Asia Rugby Sevens Series: Hong Kong tune up for first home event since 2019 with dominant showing in Bangkok

Hong Kong warmed up for their first home tournament since 2019 in style, thumping Japan 36-19 in the final of the first leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Bangkok on Sunday.

After three commanding pool victories the day before, Hong Kong ploughed through their regional rivals to take out the tournament and ensure they will hit the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in a fortnight full of momentum.

“To finish it like we did against Japan was really good,” said Hong Kong coach Jevon Groves, who has recently been given “a little bit more ownership on leading the team” under veteran head coach Paul John.

“It gives us the chance now to maybe rotate a few players and try and manage the workload across our squad because we’ve got another six to eight players who can do a job for us.”

After being played as a one-off tournament in Dubai last year, which Hong Kong won, the Asia Rugby Sevens Series has returned to its original format in 2022, with the final two legs taking place in November, in Korea and the UAE.

“We’ve been looking for games for so long with Covid and now they’re coming thick and fast, so we’ve got to enjoy the experience,” Groves said.

Before continuing their title defence, however, Hong Kong have drawn Australia, New Zealand and Samoa in a brutal pool for the first Hong Kong Sevens since April 2019.

“It will be a really exciting time. The main thing for the guys after not playing Hong Kong for three years is to go out there and enjoy it, and I only think they’ll enjoy it if they go hard and compete,” Groves said.

“The goal is to be consistent with the things that we can control. Being consistent and having that belief that we can go out there and get our own things right and be competitive.”

Hong Kong got off to a flier in their semi-final against South Korea, with Cado Lee Ka-to touching down in the first minute to get the ball rolling on a dominant first half.

Lee followed up with another try before Max Denmark got in on the act, with three conversions from Russell Webb ensuring his side took a 21-0 lead into the break, before Liam Doherty crossed in the second half to cap a 26-0 victory.

Hong Kong got the upper-hand early in the final, with tries to Harry Sayers, Max Denmark (two) and Seb Brien (two) seeing them streak to a 29-5 lead at the interval.

A Japan side managing players through a hectic schedule of their own stemmed the bleeding in the second half, with a Webb try and conversion completing Hong Kong’s victory.

Hong Kong’s women fell in the semis, going down 14-7 to Japan despite a late surge that saw Vivian Poon Hoi-yan touch down to bring her side within striking distance in the final minutes.

Hong Kong then suffered a disappointing 10-0 loss to Thailand in the third-placed playoff, but coach Iain Monaghan believes he saw enough positives to suggest his side can build on their showing when they head to Korea for the second leg of the series in three weeks.

Asia Rugby Sevens Series: Hong Kong men, women move into semis

“The aim is to put up a performance for the full 14 minutes, we showed yesterday when we beat China in the second half 12-5 that it’s in us. We just need to be more clinical, accurate and ruthless, and seize our chances,” Monaghan said.

“Although it’s frustrating, we have to be realistic. For these girls it’s their first proper tournament in a whole year so we’ll learn from this and improve our performance going forward. We’re ambitious, we want to be in the top two.”

China and Japan duked it out in the women’s final, with China prevailing 21-17.