Johor joy for Hong Kong’s junior sevens stars

The Hong Kong junior sevens team have won the opening leg of this year’s Asian Rugby Football Union U20 Sevens Series in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The six-team round-robin tournament saw teams from Thailand, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan join the host nation in the southern Malaysian city.

The Johor Bahru tournament was the first of two legs on this year’s series with the second event being held December 20-21 in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong beat UAE, Uzbekistan and hosts Malaysia on day one in Johor, posting 115 points and conceding only seven.

The run of wins continued on day two despite a tough opening encounter against Thailand, who eventually succumbed 14-5. Hong Kong then re-established their earlier momentum with a 43-5 win over the junior rugby lions from Singapore.

With a clean sheet after two days and a points-differential of plus-156 from the pool stages, Hong Kong easily advanced to the final and a rematch against Malaysia.