Hong Kong all at sea against big boys of Russia
Jamie Hood’s men devastated after failing to keep up with pace and power of the mighty bears
Hong Kong are simply not good enough to rub shoulders with the big boys. That was the undeniable fact, however sad, as a devastated home team were left searching for answers after their campaign to win core status on the Sevens World Series ended in heartache on Saturday night.
Russia knocked the living daylights out of Hong Kong in the quarter-finals with an emphatic 24-0 victory, which was built on power, pace and aggression.
Hong Kong were like frightened salmon swimming upstream and trying to slip past the Russian bears - they were a good meal, defenceless and haplessly out of water.
We just made too many mistakes and we hardly touched the ball. In sevens, if you don’t touch the ball, you can’t score any tries
"At the moment, we are not good enough to win the contact areas," said crestfallen coach Gareth Baber, pinpointing where Hong Kong have predictably struggled against stronger opponents in recent years.
Last year, it was Italy who bullied Hong Kong off the ball. This time it was the powerful Russians. Going back even further, in 2013, it was Spain.
Taking Baber's stark view to heart, it means that unless Hong Kong are able to get bigger and more powerful players, we should just stick to playing in our little pond in Asia where we are the champions.
Skipper Jamie Hood was scathing in his post-match self-assessment of his team's performance. "We just made too many mistakes and we hardly touched the ball. In sevens, if you don't touch the ball, you can't score any tries," said Hood.
It was candid, but still an under-statement as Hong Kong spent perhaps 13 of the 14 minutes defending and came out second best in nearly every statistic in the game. One of the most telling stats was Russia making 52 passes to Hong Kong's 12.
It just sucked all their energy away. Russia ruled the restarts with ease and winning in that primary area led to tackle after desperate tackle being made. They missed nine tackles to Russia's one.
The solitary occasion in the first half when Hong Kong did have the ball - gifted from a penalty - Hood opted to kick for touch and gain yardage from a lineout. It just meant Hong Kong had to win the ball all over again and once again, predictably, a turnover saw Russia regain control.
"We played badly. They were just too good for us. Russia are a big strong team. But there were too many inaccuracies, set-piece breakdown, and you can't do that," Hood said.
Earlier in the day, hope was restored when Hong Kong defeated Uruguay 19-7 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying. It was almost a must-win scenario as a victory would have meant Hong Kong finishing top of the pool. And they delivered.
A brace from Alex McQueen plus a late intercept try from Chris Maize laid the foundation for that win. But it was a false dawn. Against a European team Hong Kong were found out.
"Russia controlled the kick-offs. I don't think we won any ball from the restarts and they were very strong in the contact areas and caused us trouble and we ended up giving penalties away," said Baber.
"The guys are devastated, but the reality is the opposition did a job on us and they won that game."
One down, one to go - Olympic qualification is the next big thing for Hong Kong. In November, Hong Kong will take part in the Asian qualifiers and their biggest worry will be Japan. But Baber remains hopeful.
"We have a plan. Today wasn't good enough. We have to be better [for the Olympics] and find consistency. But it doesn't mean we are always poor. We just got it wrong this weekend."
