch by Isi Tu'ivai. But speedy winger Thaddeus Hill and Matt Alexander reduced the deficit for the Americans to 19-12 as Hong Kong made errors.
Mark Solomon made up for one of his mistakes with a fine try in the corner which Tu'ivai converted to give Hong Kong some breathing space at 26-12 before the United States hit back strongly with two tries, one of which they converted, to close the gap to 26-24 with time running out.
Then came Cross' amazing drive for the line from eight yards which had the Hong Kong contingent on their feet with delight.