A Hong Kong Select XV with eight players marking their senior debuts lost to Kenya A 24-18 last night in Nairobi. The opening encounter of the tour provided a good warm-up for both sides ahead of Saturday’s test match.

Kenya ‘A’ had a familiar feel for sevens fans with the side lead by sevens captain Innocent Simiyu and featuring sevens internationals Patrice Agunda, Mike Agevi and Dan Sikuta. Hong Kong were bereft of their short-form stars with 22 senior players engaged in the build-up to the Asia Rugby Sevens Series which kicks off in Hong Kong in September.

That combination played into coach Leigh Jones’s concerns about the opposition ahead of the tour when he summed up the two encounters as a test of Hong Kong’s collective organisation versus Kenya’s individual flair.

It was the latter that won out in the first round with Kenya scoring several tries off counter attacks from deep within their own territory, including scoring twice in quick succession to open up the game shortly after half-time.

Hong Kong enjoyed the more positive start with the visitors declaring their intent by attacking from deep early on to put the hosts under sustained pressure in the early stages. The scrum was dominant in the opening half, blowing up the opposition pack on numerous occasions, while a series of minor miscues and unforced errors left the Kenyans’ dangerous attack stuttering.

Hong Kong took full advantage of the gifted possession putting in sustained drives and penning Kenya deep in its half before the pressure told in the 20^th minute. Winger Conor Hartley collected the ball off a driving attacking lineout deep in Kenya’s territory to barrel across the tryline for the first points of the match. The difficult touchline conversion attempt from Kjestrup was no good leaving Hong Kong 5-0 up.

Fiercely committed in defence, the intensity of the Kenyan tackling put the visitors on the back foot as Hong Kong began to concede possession for the first time. Late in the half, fullback Mike Avegi put the hosts on the board with a penalty to close the gap to 5-3. Hong Kong replied well moving the ball methodically up field and forcing the Kenyans into conceding a second penalty for Kjestrup who struck it well pushing Hong Kong ahead 8-3.In an early warning sign for the visitors the game started to get loose as the half wore on with Hong Kong’s accuracy suffering as a result. The forwards responded again with another massive effort from Hong Kong’s scrum forcing the Kenyans to concede a kickable penalty that Kjestrup slotted home to push the lead to 11-3.

In injury time, the Kenyans ignited with winger Cyprian Kuto breaking away for a late try from deep in his own half. Avegi’s conversion was good and Kenya trailed 11-10 going into the break.

Kenya book-ended that momentum building score with another to start the second half as reserve back Samson Onsomu collected the ball off a turnover before tearing away for another lengthy try against the run of play. Scrumhalf Kelvin Masai was on target with his conversion as Kenya took its first lead 17-11.

Moments later, Kenya struck again from deep with Kuto securing his brace after capitalising on an overthrown lineout on his five-metre line. 95 metres, a clean pair of heels and a second Masai conversion later and Hong Kong were left trailing 24-11 after a dizzying display.

Hong Kong battled back bravely with reserve front rower Jack Parfitt scoring the riposte. Matthew Rosslee made the conversion to bring the visitors back within a converted try at 24-18 with fifteen minutes remaining but despite opportunities to draw level Hong Kong couldn’t cross the line before time expired.

Coach Jones was left upset about the loss but thankful for the rare opportunity to have a look at some of his ERP and age grade talent saying, “I’m never too happy with a loss but it was a worthwhile game. There is a lot to be pleased with. We controlled the first half and created several chances that we weren’t able to finish today.

“In the second half they hit us with those two breakaway tries and their tails were up. It was pretty textbook in many ways to what we said before the tour. If your accuracy isn’t there or if you slip off the tackles with these guys they have the power and pace to make you pay and that was the case.

“The experiment in coming here to look at guys under test pressure was a success and we got a lot from it. Now we’ll look to regroup and work on some of our accuracy issues and lick our wounds for the test,” Jones concluded.

Ben Roberts first cap may be in danger after he collected a knock in the opening match while captain Nick Hewson left with a calf strain.

Eight players made their senior squad debuts last night including Premiership standouts and Elite Rugby Programme (ERP) representatives Ben Roberts and Matthew Rosslee, both of whom will be eligible for first caps if selected for Saturday’s test. Fellow ERP members Kjestrup, wing Conor Hartley although they are not eligible to play for Hong Kong on this tour. Flanker Joey Cheung Ho-yin also marked his senior debut as an ERP player.

The match also featured an air of the future with four recent National Age Grade graduates making their debuts. Among the new faces was former U20s captain Mike Parfitt, who formed a locking duo with Fin Field playing in just his second senior match for Hong Kong. U20s sevens captain Hugo Stiles started at fullback while his long-time backline partner Liam Owens came off the reserves bench in the second half.

“I’m really pleased with the young lads. They performed well. Mike Parfitt and Fin Field were strong in the second row and Liam Owens did well when he came on. Young Hugo Stiles at fullback showed the class that he has,” said Jones.

Hong Kong Select: 1. Adam FULLGRABE, 2. Jamie TSANG, 3. Rohan COOK, 4. Mike PARFITT*, 5. Fin FIELD, 6. Tony WONG, 7. Joey CHEUNG Ho-yin*, 8. Nick HEWSON (Captain), 9. Charles CHEUNG Ho-ning, 10. Jason KJESTRUP*, 11. Conor HARTLEY*, 12. Jamie ROBINSON, 13. Matt ROSSLEE*, 14. Jonny REES, 15. Hugo STILES*. Reserves: 16. Ben ROBERTS*, 17. Ben HIGGINS, 18. Jack PARFITT, 19. Dan FALVEY, 20. Matt LAMMING, 21. Charlie HIGSON-SMITH, 22. Liam OWENS*, 23. Adam ROLSTON