Hong Kong overcome upstart hosts China in final to win second leg of Asia Rugby Sevens Series
- China upset perennial powerhouse Japan in the semi-finals, opening the door for Hong Kong to take gold
- Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s teams are gearing up for Olympic qualifying this November
Hong Kong took advantage of a semi-final upset to claim the second leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series in Huizhou, China. Perennial favourites Japan lost a shocker to China 14-7, which allowed Hong Kong to pounce and snatch a 14-7 win over the home team.
Hong Kong got tries from Alexander McQueen who was making his season debut, and Jack Neville – with Russell Webb converting both – in the final. Coach Paul John said his boys went into the final knowing they were going up against an upstart squad who were teeming after downing Japan.
“We knew the final would be tough. China were really revved up, and they are really very physical now and getting much better,” said John. “They will be better the next time out in Colombo again, and I think if you look at Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka, they traditionally come back really strong after perhaps down tournaments this weekend.”
The game ended with a late hit by Chinese player Ma Chong on veteran Ben Rimene, who was a late sub in the game, resulting in a minor scuffle as tempers appeared to boil over for the home team, who could not find a way past Hong Kong’s stingy defence. China also took a yellow card in the second half.
Hong Kong were led by youngster Raef Morrison who had six tries in the tournament, followed by Webb who had 16 points via conversions along with two tries. Hong Kong smashed Sri Lanka 55-0 in their semi-final.
The men will have a clear shot to reach the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as they will take part in a two-day qualifying tournament in Incheon, South Korea on November 23-24, a test that will not feature Japan because they automatically qualify as the host nation. The Asia Rugby Sevens Series determines placement for the Olympic qualifying tournament as well as seeding for next year’s World Series qualifying tournament.
The women will compete in a qualifying tournament on November 9-10 in Guangzhou, China, which will also not feature Japan.
Hong Kong’s women’s team lost 19-17 to Kazakhstan in the bronze medal match. The squad got scores from Jessica Eden, Chong Ka-yan, Natasha Olson-Thorne and Stephanie Chan Chor-ki. Head coach Iain Monaghan said his squad needs to improve before the big dance later in the year.
“I don’t want to take away anything from Kazakhstan, at the end of the day, we have to look at ourselves in losing that game, but it’s all about November for us and we are learning a lot from every opportunity we get on the series.”
Hong Kong take silver and bronze as flying Florence Symonds announces her arrival at Asia Rugby Sevens Series
The men lost in the final of the first leg of the Asia Sevens Series to Japan, conceding a late try to seal their fate. The men beat South Korea in the last pool game and toppled China in the semi-final to reach the final with Japan. However in the final they lost to their arch-rivals 21-12.
The women took the bronze in the first leg of the series, beating Kazakhstan 17-10. The final leg of the series takes place in Sri Lanka on September 28-29.
