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PUBLISHED ON 09 NOV 2024
Hong Kong China Men's XVs fell to a 23-10 defeat this afternoon at Hong Kong Football Club in the first match of their two-test Autumn International Series.
The boys will host their South American counterparts again on Saturday 16 November at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground (KO 4PM), giving fans a first chance to watch rugby at the brand new venue for the first time. Tickets for the second test are on sale now, priced at $100 HK ($50 HK for children under 12), with fans who cannot attend able to can catch the action live on the Hong Kong China Rugby YouTube Channel.
MATCH REPORT
In the buildup to the match today at Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong China Men's XVs were under no illusion that the visiting Os Tupis was going to be one of the toughest matches they had played at home for some time, and the battle-hardened visitors proved to be too strong, winning the opening match of the two-match series 23-10.
The Brazilians led for most of the match, and in addition to bringing the physicality that was expected, they also showed intelligence by controlling where on the field the game was played with a more effective kicking game and a sharpshooter with the boot who was able to add points from the repeated penalties – as well as from range.
Hong Kong China Head Coach Andrew Douglas reflected, "They won the game with physicality and by putting themselves in the right place on the field. They were better than us tonight, and they deserved the win. The great thing about having a series is that we have a week now to turn it around.
“We can play the game at our tempo and I think we can open them up more, but we didn't get enough front-foot ball to do that today because we lost the collision battle.”
Brazilians Bring The Power Game
In front of a vocal and well-attended home crowd, Nathan De Thierry slotted the first points of the hotly contested game in the 5th minute, in what was the third-ever fixture between the two sides.
Even though the opening spoils went to the hosts, the early massive hits gave forewarning of the type of niggly and physical 80 minutes everyone would be in store for. An early scrum also hinted at the scrum dominance the visitor would enjoy, winning successive penalties against Hong Kong China which their goal kicker slotted with ease, the second of which was knocked over from near the halfway line to lead 6-3.
An excellent linebreak by De Thierry was thwarted even though he put big Number 8 Luke Van Der Smit away into space with a great inside pass, but the cover defence chopped him down before the line.
With a quarter of the game gone, it proved to be another slugfest, but the visitors had the upper hand in the set piece, with the home side struggling at times with both the lineout and the scrum. Both sides were also employing a kicking game, with the Brazilians holding an edge there too.
A yellow card to Van Der Smit gave Brazil some advantage as they extended the lead to 9-3 with the man up; however scrappy ball from another lineout proved to be beneficial when scrumhalf Jamie Lauder put left wing, Matt Worley, away for a converted try under the posts and Van Der Smit returned to the field with the home side leading ever so slightly at 10-9.
Some ill-discipline cost the side shortly afterwards, and Brazil retook the lead through the boot of fullback Lucas Ze Tranquez. Before the half was done, the Brazilians got their only try as hooker Ferreira dotted down from a couple of metres out in the 37th minute to lead at the break 17-9.
No Last-Minute Heroics – Brazil Hold On
The second forty minutes continued in the same physical and brutal intensity, but the visitors managed to stay a couple scores ahead as Hong Kong China tried to chase them down on the scoreboard.
Another penalty saw the lead reach 20-10, and as the subs benches were called upon, debut caps were also justly handed out with Sunai Fameitau bolstering the pack. The changes from both sides meant the scrums were more evenly contested, and Hong Kong China did hold their own better.
Brazil notched another three-pointer and led 23-10. Unfortunately, some enforced errors proved costly when Hong Kong China did make inroads into the Brazilian half, sometime through the lineout or a dropped ball. No more so than when an excellent worked set move saw the ball move intricately through the hands by the backs but too much so, and a vital inside pop-pass was deemed to be a forward pass as Worley was denied a double.
There was lots of niggle in the final ten minutes, but Brazil held on to win thanks to good game management and strategy, and they celebrated their first-ever win over Hong Kong China after the whistle.
Douglas said after the game, "Our challenge is to respond now, and this is a really good test for us as we have not been sat down like that for a long time. You learn from adversity, so it will be a great learning curve for us."
Captain Joshua Hrstich was disappointed but knows the side will need to dust themselves off for a huge match next week, the first to be played at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground.
"I think we can turn things around for next week, and we have a massive opportunity to square the series – we will need the crowd again as they were great today for us.
“I am disappointed for the boys but we did have some nice pieces of rugby, but the skills execution and discipline let us down at times. We knew that they would be physical, but when you compound errors on top of penalties and not playing in the right areas, you are going to have a tough day at the office."
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