Hong Kong commenced their Junior Asian Rugby Championship 2014 campaign with a resounding 44-05 win over Chinese Taipei in the opening match played at Race Course International Rugby Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Taipei full back Lun Wei Chang kicked off the game to referee Irshad Cader’s long whistle as the much anticipated Junior World Rugby Trophy (JWRT) qualifiers commenced in the heart of Sri Lanka. Hong Kong full back and skipper Hugo Stiles kicked his team’s first points as he fired across a short-ranged penalty in the 5th minute of the match. (HK 03 – CT 00)
After 13 minutes of rugby, Hong Kong number 8 Rich Lewis scored the first try of the match when he eased past few defenders to touch down in the far corner. Hugo Stiles missed the conversion. (HK 08 – CT 00)
Hong Kong kept on pressuring their opponents with structured counter-attacking skills and their efforts paid dividend in the 16th minute, just after the one-minute cooling break when Center Hugo Chui sneaked through the Taipei defense to stretch the lead early in the 1st half. Hugo Stiles added the extra points. (HK 15- CT 00)
As the powerful Hong Kong players continued to dominate the match they scored their 3rd try through blindside flanker Alessander Nardoni after several continuous attacking phases in the 26th minute of the match. Hugo Stiles bisected the posts with ease. (HK 22 – CT 00)
Hugo Stiles led his team exceptionally well with his leadership skills and his superb playing attributes as he kicked yet another penalty in the 31st minute of the match after the Taipei forwards were penalized for hands in the ruck. (HK 25 – CT 00)
Hong Kong ended the first half with another morale-boosting try as Rich Lewis scored his 2nd try of the match when he broke-off from a 5-meter scrum and he was untouched on his way over the try line. Hugo Stiles had no problems with the conversion. (HK 32 – 00)
Half Time: Hong Kong 32 – Chinese Taipei 00
After the turnaround, Hong Kong Captain Hugo Stiles restarted the game. Chinese Taipei looked a different outfit as they came out determined and played according to their game plan as they did the basics perfectly but delicate points scoring opportunities were missed due to the lack of experience by the Taipei boys.
Hong Kong lost possession and territory quite often in the early stages of the 2nd half as they did unforced errors. Neither team scored points in the first 15 minutes of the final half as they hot sun baked down the Race Course.
After the cooling break, Hong Kong found their lost rhythm as Jordan Cooper constrained the Taipei defense line and scored under the posts. Hugo Stiles added the extra points using his boots. (HK 39 – CT 00)
As the final 15 minutes of the match approaching, Hong Kong scored yet another try through a brilliant set-move play as their fly-half Liam Owens touched down near the right corner flag. Hugo Stiles failed to convert the try. (HK 44 – CT 00)
Against the run of play, Chinese Taipei scored their only points of the match in the 73rd minute through a counter-attacking move. Wei Te Yeh ran circles around the Hong Kong defense with his nippy footwork and scored the try. Po Wei Huang’s conversion went astray. (HK 44 – CT 05)
Chinese Taipei made a bucket full of mistakes and they will be keen to put up few notable performances in the matches coming up while the strong Hong Kong outfit will be the team to beat in the upcoming week as they take on the hosts, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Full Time: Hong Kong 44 – Chinese Taipei 05
