Hong Kong take silver and bronze as flying Florence Symonds announces her arrival at Asia Rugby Sevens Series
- The men reach the final, but lose in a tough contest with Japan, conceding a late try to seal their fate
- The women unearth an emerging talent in hat-trick hero Florence Symonds as she transitions into the senior team
Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s sevens squads won silver and bronze respectively in the opening leg of the 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Series, the first of a three-leg prelude to the 2020 Olympic qualifiers this November.
The men beat South Korea 29-12, in the last pool game and toppled China, 21-7 in the semi-final to reach the final with Japan.
Hong Kong struck first, scoring in the first minute through Tom McQueen, who slotted back into the side with ease despite a long absence from international duties as he went through pilot training. McQueen marked his first start of the tournament by skinning the Japanese defence outside to score in the corner as Hong Kong took a 5-0 lead.
Japan used their big forwards to batter Hong Kong’s defence and score a long-range try to secure a 7-5 lead, which extended to 14-5 at half-time. After the break, Hong Kong closed the gap to 14-12 through Cado Lee.
Things derailed after Japan turned a turnover into a fortunate counter-attack as they scored against the run of play to push their lead to 21-12.
Coach Paul John credited his side for a positive weekend on the whole. “We’re really pleased with the boys’ effort. I thought they were excellent this week on and off the field. Of course, we are a bit disappointed with losing the final, but it’s always our goal to get there and to be one or two coming out of it.”