HKCR Men VII Beat Japan for gold medal in Asia Rugby 7s Opener in China; Women’s VII lose to Thailand in extra-time to finish 4th

The Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) men’s and women’s sevens squads marked a successful return to Asia Rugby Sevens play in Suzhou, China today. 

Fueled by an immense effort from Liam Herbert, who played nearly the entire match and was involved in each of Hong Kong’s three unanswered tries in the late stages, the men erased a 7-0 deficit to beat Japan, 19-7 and claim gold. 

It is an important result for the side who next month will head to Japan for the XX Asian Games, where Hong Kong China are two-time defending gold medalists.

“If Hong Kong were on the other side of this result, it would make us that much more determined to come back and play again,” said men’s coach Jevon Groves. “So we must strive to get better, even in success; other teams will have more preparation from now to then and they will all be coming after us, so we have to be prepared and take our game to another level still,” said men’s coach Jevon Groves.

Japan looked dangerous throughout the first half, taking the kick-off all the way to Hong Kong’s line before a try-saving tackle from Julien Bourron stopped the threat after just 20 seconds of play. Japan looked to have nearly scored a few minutes later, but TMO review showed the ball was knocked on before the line. 

After the early pressure, a defensive battle set-in for the remainder of the first half with Hong Kong’s defence sound but struggling for possession and territory. On the last play of the half, Japan compiled a grinding attack that eventually created space out wide for a momentum stealing halftime try as they took the early lead, 7-0.

The second half saw Hong Kong utilise what may be the deepest bench in Asian Sevens, bringing on experience and attacking threat in Max Denmark and Harry Sayers, captain James Christie, and towering forward Callum McCullough, at the interchange. 

Sayers made his impact felt most dramatically on defence with a bone-crunching tackle turning the ball over in front of the Japanese posts. Christie passed to Herbert nearly at the line, before Herbert managed a tough offload in contact to McCullough, who dove over to level the scores 7-all after Bryn Phillips’ conversion.

McCullough then disrupted the Japanese reception of the ensuing kick-off, sending the ball skittering along the grass to Bourron, who spotted Herbert charging downfield and hit him out wide. Herbert did a lot of work in a small amount of space to break down the outer Japanese defence before standing strong in the tackle to offload back to the sprinting Bourron for a touchline try that gave Hong Kong its first lead 12-7.

McCullough dominated again at the restart, tapping the kick-off back for the onrushing Bourron, who collected and distributed to Sayers. He quickly found the onrushing Herbert again in space outside. Herbert fended the final defender and flashed the last 10 metres to the line for Hong Kong’s third try in as many minutes. Phillips’ conversion sealed a tremendous win for Hong Kong China, 19-7.

Groves spoke about the depth in his squad: “When we bring on all those guys in one hit it can change the momentum of the game. But to also have a couple of younger guys starting and fronting us against one of the best teams in Asia is massive; the ability of all of the boys to be interchangeable is key.”

He also singled out Herbert for his performance: “Liam was fantastic. He was running on fumes at the end, but his influence on the game was obvious. We know he has the engine to do that. We think of Liam as a 14 minute player, he is one of the best players that has ever been in this programme. It means a lot to him and I’m really pleased with how he played in the final, he was the difference maker,” added Groves.

After pushing China to the limit in a losing effort in the semifinal, the Women’s team were pipped into fourth place after a golden point loss to Thailand in extra time, 17-12.

The Women’s route on day two saw them beat India in the quarterfinal behind a 17-point second half, and advance to the semi against China. 

The Cup run ended there after a 21-0 semifinal loss to the hosts, a score that flattered China as the game was tied 0-0 after 11 minutes. 

That loss sent the Hong Kong China Women to the 3rd place playoff where they faced top rivals Thailand for a second time this tournament.  After upsetting the group formbook with a gutsy 5-0 win over Thailand in the final match of Saturday night, Hong Kong would face its familiar foe once again. The result would provide another compelling chapter in the long history between these two teams.

Still stinging from the day one pool loss, Thailand started the match with intensity, forcing Hong Kong onto the backfoot defensively in the opening stages. Hong Kong’s defence not only held strong, but pressurized Thailand into a string of forced errors and penalties that derailed the Thailand attack. 

Hong Kong responded with its first attacking phases of the game and eventually created an overlap for a try from Agnes Chan. Stephanie Chan’s conversion gave Hong Kong a 7-0 lead.  Hong Kong stretched that to 12-0 with a try set up by a great run from Chong Ka Yan who found Julia Mba Oyana for the finish. 

A Hong Kong knock on to start the second half set up Thailand’s first try: an 80-metre effort against the run of play that put the Thais back in the mix, down 12-7. With two minutes remaining, a yellow card was shown to captain Chloe Chan for a questionable high tackle, leaving Hong Kong down a player for the rest of actual time. Thailand conjured up another long breakaway try to tie the score at 12-all with 30 seconds left on the clock. 

Neither side could score in the final seconds, so the game entered an added time period of 5-minutes with golden point in effect. The momentous battle of end-to-end rugby continued through most of extra time before Thailand found the gap in the Hong Kong defence to take the win, 17-12. 

Hong Kong China finished fourth overall.  Japan beat China 24-7 in the Cup Final.