Hong Kong tame Volcanoes 52-20 in A5N Top Five after early scare
Philippines first to score as they take fight to visitors, but lose steam after break with Jonny Rees leading charge with brace of tries
The fire and brimstone from the Philippines "Volcanoes" lasted a bit longer than expected before it subsided to give Hong Kong an ultimately comfortable 59-20 victory in the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five competition in Manila yesterday.
Hong Kong head coach Leigh Jones, in his pre-match assessment, believed his team would have to worry about the first 30 minutes, based on how the home team had performed against Japan in the opening minutes of that encounter. The Philippines blew hot for a bit longer against Hong Kong, until half-time.
They stayed doggedly on Hong Kong's heels to only trail 14-10 at the break. But order was restored after the break as seven tries were added to the two penalty tries awarded by the Japanese referee as Hong Kong accomplished their goal, which was to secure their place in the Top Five for next year's World Cup qualifying campaign.
"The scoreline flattered us in the end because honestly I don't think the Philippines deserved to shift 50 points," said Jones. "We knew they would come at us at the start and they did and a little bit more, too. But credit to our guys for coming back strongly in the second half and they adjusted very well. I think this group of guys came of age today."
A powerful scrum set the tone for the match as Hong Kong's dominant forwards won plenty of possession, but it was only after the break that the points flowed freely with a brace of tries from winger Jonny Rees sparking it all off and settling nerves, which until then were a bit frayed by the resistance coming from the home team buoyed on by a vociferous crowd at the Rizal Stadium.
And they had plenty to cheer early in the game as Filipino flyhalf Alex Aronson knocked over a penalty and then added the extra points to a try from winger Patrice Olivier, who latched onto a neat punt from lock forward David Feeney to score. This try was sandwiched between two penalty tries awarded to Hong Kong as a groaning Philippines' pack buckled two scrums just metres from their tryline.