Hong Kong rusty in eight-try romp over UAE
Despite eight tries, home side lacked fluidity as they strolled past the United Arab Emirates in their opening Asian Five Nations Top Five clash
"Ponderous" would be the perfect way to describe Hong Kong's performance in the opening game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five competition against the United Arab Emirates yesterday.
It is strange that a 53-7 result should be depicted as such, but there was none of the fluidity expected from an eight-try romp and it was brave of captain Tom McColl and coach Leigh Jones to admit as much after the first hurdle in a crucial campaign, complicated by other objectives such as qualifying to become a core team in the IRB Sevens World Series, had been overcome.
"I'm happy with the win but our execution left much to be desired," said McColl after the cumbersome display. Coach Jones added: "It was disjointed and I'm certainly not happy with our performance. But this was to be expected. Rustiness and the fact that most of the guys were new to this tournament played a role."
Hong Kong will need to look deep within themselves after an error-filled performance riddled with turnovers provided poor fare for the good crowd that turned up at Hong Kong Football Club expecting another silky performance similar to last year, when Hong Kong ran in 14 tries in an 85-10 demolition job against the same opponents. But that effort was sparked by players who Jones said had the "X-factor".
Sadly, yesterday, the X-factor was missing. The absence of the sevens contingent - rested so that they can concentrate on winning core-team status at the London Sevens qualifiers next month - seemed to have a bearing on the performance.
When juxtaposed against Japan's opening display in Fukuoka, where the Asian champions blitzed the Philippines 121-0 - the biggest ever score in the history of the tournament, the third highest ever recorded by Japan and the fourth highest in a World Cup pre-qualifier - it looked more bleak.
