Gutsy Hong Kong fall to physical Tongans

Hong Kong survived a physically gruelling test from Tonga's tough combatants in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, but the result would have caused plenty of inner heartache on Friday night.

The 39-16 scoreline might indicate it was another big loss, and indeed the five tries the Pacific islanders put past the home team supports that conclusion. Yet Hong Kong can be proud of another gutsy performance against the kind of opposition they rarely come up against at this under-20 age-group level.

"It was a tough game. We talked at training about coming out hard and putting a show on and that didn't happen, but the boys showed great courage although we couldn't sustain it for a full 80 minutes," said Hong Kong captain Michael Parfitt.

Appearing for the first time in this second-tier eight-team tournament - the winners of which will earn a berth in next year's IRB Junior World Championships in Italy - Hong Kong have not looked out of place despite a 37-0 loss to the United States on Monday, followed by yesterday's reversal.

The small group of hometown fans at Hong Kong Football Club would have heaved a sigh of relief that at full-time Parfitt and his boys were still standing and able to give their visitors a traditional "three cheers", for it was full-on, no-holds-barred rugby from the islanders, who pride themselves on big hits.

It was dished out in spades, so much so that it was a surprise that the referee pulled out his yellow card for a Tongan only once (Hong Kong flanker Mike Coverdale was also sin-binned but not for a head-high tackle) and showed great restraint even though the penalty count against Tonga was considerable.

"They were big boys, and we should be proud in our defence. We will learn from this game and come back 10 times stronger against Georgia," promised Parfitt, looking ahead to the final pool game for Hong Kong on Tuesday.