Hong Kong spank Malaysia in retaliatory show of strength in Asia Rugby Championship rematch

Andrew Hall and his squad knew they needed to respond this weekend in Malaysia. The new head coach noted the team’s third game of the Asia Rugby Championship had to be a “reaction” and that there was a fair bit of “mirror looking” after what was an unexpectedly close match in their second test at home.

As heavy favourites to win the ARC for the second consecutive time sans Japan, the Hong Kong men’s 15-a-side squad had a bit of a scare in their first game against Malaysia last Saturday at the Hong Kong Football Club. The Southeast Asian squad, made up of amateur athletes who had only been training together for six weeks, pushed Hong Kong right to the final whistle, but the home squad squeaked out a 30-24 win.

Saturday’s match in Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur was nothing like the previous test. Hong Kong blitzed Malaysia 71-0, scoring 11 tries at will throughout the match. Captain and scrum half Liam Slatem said they fielded a “young squad” in the first match against Malaysia, but went back to experience for this test looking to make a statement.

“We did our homework heading into this game. We had a very different mindset, a real sense of professionalism,” he said in a post game interview.

“Now we have to re-set, work on our recovery, and do our homework on Korea and hopefully get a win there.”