Hong Kong and Russia kept their clean sheets intact through the second round of the inaugural Hong Kong Rugby Union Cup of Nations tonight at Hong Kong Football Club.

Hong Kong survived a gripping battle with Portugal, winning 13-6 after a late try from reserve winger James Robinson broke the 6-all deadlock, while Russia turned in another comprehensive display with a 50-5 win over Zimbabwe in the opening match.

Portugal took the early lead against Hong Kong with a penalty in the 6th minute from fullback Duarte Marques. It was a rare opportunity for Portugal who finished the opening half on the wrong side of a 12-2 penalty count.

Hong Kong took advantage of Japanese referee Shuhei Kubo’s treatment of the visitors, with flyhalf Ben Rimene notching his first penalty in the 20th minute to level the scores at 3-all. Rimene collected his second penalty in the 30th minute after centre Jose Lima was sin-binned as punishment for his side’s repeated infringements at the breakdown, giving Hong Kong a 6-3 lead at halftime.

Hong Kong looked the more dangerous side in the early going, effectively neutralizing Portugal’s biggest threat, its scrum, early on as Portugal coach Olivier Baragnon opted to keep his heavier units on the bench to start the match. Tactically, Hong Kong played the smarter rugby in the early going with superior kicking from hand seeing them retain possession for significant periods of time.

“Portugal’s approach surprised us a bit actually,” said Hong Kong coach Andy Hall. “We thought they would be slightly more pragmatic but actually we were both playing very similar games in the first half. At halftime, we said that whoever falls off that style first would lose and I was really pleased with the way we held out in the second half, particularly late, to come away with the win.”

For a second consecutive outing, Hong Kong couldn’t quite apply the killer blow to make its advantage tell on the scoreboard. The visitors nearly made them pay for their inability to put points on the board as they brought on their massive front row reserves to start the second half.

“We knew their first half pack wasn’t their strongest and that they would bring on the cavalry sooner or later. Our focus was on the set piece and it was nice to see the players handle that,” said Hall.

“We said that a mini victory for us would be in how early Portugal brought their big guns on. So it was a bit of a tick for us at the start of the second half when they put their reserves on. After that we knew every scrum would be massive and full credit to the tight five in particular for handling that pressure well,” Hall added.

But it took some time for Hong Kong to adjust to the physical test as massive prop Mike Tadjer in particular made real ground early in the second half, scything through the Hong Kong defence with ball in hand. Portuguese pressure soon led to an early penalty with Duarte slotting over to level the scores at 6-all in the 42nd minute.

Hong Kong flanker Toby Fenn was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle in the 50th minute, ratcheting up the pressure on the hometown fifteen as they staved off several Portugal attacks. The Hong Kong defence rose to the occasion, keeping Portugal scoreless despite having a man to the good.

In an encouraging sign of Hong Kong’s growing depth, the reserves bench made an instant impact on the game. In the 63rd minute reserve winger Jamie Robinson capped off multiple phase attacks by Hong Kong to score the only try of the match. Robinson collected a nice offload from reserve prop Jamie Tsang, quickly cutting back inside the defence to score. Reserve flyhalf Niall Rowark’s conversion was good, extending Hong Kong’s lead to 13-6 with fifteen minutes remaining.

Portugal almost replied immediately with a nice individual effort from winger Pedro Bettencourt bringing play deep into Hong Kong territory but fullback Ed Rolston came up with the try-saving tackle to keep Hong Kong’s lead intact.

Hong Kong then weathered a series of Portuguese attacking scrums on its own five-metres in the 78th minute. A limping Moses Bailey, who had suffered a knock shortly after coming on to the park, miraculously came away with the loose ball from the Portugal scrum, booting the ball downfield to neutralize Portugal’s last attack and seal a gutsy 13-6 win.

Russia runs riot over Zimbabwe

In the opening match, Russia continued to make its case as the team to beat in the Cup of Nations with a commanding 50-5 bonus point win over Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabweans started fast and furious - the way they obviously like to play - with a try in first minute after speedy scrumhalf Charlse Jiji managed to get behind the Russian defence from the kick-off to touch down in the corner. The conversion from a steep angle was unsuccessful, but Zimbabwe continued to prove they are the most dangerous side in the competition off broken play.

Unfortunately for Africa’s representatives in the Cup of Nations, Russia quickly put an end to the loose ball, reverting to a strong structured style with a heavy emphasis on set piece play.

Russia soon established a commanding edge at scrum time, which they never relinquished, frequently pushing the Zimbabwe pack well off the ball and unleashing wave after wave of crash balls through the centres, wearing the Zimbabwean defence down.

Benefiting from their methodical approach, Russia established parity on the scoreboard in the fourth minute when centre Igor Galinovsky broke the gain-line deep in Zimbabwe’s half to touch down beneath the posts. Flyhalf Sergey Yanushkin added the extras giving Russia a 7-5 lead.

From there it was rinse and repeat for the Russians who added two more tries in the first quarter. The second was a penalty try after Zimbabwe kicked the ball out of the scrum under pressure. It was the second penalty try conceded in two matches by Zimbabwe on the same play. Lock Denis Antonov added Russia’s third try of the first quarter with Yanyushkin picking up his third conversion to put Russia ahead 19-5.

Things went from bad to worse for Zimbabwe when flanker Bisele Tshamala was sent off for stamping in the 18th minute, opening the floodgates as Russia added two more tries in the first half through winger Nikita Ilienko and fullback and captain Vasily Artemyev, who completed his brace in the second half.

Russia secured the bonus point for scoring four or more tries in the first half, crossing over five times in the opening forty minutes.

As they had in the opening round versus Hong Kong, Zimbabwe adjusted well in the second half, holding the Russians to just three more tries after the break with No8 Andrew Rose and captain and loosehead prop Denford Mutamangira omnipresent in defence.

Russian No8 Viktor Gresev opened the scoring early on in the second half with scrumhalf Rushan Yagudin adding a second try in the opening ten minutes after the break. Artemyev completed his brace with the last try of the match in the 55th minute. Yanushkin finished with five conversions on the afternoon.

Artemyev’s second try triggered a wave of Russian substitutions with a resulting dip in cohesion leaving the last quarter a fairly scrappy affair.

Russia climbed to the top of the table after their bonus point win today, level with Hong Kong on nine points but with a superior points differential. Portugal collected its first point of the tournament picking up the bonus point for a loss within seven while Zimbabwe is still hunting for its first win of the tournament.

Hong Kong will play Russia in the deciding match of the Cup of Nations on Saturday, 21 November, at 17.00 at Hong Kong Football Club, preceded by the 3rd/4th place play-off between Portugal and Zimbabwe at 14.00.