Hong Kong face Argentina in Sevens World Cup
Coach Rees says defeat of Argentina in Hong Kong means the South Americans know they will have to be at their best in World Cup opener
Any slight advantage Hong Kong might have had over Argentina, their first-up opponents when the Rugby World Cup Sevens gets under way today, has been blown away by the shock victory over the South American champions three months ago at the Hong Kong Sevens.
This will raise the stakes even higher for Hong Kong as they chase a win at the Luzhniki Stadium, the venue of the boycott-marred 1980 Olympics.
The history of those Games will accompany Rowan Varty and his men as they run on to the pitch bidding to create another upset. But it won't be easy, with head coach Dai Rees saying Argentina's radar would be on full alert.
"We raised too much awareness of how good we are when we beat them 7-5 in Hong Kong," Rees said. "But it is nice starting against a team we know we can beat."
Similar to the Hong Kong Sevens, the three-day World Cup will see teams playing only one game on the opening day with the remaining two pool games to be completed tomorrow.
Sunday is knockout day and Hong Kong will be hoping that by then they will have done enough to put them in a good position to finish as the highest-ranked Asian team in the tournament, ahead of Japan and the Philippines.
While Hong Kong have a proud record of having made it to every World Cup (this is their sixth appearance), the final outcome has been less than pleasing. The best result was in 1997 when they reached the Plate final before losing to Tonga to finish 10th out of the 24 teams. Four years ago in Dubai, Hong Kong finished 19th, losing to Ireland in the Bowl semi-finals.
