While the South China Tigers lost their first game, Global Rapid Rugby lived up to its name. In a high-scoring affair, the Hong Kong-based Tigers, who are made up primarily of Hong Kong Rugby Union national 15-a-side players, lost to the Western Force 45-22 on Friday in Perth, Australia. Tigers captain James Cunningham, who is also the captain of Hong Kong’s 15-a-side national team, said GRR was a bit of a shock to the system. The big boys hungry for a meat pie! @WesternForce Kieran Longbottom and @SCTrugby Alexander Post #NoMoreBoring #RapidRugby pic.twitter.com/ZZ7IHblQa5 — Global Rapid Rugby (@rapidrugby) March 29, 2019 <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> “Rapid rugby is bloody quick that’s for sure,” said Cunningham. “But we have to get used to it. We have been playing a lot of international rugby recently and this is a lot faster. We are really enjoying playing the new rules and the boys adapted well. Unfortunately we made too many errors and they cost us.” Global Rapid Rugby and South China Tigers coming to Hong Kong for two games in 2019 During their debut match, the Tigers came back from a 16-3 deficit to trail 30-22 at the half. The match featured 67 total points from both squads, and 52 scored in the first half alone. Cunningham said the fact that the Force had already played a game against a world all-star squad compiled for the series gave them a leg up, and the Tigers may have been shaking off a bit of rust and also adjusting to the new rules. Today marks @earthhour , a global initiative to speak up about why nature matters. On the same thread, we'd like to introduce our partnership with WWF's Tx2 global tiger programme. Head to our website to find out more. https://t.co/zJ67HLQHpK #southchinatigers #wwf #earthhour pic.twitter.com/i1MPZKOSWY — South China Tigers (@SCTRugby) March 30, 2019 <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> “That first game really helped them out and they scored some unbelievable tries. But it was an outstanding occasion tonight and this is exactly what we need to develop and promote the game at home.” Force fly-half Andrew Deegan said the Tigers definitely gave them a run for their money. HALF TIME! That was one high intensity and high scoring first half! @WesternForce score their first power try of the series in the first 15 minutes of play! #NoMoreBoring #RapidRugby pic.twitter.com/QWttBUdFm2 — Global Rapid Rugby (@rapidrugby) March 29, 2019 <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> “They really put the pressure on and scored some great tries. For how many weeks they have had together and coming over here, you know, I don’t know what they are going to be like over there when we visit. It’s a credit to the standard of players that they have in their national team and domestic game. It’s an exciting time ahead and both teams tonight were really positive and looked to put points on the board.” Enter the South China Tigers, Hong Kong’s new team in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby series The series will feature 12 more games at six venues throughout Asia. The Tigers’ next game will take place on April 21 when they play the Asia Pacific Dragons in Hong Kong at Aberdeen Stadium.