Hong Kong coach spells out big change needed after Fiji overpower city team

Tumua Ioane said Hong Kong would make tangible progress only when they had their sevens players available for major 15s tournaments, after his spirited team lost 54-26 to Fiji at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground on Saturday. Last-ditch victors over Brazil last Sunday, the hosts will expect to end their WXV Challenger campaign with victory over hapless Samoa next week. But in a four-try blitz shortly before half-time, the bustling and buccaneering Fijians brutally exposed the gulf that exists between Hong Kong and the leading second-tier nations. Missing a number of players who are preparing for next month’s Asian Games 7s competition in Japan, the city team led 14-12 following a cleverly worked 26th-minute try for Sabay Lynam. In the space of 10 sobering minutes, however, Varanisese Qoro, Atelaite Bune, twice, and Merewairita Neivosa all crossed for converted tries to kill off the game as a contest. Ioane, the lead coach, praised his team’s “relentlessness and hard work”, but acknowledged that to bridge the gap to “dynamic” Fiji “we need more games, and access to our sevens player at these big tournaments”. Also the head coach of Women’s Premiership team Gai Wu, Ioane said: “[Player absences were] something we knew was going to be a factor, but the way this group has come together and are performing, the door is open for us to keep growing once we have all our players available. “In the short term, the Premiership is doing some good things in terms of the quality, which has risen in the two years I’ve been here.” Introduced this year to provide emerging unions with more competitive international fixtures, the WXV Challenger has allowed Hong Kong’s players a rare concerted period of training and matches. Currently 16th in the global standings, the city team have targeted qualification for the 16-team 2029 World Cup. “We’ve come so far, we’re not a full-time programme, and to perform like that in the first half [before Fiji’s try spree] was outstanding,” Grace Hood, the Hong Kong No 8, said. A full-time 7s player who, as a non-passport holder, is ineligible for the Asian Games, Hood said the 15s team need to “keep driving and pushing”. “We have a lot of evening training, camps and some competitions abroad, but if we can perform like today, who knows what will happen for us in the future,” she added. The position of Hong Kong head coach has been something of a hot potato of late. This year, Bella Milo led the team in the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, where the city team lost heavily to Japan and drew with hosts Kazakhstan. Milo is now bossing Samoa, who went down 61-21 to Spain on Saturday. New Zealander Ioane was at the helm for victories over Belgium and hosts Germany in November last year, on an uncapped tour that he said “gave players experience of how different international rugby is from the club game”. Royce Chan Leong-sze, Andrew Douglas and Lewis Wilson have all had spells in charge over the past 2½ years. Ioane recently signed up for three more years in Hong Kong. “We’ll talk about what that looks like moving forward after this tournament,” he said. “I love these girls and this programme, and I’ll be open to filling whatever role is in front of me.” On the back foot against Fiji after early scores for Salote Nailolo and Qoro, Hong Kong responded with a try from Tanya Dhar, adding to the pair she managed against Brazil six days earlier. So reliant on the rolling maul to hurt the Brazilians, Hong Kong summoned a measure of flair when Roshini Turner and captain Lara Schats combined to send the impressive Lynam over in the corner. Lauren Knowler, a former England under-20 inside centre, brilliantly converted. “When we scored the first try, a belief switch flicked in our heads,” Hood, sporting a fresh and vivid shiner, said. “We thought, ‘we can do this’. “We knew this was a game where we needed to get the ball wide and it worked for the second try.” Their tails tweaked, Fiji summoned a passage of irresistible, unforgiving rugby to put Hong Kong to bed. “It’s disappointing,” Ioane said. “We put ourselves in a good position, but letting them score 28 points in 10 minutes changed the game. We were always chasing it from there.” Zipporah Sorocacika and Vasemaca Duva added second-half tries for Fiji, while Knowler, who finished with 14 points, and Lucia Bolton, at the death, replied for Hong Kong. “We speak about being relentless and working hard for each other,” Ioane said. “The girls have worked on their condition for two months, and we’re seeing the fruits of that late in these games.” Ioane reminded his shell-shocked players at half-time that they were not on the field to merely participate, while Schats issued an impassioned rallying cry. “When you’re in dark places, the only thing that can pick you up outside of your own mentality is everyone around you,” Ioane said. “They know what it’s taken to build that trust between them. Credit to them, they’re like a family.” After Georgia Cutt became Hong Kong’s latest debutant off the bench, Ioane, a former Dunedin player who switched to refereeing at 26, said the city’s talent pool was “getting deeper to a point”. “The last year’s been brilliant in terms of giving opportunities to more people,” he added. “There’s a bit of work we have to do, but I can’t fault the players’ effort.”

Hong Kong coach spells out big change needed after Fiji overpower city team

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}City team beaten in their second WXV Challenger fixture, poised to complete campaign against Samoa next Saturday.

City team beaten in their second WXV Challenger fixture, poised to complete campaign against Samoa next Saturday.