Hong Kong ease into last 8 of Asia Rugby Sevens Series stop in Korea

Hong Kong’s day got progressively tougher, and they had to come from behind to beat China, before ending the day with a draw against UAE.

The China match was a scrappy affair on both sides with intermittent rain adding to a lack of structure. Individual errors and poor decision-making helped give China an early 10-0 lead, before Liam Herbert scored either side of half-time to put his team 14-10 ahead.

Kane Boucaut sealed the 19-10 win with a 40-metre run to score after 12 minutes.

Hong Kong again trailed early against the UAE after a wet ball slipped through Brien’s fingers and took a lucky bounce, handing their opponents a 7-0 lead after just two minutes.

But John’s side pulled themselves back into it, and forced UAE to concede a professional foul on their try line. With their opponents down to six men, Brien capitalised on the extra space to put Hong Kong back in at 7-5.

A Mak Kwai-chung try put Hong Kong 12-7 up at the break, and Mak grabbed a second soon after the restart, putting his side 19-7 up.

But the errors that had plagued Hong Kong struck again, and UAE scored to bring it to 19-12, and when their continued pressure forced Pierce Mackinlay-West into a professional foul, they made use of the space and grabbed a deserved try to level things up.

A cutthroat pool proved challenging for Hong Kong’s women, as they lost 15-7 in a tense battle with Kazakhstan in a tricky opening match, with Nam Ka-man accounting for Hong Kong’s only score.

The squad took out its frustrations with a nine-try demolition of Sri Lanka. Jessica Eden scored a first half hat-trick, with Georgia Rivers and Vivian Poon adding braces. Nam Ka man claimed her second of the day, with Stephanie Chan Chor-ki also getting on the score sheet as Hong Kong ran home 47-0 winners.

Hong Kong needed a win in their final run-out of the day against defending champions China, but in another heavy downpour they conceded a try after two minutes, and eventually lost 33-0.