HONG KONG CHINA U20 LOOK TO TARGET KENYA AFTER COMPETITIVE MATCH AGAINST SAMOA

[16 July 2024]  World Rugby U20 Trophy, Wednesday 17 July: 7th Place Playoff Hong Kong China vs Kenya 18:45

Match Review: Hong Kong China v Samoa

Hong Kong China were playing the Samoans for just the third time in their history and both sides came into the match looking for a first win in Edinburgh, but it was the Samoans who triumphed in an entertaining match at Hive Stadium on Friday. The young Hong Kong China side respectfully faced and accepted the traditional Samoan challenge after the national anthems as they looked for a first win in three matches over the Pacific Islanders.

A number of players put their hands up in the backs for Hong Kong China, while the forwards were a solid unit throughout the contest but a short period of play in the second half decided the outcome of the 39-19 loss.

Hong Kong China kicked off well, and as they had all matched, stayed competitive at the retakes. An early scrum was conceded after a knock-on and the HKCR pack generally had the advantage in the opening forty minutes in the set pieces. Samoa did well though to kick ahead from the scrum and recollected from a fortunate bounce to open the scoring in the second minute with a converted try from out wide.

Hong Kong China struck back after securing an attacking lineout 5m from the Samoan line and maintained excellent control with the driving maul to see hooker Ben Sheldon score a try after showing great patience, with flyhalf Blake Elliot converting in the 8th minute to tie things up at 7-7.

Scrumhalf Camill Cheung was moving the ball crisply and the side had more ball in hand than the previous two games and showed good hands and pick-and-go's to take the game to Samoa.

Samoa however took the lead in the 11th minute from a penalty which was followed by a beautiful kick-receive and high up under by the fullback James Kee who made many metres and earned a scrum after Samoa knocked on. Kee was excellent all game.

The opening quarter was entertaining and Hong Kong China had a chance to again level the scores but Elliot pushed the penalty wide.

Mathew Rickard had a great run, as did several of the backs in the half, and as the game opened up there were a lot of penalties with neither team dominant or capitalising.

Following another attacking lineout, the maul came to a stop and the ball found its way to outside centre Marcus D'Acre who scored a try after stepping off his left foot to take the lead for the first time with the unconverted score seeing HKCR edge ahead 12-10 in the 25th minute.

There was end-to-end action and D'Acre had another line-breaking run making serious metres but a Samoan intercept undid the hard work. Samoa earned a penalty and took a quick tap to retake the lead with their second try. 17-12 with less than ten minutes in the half.

A late hit by the Samoa prop earned him a yellow card in the 33rd minute but despite numerous attacks in the Samoa 22m, Hong Kong China were not able to capitalise due to small errors in accuracy, and went into the sheds at the break five points behind.

The Samoans came out with hard physical carries to place Hong Kong China under pressure at the start of the half but good defence held and the ball was kicked upfield for a fortuitous bounce leading to a score, but the try was denied and pulled back for a second time in the game by the match official, this time for an adjudged Hong Kong China knock on.

Fullback Kee was a constant threat, as the 18-year-old student at Cardiff University looked dangerous with the ball in hand while also calm under the high ball.

HKCR then moved the ball left for Matthew Rickard to score the side’s 3rd try to lead 19-17 with the successful  conversion kick from the try scorer.

There was a momentum shift completely in the Hong Kong China side’s favour and another great kick to touch by Elliot led to a maul and despite repeated attacking lineouts, they could not convert. The opening quarter of the second half saw the possession go back and forth punctuated by penalties.

Then the middle part of the half saw the Samoans run in 22 points, started by an intercept against the run of play and a great kick and chase by the right wing. The quickfire scores were a sucker punch and took the Samoans out to a 19-31 lead with the last quarter to go. The final blow came with another Samoan interception.

Although Hong Kong China was competitive and stayed in the fight, pushing for more points until the end, they weren't able to add to the scoreboard and the Samons were 39-19 victors. 

LOOKING AHEAD FOR THE LAST OPPORTUNITY: 

Hong Kong China will now play Kenya for 7th place, with a final opportunity to secure a win at The Hive beckoning. Kenya are currently bringing up the rear in Pool B, having lost their three matches against Uruguay, Netherlands, and the USA. 

Despite facing some adversity, the Hong Kong camp has maintained an air of resilience and determination, which is evident in the positive attitude of the players. Captain Oli Clarke is optimistic about Wednesday’s challenge: “The last game against Kenya is our chance to put all our hard work into a tangible result. The Kenyans bring a high level of physicality and athletic ability similar to the Samoans, so our game plan will remain relatively unchanged.”

“However, a big focus on clinical execution and managing the games momentum has been pushed by the coaching staff, and we intend to honour it.” 

Hong Kong China Squad v Kenya: 1. Samuel MARTIN 2. Benedict SHELDON 3. David BENNETT 4. Callum FITZHENRY 5. Theodore MAG 6. Luke BANNON 7. Oliver CLARKE 8. Dominic HEDLEY 9. Stephen WEBB 10. Barnaby HORBERRY 11. Matthew RICKARD 12. Marcus D’ACRE 13. James KEE 14. LIN, Chan Mun Hassan Raza 15. Blake ELLIOT 16. Lukas MOLYNEUX 17. Mitchell CRAWFORD 18. Minjun KOO 19. Fritz-Gonzales MAHN 20. Marco CONTI 21. Camill CHEUNG 22. Maxwell BLAIR 23. Kyran LACY

Match available to stream on RugbyPass TV.

Information and photo source : Hong Kong China Rugby