Hong Kong’s men lose first 7s series game since 2019, eye improvement for defence of Asian Games title
- Japan beat Hong Kong to Incheon title in first leg of 2023 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
- Andy Vilk starts life as women’s head coach with back-to-back wins before team finishes fourth
Hong Kong’s men lost an Asia Rugby Sevens Series leg for the first time in more than three years on Sunday, but head coach Jevon Groves said his side’s performance provided a solid platform for the Asian Games.
Groves’ team go into next month’s tournament in Hangzhou as defending champions, but with squads limited to passport holders only, must do so without the influential Callum McCullough, Alex McQueen, Seb Brien and Pierce MacKinlay-West.
The quartet would certainly have been useful in Incheon over the weekend, with Hong Kong losing 27-0 to Japan in the pool stages, before a much closer final where they lost 12-10.
Japan were the last team to beat them in the competition, 22 games ago in September 2019. Hong Kong were unbeaten in last year’s series, with only a draw against United Arab Emirates spoiling a 100 per cent record.
“I am obviously disappointed with the outcome but pleased with how the players performed in the final, especially after a heavy loss to Japan on day one,” Groves said.
“We created more chances in the final and scored some good tries. We fixed a few issues around the breakdown and kick-off that cost us on day one and I felt we did enough to win the game. But credit to Japan. They are a very good side, they took their chances and defended with lots of aggression.
“I think our performances over this weekend give us lots to work on, but we can take confidence from the final that we are in a good place heading into the Asian Games.”
Andy Vilk, meanwhile, began his reign as women’s head coach with a fourth-placed finish - after starting the competition with successive victories.
Japan beat China 14-12 in another cliffhanger to claim the women’s prize. The second and final leg of the series is set for Bangkok in October. But attention now turns to Hangzhou where Hong Kong will defend the crown they won in Jakarta five years ago.
Vilk’s side didn’t concede a point in 17-0 and 39-0 victories over Kazakhstan and Singapore, but China proved too strong in the final pool-stage match, winning 24-7.
Japan overcame Hong Kong 27-7 in the last four, before a nip-and-tuck third-placed play-off went the way of Thailand 22-14.
“This was an important opportunity to put into practice all the things the players had been working on with Paul [John, Hong Kong head coach] and Pete Jericevich, team coach],” Vilk said.
“The girls made a positive impression with their attitude and consistent approach to the games. The opportunity to see the technical and tactical sides of the game exposed to pressure from teams like Japan, China and Thailand will allow the team to evaluate where they can improve.
“A top-four finish and the competitive nature of the defeats leaves the team in an encouraging position to focus on areas of their collective and individual games to prepare well for the Asian Games.”
Hong Kong have four weeks to finalise plans for the continental competition, which begins on September 24. The teams are in Thailand for the second leg of the series on October 14 and 15, with the Olympic Games qualifying event in Japan following on November 18 and 19.
“I think our coaches will feel pretty good as we head towards Hangzhou.” Robbie McRobbie, the Hong Kong China Rugby CEO, said.
“We’re all looking forward to what should be a cracking Asian Games - both the men’s and women’s cup finals [in South Korea] were absolute nail-biters. The tournament was a great advert for Asian rugby and it’s clearly going to be very tight among the top teams next month.”
