A Hong Kong side with eight players on debut beat a Fijian team running out nine newcomers, 29-10, yesterday at Churchill Park in Lutoka. 

Winger Zoe Smith scored a hat trick on her debut with forwards Tammy Lau and Winnie Siu adding tries in the comfortable win.  Hong Kong will now face Samoa on Tuesday (28 May) at 1400 (Hong Kong time) as they look to sweep the Asia Pacific series triangular.

Hong Kong came back from an early 5-0 deficit against the hosts after Karalaini Naisewa scored in the 8^th minute.  Hong Kong replied quickly with Zoe Smith scoring a first half brace to put Hong Kong in the lead at half time, 10-5.

Three more unanswered tries in the second half saw Hong Kong settle things early on, as they jumped out to a 29-5 lead in the third quarter, after Smith completed the natural hat-trick before Lau and Siu added their names to the scorebook.

An 83^rd minute consolation try for prop Esiteri Bulikiobo brought the final score to 29-10 and gave Fiji something to build from ahead of their final game with Samoa next Saturday.

The large amount of new faces in both teams reflects the ongoing build-up for next year’s Rugby World Cup qualification campaign with Fiji and Samoa ranked one and two in Oceania.

Hong Kong Squad v Fiji: 1. LAU Nga Wun, 2. Karen SO, 3. CHEUNG Shuk Han, CHOW Mei-nam, TSANG Ching-man, Riva BRILL, 7. Winnie SIU, 8. CHAN Ka-yan, 9. Jessica HO, 10. Rose HOPEWELL-FONG, 11. Zoe SMITH, 12. Colleen TJOSVOLD, 13. Amy PYLE, 14. Bena YU, 15. Abigail CHAN, 16. Iris LAM, 17. Vincci LEUNG, 18. CHAN Hiu-Tung, 19. PUN Wai-yan, 20. WONG Kai-ying, 21. Rachel FONG, 22. LIU Yuen-ting, 23. Kelsie BOUTTLE