The Hong Kong Women’s sevens squad finished as plate semi finalists at the Coral Coast Sevens, while the men’s team were pipped at the post in their target of becoming the first international side to reach the cup quarterfinals, after losing out on points differential.

After a 12-10 pool defeat to Scion Woo in their final match yesterday, Hong Kong’s women’s seven were set for the re-match in this morning’s quarterfinal, unfortunately, it was a similar result as Hong Kong allowed a try on the final play to lose by the same margin. 

A slow start left Hong Kong adrift 7-0 at half-time, but they fought back well after the break with tries from Stephanie Chan and Sham Wai-sum. Hong Kong led 10-7 with less than a minute remaining, but conceded a damaging penalty allowing Scion Woo a last-second try and a second 12-10 victory in as many days.

New coach Iain Monaghan said, “We had a poor first half where we didn’t play to our game plan or the standard we had set for ourselves on day one.

“But to be fair, the girls started to come good at the end of the half and carried on in the second, and it was probably just a bit of inexperience that cost us, not surprising considering the number of younger players in the group.”

That sent Hong Kong, who reached the cup final last year, to the plate semi, where they faced another physical test in USA Stars, an academy squad for America’s sevens hopefuls that included Fijian sevens internationals and England Olympian and Rugby World Cup winner Heather Fisher.  That bruising test would prove a bridge too far for Hong Kong who lost 12-0.

“Another good physical game and another good learning curve for us. We put ourselves in position to win, but we struggled to manage their physicality. Managing those situations and better adapting to what’s in front us will be a big focus of our preparations when we get home,” Monaghan said.

Considering the significant growth in the tournament standard this year, and the fact that Hong Kong featured four U20s players on debut - under a new coach who was only with the team for 48 hours ahead of departure, it was a highly creditable performance for the squad and Monaghan was pleased with what he has seen.

“It’s been a great experience. I’ve only been with them since Thursday, but when you tour together everything is accelerated, it feels like we have been together for weeks instead of days. It’s given me an opportunity to get a feel for everyone as players and people, to better understand the culture and to see them in a stretch zone, which was really important.”

Amongst the biggest takeaways for Monaghan was the potential ahead for this team.

“The biggest on pitch positive is that we are playing at probably 50% of our capacity. We have huge potential and if we can make some very subtle changes, work on some small but important details, and improve our focus, then we can see a massive improvement in how we play, which is hugely exciting.”

The men’s seven, hunting for a first appearance in the cup quarterfinals on their third trip to the Coral Coast missed out on becoming the first international side to reach the quarterfinals on points differential after a promising opening day.

Hong Kong started with a hard-fought 17-14 win over local side Sigatoka.  Encouragingly, a quartet of returning players all had an impact in their first Hong Kong outings in quite awhile.  Alex McQueen, (recently returned from pilot training for Cathay Pacific), Mak Kwai-chung, (who played at the same tournament last year), and Chris Maize (coming off of a lengthy injury recovery) were all try-scorers, while Russell Webb, on his first Hong Kong appearance in nearly a year after injury, added the conversion.

Hong Kong resumed service in the second match, beating Lokalevu 20-5 behind a brace of tries from Cado Lee Ka-to and tallies from match captain Lee Jones and Tom McQueen, who also recently returned to Hong Kong with his brother Alex after completing the same training programme.

Surprise results in the other pool matches and a tough 26-5 loss to top seeds Tabudamu in Hong Kong’s final pool match saw three teams tied first in the pool on seven points overall.  Despite the head to head win, a better points differential sent Sigatoka through to the cup quarterfinals in Hong Kong’s stead.  Hong Kong will now look to bounce back tomorrow with a run to the bowl final, starting with quarterfinal opponents, Outrigger, who finished at the bottom of Pool C, at 10.40am Fiji time (0640 Hong Kong time).