A new look Hong Kong squad with four players on debut, and on their first outing under new coach Iain Monaghan, had a mixed day at the Coral Coast Sevens, winning one, drawing one and losing one of their three matches today in Fiji. 

Hong Kong’s results keep them on track to reach the Cup final, as they did in 2018, although Monaghan believes the tournament standard has reached a new high this year:  “The standard is really good. There are a number of international players in the sides and the invitational teams have prepared really well, which is exactly what we had hoped for.

“It’s almost a World Series standard here really, or as close as we can come to it not being on the Series, with the number of international players and the talent level, all combined with the Fijian style of play which is so exuberant and skilful,” Monaghan added.

Winger Chong Ka-yan was on form to start the season, notching four tries across the first two matches, a 22-0 win over Hope Rugby Club and a 12-all draw with Fiji Airports Nadi Aviators.   Against Hope, Hong Kong turned a 5-0 lead at half-time into a convincing 22-0 win with captain Natasha Olson-Thorne adding a try to start the second half before Chong collected her brace. Scrumhalf Jessica Ho scored a fourth try to close out the match with Colleen Tjosvold adding a conversion in the second half.  Chong scored both of Hong Kong’s tries in their match against Aviators, with Tjosvold adding a conversion, but the squad was left disappointed after the draw.

“We are emphasising performance over results and we have had some really good performances today,” said Monaghan.

“Our first game was a good win and we followed that up with a disciplined second match, where I think the girls were a bit disappointed afterwards. We didn’t perform to the level we had in our first game, but the girls were really excellent in the way they bounced back and prepared for the final match.”

The final outing of day one was a narrow loss to Scion Woo, an international invitational side featuring a number of USA Eagles and Eagles triallists. 

The two teams were drawn 5-all at the break with the conversion of a Scion Woo second half try the only difference between the two sides in the 12-10 loss.  Olson-Thorne and Vivian Poon were the try-scorers for Hong Kong.

“The last game was by far our most competitive in terms of our opponents, but also in the positive way that the team responded to our review after the second game. All in all it was a good first day.

“They are a very strong mental group. They bounced back really well for that final game and we produced our best performance of the day, in what was the hardest game of the day, so that’s encouraging for tomorrow.”

The squad will have a chance at a measure of revenge as they face off with Scion Woo again in the cup quarterfinal tomorrow at 9.00am Fiji time (0500 Hong Kong time).

Monaghan’s first tournament experience with Hong Kong was uniformly positive:  “I was really impressed with the management team today. The assistant coach Sai Lo [Lai Yiu-pang] and Henry [Chong] our Strength and Conditioning coach gave me a lot of good insight into the players.

“The senior players were also excellent, which was really important considering how many of the U20s girls we have with us. Today would have been undoubtedly the most challenging rugby they [the U20s] have experienced in their rugby careers and they all responded positively. The senior players are constantly providing input and advice and I was really impressed by that.”

Monaghan has established a few work-ons for tomorrow including trying to “play more attacking rugby, with and without the ball, which demands a big work rate and a team effort. I also want us to work on staying more connected on the pitch, more attached to each other, so we can take advantage of opportunities. We created a lot of chances today but had difficulty finishing them.”

Monaghan concluded with a glowing impression of the team’s character, saying, “I can’t emphasise how impressed I am by their character. They are very professional. They prepare themselves well and they come ready to play.

“I have been involved with a lot of pro teams, men and women, in Scotland and in Europe, that lose because they couldn’t focus at the key moment. This squad is always on to the next job quickly and I really enjoy what I have seen of the spirit and the culture in the team,” he added.