‘Really quick’: South China Tigers lose first game to Western Force in high-scoring affair
- The Hong Kong-based team lose their first match which saw more than 50 points scored
- The Tigers will play their next game at home on April 21
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.
“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.”
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.