PUBLISHED ON 22 DEC 2024
Sunday 22 December 2024 started with Korea narrowly beating Chinese Taipei 24-19 in the 3rd place playoff on the final day of the Asia Rugby U19 Men’s Championship 2024 before Hong Kong China U19s were comfortably beaten by favourites Japan 64-3 at the Taipei Municipal Stadium.
The runners-up position means we end our hold on the championship which we won for 8 consecutive titles but Japan were deserved winners on the day and the whole tournament and the loss to superior opposition was a worthwhile experience banked by the players and the coaching staff.
Considering the respective two age-grade U20 sides faced each other in the World Rugby Trophy tournament in Scotland earlier in 2024 when the Japanese won 105-20 - there are positives to take away from this.
After the opening 39-14 win over Korea mid-week, the squad knew this was going to be a step up as the Japanese play with such speed and ruthless accuracy.
Head Coach Joe Barker had hoped they could address these in the short turnaround and preparation and said after the loss, “I think it is great Japan was in this tournament and it gives our lads huge experience to play a tier one nation and the athletes they have in that squad. We can only gain experience from this and a lot of young boys have gained some great exposure here.
It's always disappointing and tough to take a loss but credit to the boys for fronting up. We know we might not have the ball as much as we wanted, so we would need to defend for a fair amount of the game without the ball. I think they fronted up in the collisions and they showed pride in the jersey.
At halftime, we told the boys to try and keep the ball longer rather than give the ball back to Japan. Before the game, we thought there were some areas we could disrupt them in to find some holes in their defence which we did see, but they managed to build a bit of lead. We realised we had to look after the ball longer and attack in more phases, and defensively we had to make tweaks and front up.”
Co-captain Oliver Clarke added, “While second place is disappointing, having the inclusion of a tier one nation like Japan gives us something to work towards. The biggest takeaways for us from this Championship is how to perform under pressure and execute your role against a clinical and well-rounded defence. I am really proud of the boys as we went above and beyond against a tier-one nation.”
Japan Pace And Ruthlessness Tough to Stop
Hong Kong China won the toss before kickoff but started the match by conceding early to the Japanese who led 7-0 within minutes and added a second try around the ten-minute mark using lightning-quick ball to pull away 12-0.
Without many clear chances in the opening 15 minutes, a kickable penalty was slotted by Matthew Rickard who was in excellent kicking form against Korea in the opening round, and he nailed another penalty as Hong Kong China closed the lead to 12-3.
Japan were straight back into attack from the restart but two good sets of defensive plays from Hong Kong China kept them at bay and out of the try area as bodies were put on the line.
The first scrum only came in the 19th minute and held steady with our boys nearly breaking free to score but it was called back for a knock-on. There were two more scrums in quick succession and Japan started to show signs of dominance in the set piece which only grew as the match went on,
The Japanese line speed forced pressure but both sides were spilling the ball - Japan more so in attack which was executed at relentless speed and the opening quarter was played mostly in the Hong Kong China half as the boys tackled bravely.
Japanese dominance at the 4th scrum saw them kick for touch and score from their powerful rolling maul to lead 17-3.
In the opening half, we tried to send a few aerial balls up but they had mixed rewards although they were well contested by the chasers. There were a good few minutes of ball retention and pressure from Hong Kong China before the half-hour mark and both teams were scrapping well but both were also making mistakes as we tried to stay in touch with Japan.
However, Japan with good hands, found space on the left to score their 4th try, crucially before the half, and quickly added a 5th on the hooter to lead 29-3 at the break.
Hong Kong China Never Gave Up
The second half saw more try-line defence, first stopping the rolling maul and then another but Japanese pressure told and eventually as they crossed in the 43rd minute to extend the lead to 36-3.
There were players trying to break Japan's stranglehold, and both flanks Andrew Stratton and Oliver Clark had bustling runs and racked up the tackle count, scrumhalf Gabriel Horberry was under immense pressure but, for the most part, managed to get the ball away from a struggling scrum, while centres James Kee and Oliver Sinclair tried to bust up the middle.
The side only conceded one score in the opening 20 minutes of the second half and it was only in the 61st minute that Japan scored two quick tries to pull away to a 50-3 lead.
Hong Kong China had another good attack late on in the half but the ball was stripped in the Japan 22m and they again turned defence to attack to score and ended the game with a final flourish to deservedly win 64-3 and claim the U19 title.
Coaches Thoughts
Joe Barker said of the tournament, “We won the first game which was key, and just competing against Japan in certain areas was a big aspect of this Championship and everyone got game time. I think we had 16 new caps which is outstanding and great for us moving forward.”
The Head Coach’s message to any eligible and aspiring Hong Kong China players was “to keep working at it, as the opportunities are there. I think lads were here with us who maybe thought they never would be - and now they have managed to play on the international stage.
There are so many pathways, and with what is potentially coming in 2027 (Rugby World Cup qualification is next year) and for 2031, there are so many exciting times to come. So we will keep building and there is more exposure coming, so it is exciting.”
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