「挑戰者系列賽」第二站次日賽事中國香港隊挺身淘汰賽男子隊獲C 組首名女子隊初入盃賽八強

Hong Kong, China teams reach knock-out stages at Challenger Series finale Convincing performance from men to top Pool C; Women reach Cup quarters for first time

[ 2023年4月29日，香港 ]: 正於南非泰倫博斯參加最後一站「滙豐世界七人欖球挑戰者系列賽」的中國香港男、女子七人欖球隊第二日繼續保持強勢，仍有機會爭奪銀盃。男子隊以C組首名出線，而女子隊則以最佳第3名（共兩隊）身份角逐銀盃賽。

男子隊教練高勳（Jevon Groves）曾表示C組最後一戰對比利時屬硬仗一場，皆因上站第3名及第4名窄路相逢，上週港隊在加時賽力克對手28-21，今次交手前大家都未嘗一敗，但港隊有得失分差的優勢。

比利時實力強悍，但港隊決心鞏固防守終以 17-0 勝出。比利時的空間和控球全場皆受港隊的壓迫，港隊嚴密的防守將比利時的攻勢一一化解並且迫使對手頻頻犯錯。

比利時守將被薩耶斯（Harry Sayers）和麥堅力（Alex McQueen）力迫下嘗試大腳解圍，可惜誤中副車，史戴爾斯（Hugo Stiles）毫不客氣達陣，助港隊領先 7-0。

比利時下半場甫開賽在無壓力下犯錯將控球拱手相讓，港隊亦利用對手多番被判罰球而步步進逼。丹馬克（Max Denmark）錯失一次達陣黃金機會，但港隊繼續施壓令比利時被罰黃牌而少打一人，韋兆新藉丹馬克的強行突球換取更多進攻空間而達陣 (12-0) 。麥堅尼韋斯（Pierce Mackinlay-West ）的妙絕傳球令守將鞭長莫及，拜恩塞巴（ Seb Brien）達陣鎖定 17-0 勝果。

高勳說：「我滿意對比利時的表現。我們創造了很多機會和把握了一些，最令人欣喜的是全場比賽能保持氣勢。」

港隊以全勝姿態奪得 C組首名，小組首名亦是他們上週未能實現的目標。港隊將於明晚9時45分在八強對東加，重演上週四強戲碼，當時港隊以0-33落敗，今次是港隊一雪前恥的機會。

高氏續說：「我們知道需要打敗東加或德國才能保持晉級希望，如今我們獲得這個機會。東加巳具備系列賽的實力但非牢不可破，他們在小組賽也受到考驗。我們要傾盡全力把握機會，亦要毫無保留地製造得分機會，皆因東加的失誤只會較比利時少。」

港隊隊長韋兆新因膝傷而缺席餘下賽事，為晉級淘汰賽帶來隱憂。

高帥表示：「韋兆新現在是我們的第13人並補選蔡紀駿入出場名單，另外丹馬克亦輕微拉傷，但我相信其他球員能挺身而出，亦是他們証明實力的時候。」

中國香港女子七人欖球隊在F組最後一仗與墨西哥對戰，繼而取得足夠出線本錢。墨西哥昨天大敗予中國和波蘭。雖然港隊希望藉大手交易改善得失分差，可惜卻被自己的無壓力犯錯拖累，只能以取19-7取勝。

林莎芘（Sabay Lynam）的達陣為港隊先拔頭籌。墨西哥落後0-7下仍頑強反攻，並且受惠港隊贈送的多個罰球，上半場的控球率因而高於香港。港隊在上半場末段兩度攔截失手，被對手追和7-7。

下半場港隊還以顏色，耐心地進攻令高香慧（Natasha Olson-Thorne）梅開二度，並保持19-7的優勢直至完場，可惜這勝利不足以超越次名出線的波蘭。

以第二最佳第三名出線的港隊首次晉身盃賽，屆時的對手將是比利時（晚上19:58開賽)。

資料及相片來源 : Elite Step Asia Limited / Hong Kong Rugby Union

[Hong Kong, 29 April 2023]: The Hong Kong, China men’s and women’s sevens sides reached the knock-out stages of the Cup competition after completing pool play today at the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in South Africa. The men team topped Pool C while the women finished as one of two top-performing third place teams to reach the Cup competition for the first time.

Men’s coach Jevon Groves had talked about the grittiness of the teams in this competition and the final Pool C match exemplified that with last week’s third and fourth-placed finishers meeting again as Hong Kong faced off with Belgium. Hong Kong edged Belgium into fourth last week, 28-21, in golden point extra time, and both were undefeated in pool play ahead of the game.

The Belgians once again lived up to Groves’ billing, but Hong Kong added tenacity to their grittiness in a defence led performance that paved the way to a clinical 17-0 victory. Belgium were denied space and possession all game as Hong Kong pressed its attack from the kick-off, threatening the try-line for the first two minutes without points to show for it. Belgium’s attacks were quickly extinguished by Hong Kong pressure with numerous tackles behind the gain line contributing to a string of Belgian errors, a habit that increased in frequency as the game wore on.

Hong Kong’s first points came from some great defensive play as Harry Sayers and Alex McQueen charged down a space finding kick from Russell Webb to isolate the Belgian defender deep in his half. A wild pass inside put the Belgian defence in further strife, and a poor clearance kick was charged down by a sniping Hugo Stiles who touched the ball down for the try and a 7-0 lead.

An unforced error from Belgium gave Hong Kong the ball to start the second half and the SAR established a profitable pattern of using Belgian penalties to kick for touch and stage attacking lineouts in their opponent’s end. The first of these saw a try go begging for Max Denmark with a wide pass under pressure from Stiles going through Denmark’s hands at the line. Stiles was tackled late on the play and Belgium were yellow carded, creating space for an easy score from Webb (12-0) seconds later after a strong Denmark carry sucked in the defence. More attacking line-outs kept Belgium pinned down and produced Hong Kong’s final score after Pierce Mackinlay-West conjured up a tricky inside ball to wrong-foot the defence and allow Seb Brien in for the third and final try of a 17-0 win.

“I’m pretty pleased with our play against Belgium. We created a lot of chances, and took a few of them. What was most pleasing was our ability to maintain momentum in the game,” said Groves.

The win sees Hong Kong top Pool C, a marker they had failed to achieve last week. Hong Kong advance to a knock-out quarter final against Tonga overnight (21.45 kick-off).

It will be a rematch of Hong Kong’s cup semi-final last week, a 33-0 loss, and another chance for Groves’ men to atone for a disappointing result from week one.

“We knew coming in that we would need to beat Tonga or Germany to have a hope of qualifying and now we have a chance to do just that. Tonga have shown they have the capability to play on the World Series but they are not unbeatable. They have been challenged in the pools. We need to be at the top of our game, but on balance we have the opportunity we want. But we will need to be more ruthless when we create chances, as we won’t get as many against Tonga as we had against Belgium,” said Groves.

Complicating matters further is an injury sustained by play-making captain Russell Webb, a knee laceration on his kicking leg that will likely side-line him for the knock-out stages in a pivotal blow for Hong Kong’s hopes on the eve of the quarter finals.

“Russ is our 13th man now, and we will move James Christie back in to the squad. He is nursing an ankle injury and Max Denmark has a bit of a groin, so there are bumps and bruises at this stage, but I have the confidence in guys like Hugo and James to fill in, maybe not at Russ’s level because he has been playing really well, but this is a real opportunity for others to step up,” said Groves.

The women’s sevens team opened the action on day two needing a big score against Mexico to secure the runners-up spot in Pool F. Mexico were winless yesterday, losing by big margins against China and Poland. Hong Kong started well but were undone in their points-haul attempt by some unforced errors before eventually producing a 19-7 win.

Hong Kong’s tries came from mid-week call-up Sabay Lynam who finished a nice attacking play of the back of an attacking scrum to put Hong Kong up 7-nil. Mexico replied well, mounting a long period of attack, gifted by some penalties from Hong Kong, as they held onto the possession for most of the rest of the half. Mexico were rewarded for their effort with a try late in the half with two missed tackles from Hong Kong contributing to a Mexico try on the far touch line as they drew level 7-all at half-time.

Hong Kong responded equally well in the second half, led by two Natasha Olson-Thorne tries, both coming from long developing and patient team moves. Hong Kong led comfortably 19-7 by the final whistle but the results saw them miss out on second in the pool which was claimed by Poland.

Instead, Hong Kong finished as the second-best third-placed finisher overall, reaching the cup quarter finals for the first time. Hong Kong have a challenging draw, playing Belgium (kick-off at 19:58).

Information and photo source : Elite Step Asia Limited / Hong Kong Rugby Union