Japan demolish Arabian Gulf, Hong Kong keep winning streak running
May 03, 2008

Week two of the HSBC Asian Five Nations today saw Hong Kong beat visitors Kazakhstan 23-17 at the Hong Kong Football Club, while Japan routed the Arabian Gulf 114-6 at Osaka’s Hanazono Stadium.

Hong Kong kept their unbeaten record intact in the Asian Five Nations with tries from prop Pete Spizzirri, centre Simon Hempel and scrum-half Jon Elliott, and the kicking of fly-half Justin Temara who knocked over two penalties and a conversion, helping the home team to their second successive win in as many weeks.

“It was a big improvement from last week. We used the ball better and we also created more opportunities today,” said a pleased Hong Kong head coach John Walters.

Hong Kong, who opened their campaign with a 20-12 victory over the Arabian Gulf in Al Ain last week, have reached the halfway mark with their record unblemished. But the hard work still lies ahead of them as they come up against pacesetters Japan and South Korea later this month.

“Our next game is against Japan. I don’t want to say it will be the decider for we treat every game as a decider,” Walters said.

Hong Kong had to ward off some spirited resistance from a Kazakhstan outfit who was playing their first international in six months.

The hosts led 13-3 at half-time but two second-half tries by Kazakhstan, one by fullback Maxim Lifontov, who tallied 12 points in the match knocking over a penalty and two conversions, and a try by replacement hooker Ivan Ossikovskiy late in the match saw Kazakhstan emerge with some satisfaction.

“The quality of our game leaves much to be desired. We felt we were like students and this was a learning experience for us,” said Kazakhstan coach Valeriy Popov.

Temara knocked over two early penalties before Spizzirri grabed the first of Hong Kong’s tries when he broke free from a maul to drive over from close range.

Lifontov, who had knocked over a solitary penalty in the first half, scored his try soon after the break to give heart to Kazakhstan. But Hong Kong hit back with tries for centre Simon Hempel and scrum-half Jon Elliot stretching the lead to 23-10. Ossikovskiy’s try in the dying minutes enabled Kazakhstan to snatch a bonus point for finishing within a seven-point margin.

“I felt we started better today. We kept the pressure on and used the ball a bit better. We played a bit more to pattern today,” said Hong Kong coach John Walters.

The win puts Hong Kong second on the series table with 10 points.

“We can see from the score that it was an exciting and dynamic game. The audience saw a spectacular game visually, “ said Kazakhstan coach Valeriy Popov. “This is the first time we have participated in this kind of tournament. Playing against strong Asian teams such as Hong Kong, Japan and Korea will help to raise the status of Kazakhstan and motivate us to play better.”

In Osaka, Hirotoki Onozawa led the way with three tries, with Takuro Myuchi, Bryce Robins and Shaun Webb adding a pair of five-pointers apiece, as 13 players crossed for 18 tries.

Takashi Kikutani, Hiroki Yoshida, Akira Ozaki, Yuta Imamura, Toshizumi Kitagawa, Taku Inokuchi, Shotaro Onishi, Yoshitaka Nakayama and Koji Shinozuka all added tries, with James Arlidge knocking over eight conversions and Yoshida adding a further four.

“We talked all week about playing for the full 80 minutes,” said Japan coach John Kirwan. “So I am happy the guys stuck at the game plan for the full 80. I am proud of them. We could have got loose but they stayed tight.”

The win ensures Japan, who beat South Korea 39-17, stay perfect in the standings with a maximum 12 points from 2 games, while the Gulf are still yet to get off the mark, following their 20-12 loss to Hong Kong last week. South Korea, the fifth team in the Top 5 competition, was on a bye week.