WXV: Hong Kong couldn’t prepare properly, boss says after Dutch dash Rugby World Cup hopes
City’s women’s team lose WXV3 match that offered route to 2025 World Cup, following red card after 15 minutes
Andrew Douglas said Hong Kong’s women’s rugby players’ lack of quality preparation left them on the “back foot” from the start of their ultimately disappointing WXV3 campaign in Dubai.
Hong Kong went into Saturday’s final round of fixtures with an outside chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in England, only for the Netherlands to shoot those hopes down in flames with a convincing 33-3 win.
The match got away from Hong Kong in a five-minute first-half spell, when Linneke Geevers and Gaya van Nifterik touched down either side of a red card for Hong Kong hooker Fion Got. Two Hong Kong yellow cards after half-time invited more pressure and Netherlands stretched clear for their first WXV success.
Douglas, installed as head coach before the tournament, attributed the Netherlands’ all-round superiority to their bank of test match experience. The Dutch have had eight competitive matches in 2024, against the five games played by Hong Kong.
Fiji, who comfortably dispatched Hong Kong in their opening WXV3 clash, recently faced Scotland and Netherlands during a tour of Europe.
“Netherlands have played a lot of test matches and Fiji had their European tour … we were off the back foot straight away because we couldn’t prepare properly,” Douglas said.
