選單
A valiant effort from the Hong Kong China Women’s XV saw them narrowly lose 23-27 to the hosts in the opening round of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2023 at the Almaty Sports Training Complex in Kazakhstan on Tuesday 23rd May.
HKRU Women’s Head Coach Royce Chan Leong-sze said “It's not the result we wanted. We had some good moments but for parts of the match we lost the momentum, especially in the first half with those penalties”.
The result also means that Hong Kong China won't appear in the inaugural WXV season, while Kazakhstan will move on to face Japan on Sunday 28th May at the same venue to determine the ARWC 2023 Champions as well as who will play in Division 2 and 3 of WXV.
During the match, the commentary team mentioned that the last time there was a Women’s XV international at the ground was a decade ago, and Hong Kong China had only beaten the hosts twice in their history, both in Hong Kong in December 2022.
Hong Kong China captain Natasha Olson-Thorne added, “We are obviously disappointed as we know we made too many errors and created opportunities. Our structure was there but it was just our execution. We have been training so hard but we will come back and try to do better next year."
The fixture started with Hong Kong China receiving the ball from a kickoff, an area they needed to improve upon from their recent European tour, but they started solid and throughout the match Aileen Ryan at flyhalf managed to clear her lines well off the boot.
The opening spell saw a number of kicks from both sides and a nervy start but the Kazakh Nomads also made it clear their plan was to run hard and direct at the physically smaller opponents in the Hong Kong China team.
Although the tackles from Hong Kong China were strong, they were giving away penalties at a rapid rate in the opening stanza and struggled to get a foothold in the game.
The first scrum signaled more concern as the Kazakh pack were dominant and powerful, winning three Hong Kong China scrums in the opening exchanges. Before long, the hosts found their stride and moved the ball well through the hands to the left Amina Tulegenova dotted the ball over for the opening unconverted score in under five minutes.
Hong Kong China collectively struggled with their discipline and made it too easy for the Kazakhs to march them upfield from repeated infringements.
They finally won some reprieve in the 8th minute when they won a penalty of their own and Ailieen Ryan slotted it over from around 30 metres out to earn the team's first points in ARWC 2023 and make it 3-5.
The captain, and so often the talisman for Hong Kong China, Natasha Olson-Thorne was solid in the midfield and was getting over the advantage line but the team repeatedly gave away silly penalties so the match lacked any real flow while also killing their own momentum.
Just before the half-hour mark, Hong Kong China cracked the Kazakh defence after Jiayu Qian bustled over from an attacking lineout and although the conversion attempt hit the post, they went into the lead for the first time 8-5.
With the hope of extending the lead before the break, their hopes were dashed as the hosts scored from the kickoff after the ball wasn't able to be gathered by Hong Kong China and the spilt ball was kicked forward into the try area and Amina Tulegenova dotted it over for her second try of the game to make it 8-10, the conversion unsuccessful again.
The visitors added a penalty in the 34th minute to take the lead which was again short-lived, as the Kazakhs earned a penalty themselves two minutes later and opted for a scrum which resulted in a converted try by the Kazak prop and a score of 11-17.
The final minutes of the half were more frenzied and after a penalty from a turnover, Hong Kong China opted for touch and an attacking lineout. They moved the ball through their back's hands and a high hit from the Kazak flanker Liliya Kibisheva resulted in a yellow card. A quick tap resulted in a try for Hong Kong China as they moved the ball quickly to the right for Ka Yan Chong to grab the unconverted try and Hong Kong China trailed 16-17 at the halftime break.
The second half saw more of the same from the visitors who could not capitalise on the player advantage. The Kazakhs moved back to a full complement of players without really being threatened (one missed penalty from Ryan) but with XV back on the field the hosts threw themselves at the Hong Kong China side and scored an unconverted try to the left for Veronika Stepanyuga and a score of 16-22.
Hong Kong China made substitutions to try and impact the momentum, and although the scrums were more solid and stable, there were sustained Kazakhstan attacks as they tried to extend their lead beyond a one-score game. Another attacking lineout from the hosts in the 54th minute saw the Kazakhstan prop Yelena Yurova add a second unconverted try and a lead of 16-27.
With a score desperately needed, the Hong Kong China captain Olson-Thorne received a loose kick and beat two defenders from the 22m line to add a vital try which was converted to narrow the Kazakh's lead to 23-27.
In the final quarter, however, applied pressure meant Hong Kong China could hardly get out of the half, combined with chasing the game it made for a nervy and tense finish. They defended with all of their hearts and bodies and repelled repeated Kazakh attacks from the lineouts, mauls and hard runners in the middle.
The defensive wall was holding but time was ebbing away. With a final attacking lineout, the Kazakhs were just held up again over the line, but match referee Eri Kamimura looked at her watch and blew the final whistle, to the elation of the hosts and the disappointment of the Hong Kong China players.
Captain Olson-Thorne added retrospectively, “You win some and you lose some. Although it was disappointing, there is potential for growth and that is where the development lies. We will reflect on this game and know where we can improve and the areas where we can be amazing in.”
Head Coach Royce Chan agreed. “The team has contributed so much on and off the field and that's performance sports. But we can look back at this and we just need to improve and come back stronger.”
The loss also means that Hong Kong China will likely, albeit temporarily, drop in the World Rugby rankings below Fiji to 17th place.
Japan will play Kazakhstan at 15:00 (+6 GMT) on Sunday 28th May and will be live-streamed on Asia Rugby’s YouTube channel.
1. NG Ki Sum 2. LAM Tim Yeung Iris 3. LEE Ka Shun 4. TURNER Roshini 5. CHOW Mei Nam 6. PUN Wai Yan 7. LI Nim Yan Melody Blessing 8. LAM Tsz Yan 9. HO Jessica Wai On 10. RYAN Aileen 11. CHONG Ka Yan 12. QIAN Jiayu 13. OLSON-THORNE Natasha 14. NAM Ka Man 15. WRIGHT Rosanna
Reserves: 16. GOT Fion 17. CHAN Hiu Tung 18. RICHARDSON Megan 19. BALTAZAR Chloe 20. AU YEUNG Sin Yi 21. AU King To 22. FUNG Hoi Ching 23. SMITH Zoe
1-Yelena Yurova 2-Xeniya Kim 3-Natalia Kamendrovskaya 4-Daiana Kazibekova 5-Symbat Zhamankulova 6-Liliya Kibisheva 7-Anzhelika Pichugina 8- (c)Karina Sazontova 9-Mariya Grishina 10-Diana Abisheva 11- Veronika Stepanyuga 12-Anna Melnikova 13-Lyudmila Sherer 14-Amina Tulegenova 15-Gulim Bakytbek
Reserves: 16-Karina Tankisheva 17-Moldir Askhat 18-Darya Simakova 19-Svetlana Malezhina 20-Milana Alayeva 21-Alyona Drobovskaya 22-Vlada Odnoletok 23-Anna Melnikova
Keep up to date with announcements and streaming details on our socials, hkrugby.com or asiarugby.com. This piece was written in collaboration with Rugby Asia 24/7.
