'The women keep going on about how tall and blonde the Netherlands team are and how there's this one woman on the US team who's unbelievable,' first-time sevens squad member Daniella Means said when asked to describe her opponents in the Cable & Wireless Hong Kong Women's Sevens, which starts today at So Kon Po.
In all, 12 teams will contest the tournament, including Hong Kong, who will play against the Americans and Dutch this morning.
Captain Emma Holland said Hong Kong were in a tough group, but remained optimistic. 'We've played the US before and the score [margin] is reducing so we're getting there, but it's going to be tough,' said Holland.
Coach Zanio Yong Chi-fung has adopted different strategies for each of the two games, in the hope of improving on the team's 10th-place finish from last year. Against the US, Yong will have his team give their all in the first half and then he will decide whether to keep the strongest team on the field or 'let everyone have a run'.
However, the team have devised numerous tactics for the game against the Netherlands. 'We'll really focus on the second game and we'll use the first game to prepare for the second game,' Yong said. 'They [have] very tall and physical [players] so we may have little tricky things in the second game because if you play normally, it's not easy to win against the Netherlands.'
Holland also said she was curious as to which teams would end up in tomorrow's final - to be played at Hong Kong Stadium - given that neither Australia nor New Zealand would be playing in the tournament.
