Boots and allWhy a win in Incheon is a must for Hong Kong

At the halfway mark of the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship things don’t look good for Hong Kong, who remain winless having lost to South Korea (33-26) and Japan (41-0).

Our world ranking  has slipped from 27 to 29, while Korea have moved up to 22. Rankings are funny. Even though we were the number two team in Asia before the tournament began, Korea were ranked higher on 24.

With their away victory more than a fortnight ago at Hong Kong Football Club, the Koreans have now gone up even further while we  are in danger of dropping into the 30s.

At least this is not a World Cup qualifying year but it is good to acquire a habit of winning, and defeating the Koreans should have always been on the cards.

A lacklustre opening 40 minutes to the campaign have cost us dearly. Now the best we can do is to salvage something by winning the return against Korea on May 16.

It will be tough in Incheon. Yet, perhaps the fewer distractions that come with playing away might help Nick Hewson and his men to turn that opening debacle around.

One good thing from the loss was that we came away with two bonus points. This could be crucial in the final reckoning. But first we have to win.