Asian Five Nations - Hong Kong has high hopes for first home match
April 27, 2008

Hong Kong began their HSBC Asian Five Nations campaign on a winning note as they defeated the Arabian Gulf 20-12 in an opening round match at the Al Ain Amblers Rugby Club last Saturday.

The visitors took some time to find their feet, trailing 9-3 in the first quarter before running out easy winners thanks to tries from wingers Simon Smith and Ricky Cheuk Ming-yin.

“Our defence was pleasing. And so was our ball retention and continuity,” said happy Hong Kong coach John Walters. “We took some time to settle down, but once we did, we never looked in danger of losing.”

Hong Kong fly-half Justin Temara had a successful night with the boot, knocking over two penalties and two conversions to tally 10 points. But his bigger contribution was combining superbly with new scrumhalf and Valley teammate Jon Elliott as the pair orchestrated the play.

“This is the first time they played together and they had heaps of confidence,” said Walters. Another brave move of Walters' - playing loosehead prop Simon Leung at No.8 also paid dividends as the Synovate HKCC forward showed his versatility and quickly adapted to his new position.

Temara set the ball rolling when he knocked over an early penalty. But the Arabian Gulf came back strongly with a brace of drop-goals followed by a penalty to give them a 9-3 lead.

Hong Kong regained the lead thanks to Elliott who, capitalising on quick turnover ball, made a break from inside his own 22, found fullback and HKRFU Player of the Year Rowan Varty on his shoulder and passed. Varty made further inroads into Arabian Gulf territory, shrugging off a couple of tackles before off-loading to Smith who scored under the posts.

Temara added the conversion and another penalty saw Hong Kong go into half-time 13-9 in front.

Arabian Gulf cut the deficit down to a point soon after resumption, but Hong Kong took a decisive lead when winger Cheuk touched down from a quickly taken lineout completing a move which once again involved Varty.

“It is good to get the first win on the board, especially when you are playing away. It is crucial as we need it get some momentum going,” Walters said.

Disappointed Arabian Gulf coach Wayne Marsters said: “We played with a lot of heart, but in the end our conditioning cost us. Hong Kong was fitter.”

Next week's match against Kazakhstan is Hong Kong's first home game in the new HSBC Asian Five Nations Series. Currently Hong Kong lies second on the HSBC Asian Five Nations Series table with five points, one point behind leaders Japan.