LAST MINUTE TRY HELPS HONG KONG SWEEP KAZAKHSTAN WITH 14-12 WIN

19th Dec 2022

It was a fairytale finish for the Hong Kong Women’s XV as they conjured up an 80th minute try through Zoe Smith to level the score 12-all with Kazakhstan - before Aileen Ryan struck the winning conversion from the far touchline for the 14-12 victory at the hooter. The win sees Hong Kong sweep Kazakhstan in their first international rugby games since 2019 after winning last weekend’s opener, 31-17. 

Early on it looked as if it would be a reprise of Hong Kong’s heavy opening victory as they dominated play. It was a convincing first half everywhere but on the scoreboard as Hong Kong had numerous chances and controlled possession and territory, but failed to produce points. Their first scoring opportunities came with a missed penalty after ten minutes, followed by a two-on-one overlap started by a great break from Jessica Eden deep in her own half, but the last pass went to ground with Kazakhstan’s try-line begging. The forwards, led by co-captain and prop Lee Ka-shun and senior player Chow Mei-nam, had another composed performance with Hong Kong enjoying lineout superiority for a second straight game. The pack also held its own in the scrum stakes against a bigger Kazakhstan eight. Hong Kong’s back three looked especially dangerous with wings Eden and Sabay Lynam and fullback Vivian Poon Hoi-yan producing some cutting runs but unlucky not to make the final metre.

Things came unstuck for Hong Kong in the 39th minute when centre Alina Askerova turned a half break into a pell-mell race to the line before towering sevens star Lyudmila Sherer crossed over in the corner to finish - her second try of the series. Hong Kong trailed 7-0 at the break. That score shifted momentum back to the visitors. It was all Kazakhstan out of the blocs after the resumption of play with their sevens players coming to the fore as they pushed play repeatedly to Hong Kong’s line. Balzhan Koishibayeva finished a positive rush attack and carried a few tacklers across the line to extend Kazakhstan’s lead to 12-0. Kazakhstan maintained their advantage for almost the entirety of the final half, but Hong Kong’s defence held up to the pressure. 

The bench was key to Hong Kong’s climactic win as they clawed the momentum back in the final 20 minutes. Hong Kong were patient in working the ball into attacking territory down the stretch, with their first real chance of the final stanza only coming after the 70th minute with a deep lineout from a penalty. Hong Kong took the ball cleanly and held serve over a dozen phases on the Kazakh line before reserve flanker Maggie Au Yeung Sin-yi found the gap on the fringes of the defence for the try. Ryan added the extras to close to within a converted score with five minutes remaining as Hong Kong trailed 12-7. Coach Royce Chan’s squad continued to dig deep after the restart and found themselves back on the attack moments later after another clearance kick from Ryan brought them again into Kazakh territory. Kazakhstan was pinged for offsides and Ryan again advanced play through a good touch-finding penalty that gave Hong Kong a second attacking lineout metres from the line. For a second time, they took the ball cleanly and controlled play over another series of phases, eventually working the attack to the opposite corner. Another impactful reserve came up with the leveller as full-back Zoe Smith found space in the far corner for the try, tying the score at 12-all. That left a monstrous conversion attempt for Ryan. With ice water in her veins, the fly-half slotted the kick home to sneak Hong Kong in for the win and a series sweep, their first over Kazakhstan. 

The win should help Hong Kong climb further in the women’s world rankings after reaching a highwater mark of 15th after the opening victory, but for team co-captain Natasha Olson-Thorne the import comes much closer to home. “It’s amazing to play fifteens again after such a long time. This is just the first step for us now. We are really happy with this game, but mostly we are looking forward to future games,” said Olson-Thorne. She also spoke about the team’s determined comeback, saying, “At half-time we talked about getting our composure back. We were still in the game. We just needed to play the full 40 minutes and go hard. We knew that if we were patient and waited them out, they would make errors and we would get the ball back, and then we could play our structure and get the points we needed.”  

“It was a rollercoaster” added a delighted head coach Royce Chan afterward as she marked two wins from her first two outings in her head coaching debut. “The first half didn’t reflect our quality and that was frustrating. We played what we wanted to perfectly but we couldn’t show anything for it. The second half we told everyone to keep with the game plan and the reserves were massive. The last 20 minutes were incredible and brought the whole team together. “I hope the girls will believe in themselves even more now. Two late tries in a pressure game like that are amazing. I couldn’t ask for more. We deserved the win. It was incredible to have that come in front of our home audience and after such a long time. Hopefully it can inspire more girls to want to play and challenge these girls in playing for the national team,” added Chan.

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