PUBLISHED ON 16 NOV 2025
The Hong Kong China Women Select XVs got their international triangular series (the 3 Nations Cup) off to a winning start against Germany at Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg, edging out the hosts 12-10 for a narrow win after the score was 0-0 at halftime.
Next up the girls will then take on Belgium in the same venue on Saturday 22 November (15:00 local / 22:00 HK) to wrap up their fixtures in World Rugby's international window. The match will be streamed on Solidsport by the local host, Rugby Union Baden-Württemberg, with the broadcaster charging a fee of €5 per match to watch (Belgium Women vs Hong Kong China Select 15s watch link: https://solidsport.com/heidelberg7s/games/g/hsxxf9py)
FIRST HALF
Germany kicked the game off, and a Hong Kong China knock on gave the hosts a scrum 5 metres out from which they shifted the ball right dangerously, but dropped the ball to relieve the pressure. This was the starting sequence of half a dozen dropped balls and scrums within the opening 8 minutes of the match.
The hosts initially seemed to have scrum dominance, but that changed as the game went on, with a lot of scrums during the game as the Hong Kong China pack was really made to work in tough conditions and in front of noisy local support.
The match was a little scrappy at times. The Germans were playing their inside centre at scrumhalf, and she, as well as the flyhalf, were constant threats throughout the match with ball in hand. The Hong Kong China defence had to team up to stop their runs, while our own centres, Georgia Cutt and Grace Hood, also put in some good carries in the midfield.
Tsz Wan at scrumhalf tried her best to keep the ball moving, while flyhalf Jasmine Fung used her boot to try to pin the Germans back, but after the opening quarter, neither side had looked close to scoring as the game lacked much fluidity.
Close to the 20th minute, Hong Kong China had a great touch finder and won the line out - which was a solid a solid platform to attack from for most of the game. The team had several carries and tap and go’s from successive penalties on their try line, but ultimately the Germans won a penalty to relieve the pressure.
Discipline from both sides prevented much flow in the match. The Germans surprisingly opted for a shot at the poles in the 28th minute from 45m out, and the kick only just fell short, showing they would be a threat from kicks. Hong Kong China were forced to defend late in the half, and it appeared as if the Germans busted through to score, but it was ruled out, and it was scoreless at the break.
SECOND HALF
The second half initially looked like more of the same, and there were multiple penalties. Hong Kong China did have players make breaks, but they were isolated, and on each occasion the ball was turned over thereafter. There was another flurry of scrums from dropped balls, and we desperately kept out the German left wing with a last-ditch tackle. Eventually, the Germans, under penalty advantage, did score on the left wing in the 49th minute to break the deadlock and lead 5-0.
In response, the girls upped the tempo and made good inroads striking back in the 53rd minute to tie it up. The game was starting to look and feel different as both sides looked to be more accurate and play at a quicker pace, but still both teams were giving away a number of penalties
The Hong Kong China Select coaching team could be heard telling the girls to get into the right areas as the game again digressed for a stop-start period. Subs were made, and the girls looked to increase their aggressiveness and physicality, as well as the line speed, with the German backs looking dangerous.
As the time was running out, in the 78th minute off the back of a strong scrum, which had now shown dominance, our outside back ran it under the posts to take the lead for the first time as the try was converted, 12-5.
From the restart, Hong Kong China knocked it on and had to absorb pressure 25m out from our try line. We gave away multiple penalties and were forced to defend deep and late into the game. The Germans scored wide on the right with a tough kick to square it up, which was narrowly missed.
Hong Kong China kicked a deep restart, which the Germans knocked back into touch. We won the lineout, but the ball was knocked on and this gave Germany have a final chance to attack and the chance to win it late, but the girls held on for a two-point victory.
COACH AND PLAYER REACTIONS
Lead Senior Coach Tumua Ioane said on reflection, “I am incredibly proud of the young group with a number of players today experiencing their first senior representative women's game. We had to travel across the world and deal with different conditions than they are not used to. That sapped us early, and not everything went our way, but I felt like they responded well and put in a resilient performance.
"The crowd was hostile, and the players stayed in the fight. We spoke as a group about what care looks like, what caring for the jersey means, and what caring for each other looks like. The way we stuck in and continued to fight for each other and to get the result was a really pleasing experience.
"In terms of the game plan, we didn't play in the areas we wanted to. In the second half, we steadied the ship and played in areas that benefited us more, not just in terms of our kicking game, which I felt improved in the second half, but we had been playing too much in the middle of the field, and once we got the ball to the edges, which had planned to do, the game opened up a bit more for us. I thought after a tough first half, we responded well in that second half.”
He said of the importance of this tour and getting new talent coming through, “This is the first step of a journey to qualify for the next Women's Rugby World Cup, so to bring over a young squad of those who have not represented us before was really encouraging. Some of those names were Elsie Hulme, Jasmine Fitzhenry, and Ella Lynam - they were all fantastic today and all just 18-20 years old.
"Fion Got had an unbelievable game, considering she had been injured for most of the season, and to put in that huge performance having played much rugby was massive for us. Monty Heslop changed the game when she came on, both with her boot and her running game which got us back into the match and over the line.”
Monty Heslop, the Kowloon player who has also served as HKCR U18 Girls Team Manager, said, “We had to put in a huge defensive effort for the majority of that game, and we had to hold them out at some critical moments. The girls were really determined in attack to get over the line, and the forwards put in a massive shift in tough conditions, especially underfoot, which we are not used to. The forwards got us around the park and gave us momentum.
"It was a really stop-start game and difficult to get that momentum going at times, but when we did have it, I felt like we played on top well with some missed opportunities. I'm grateful we held on to get the win.”
Our match previews and reports are posted in collaboration with our good friends at RugbyAsia247 – check them out for all the latest Asia Rugby news!
