Hong Kong’s women aiming higher after ‘massive effort’ in Asia Rugby Championship loss to Japan, Kazakhstan clash awaits
- Hong Kong’s meeting with Kazakhstan on June 1 shaping into playoff for place on Rugby World Cup pathway
- Japan too strong at King’s Park, but hosts rally to score pair of second-half tries through Shanna Forrest and Chong Ka-yan
Head coach Royce Chan said Hong Kong’s women could reach a “much better level”, despite delivering a “massive effort” in their 29-12 Asia Rugby Championship defeat by Japan on Wednesday.
The seven-position world-ranking gulf between the teams was exposed during a one-sided first half, when the home team struggled to escape their own 22, but defended tremendously to restrict Japan to 12-0 advantage at the break.
Chan praised her players for digesting half-time instructions to take more care in possession, and consequently scoring two second-half tries.
Hong Kong next meet Kazakhstan, on June 1, in what is shaping up to be a straight duel to qualify for WXV3, the third-tier of the new elite 18-team global tournament that provides a route to the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
Hong Kong have channelled considerable resources into trying to join the World Cup pathway, staging training camps in Australia, in January, and Japan this month, and removing the core of the sevens team from last weekend’s Challenger Series leg to prepare for the Asian 15s competition.
“I am super proud of the girls, they have taken a lot on board through our preparations,” Chan said.
“We fought really hard for 80 minutes, it was a massive effort. We lost, but there were lots of positives. We will shake it off, and focus on what we can do better against Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan have been preparing since last year’s ARC, they have bigger girls, with experience, and a number of threatening players. But we will focus on ourselves, and how we can get to a much better level.”
Mele Kagawa crossed for Japan’s opening try after eight minutes, although an extended television match official check was required to determine the wing had grounded the ball under severe Hong Kong pressure.
Captain Iroha Nagata bulldozed over in the corner for Japan’s second score. Shanna Forrest’s converted second-half try got Hong Kong on the board. Chong Ka-long added another score in the closing minute, following further Japan tries for Asuka Kuge and Sakurako Hatada.
Express wing Chong was one of the leading sevens performers claimed by the 15s team for this ARC.
“Hong Kong rugby is one team, [we have to be careful] how we spend our player resources, so we can balance both sides,” Chong said. “I am happy to help both.
“We will keep progressing, 15s in Asia is improving, and Japan are at a high level, but we are chasing them. Their attack is very accurate, I was really proud of how we defended our try line, and did not give them easy tries.”
After the first-half rearguard, Chong was released to influence the action in Japan territory.
“We adjusted, connected with each other, and spent time in their half,” Chong said.
“If we keep our set-piece accuracy, we can secure our ball, then we control the game with ball in hand. We want to be on the World Cup pathway, and we are looking forward to the Kazakhstan match.”
