Hong Kong Sevens: city’s men leave fate in hands of China and Japan, as women breeze past Thailand
- Two late tries send Hong Kong’s men to 33-14 defeat against Japan, although sides could still meet in Sunday’s final
- Micayla Baltazar scores brace as city’s women beat Thailand 28-10 in rematch of Asian Games encounter
 - Mike Chan.jpeg?itok=EQbwYm3R&v=1669714688)
Coach Jevon Groves refused to blame missing players after the host city’s men lost 33-14 to Japan in the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens’ Melrose Claymore tournament on Saturday.
And the home side could still have a rematch with their arch-rivals in Sunday’s final if the Japanese defeat China in their morning encounter.
They would surely relish another crack at Japan, who wrecked their Olympic dream last November by winning an Asian qualifying final that Hong Kong led with a minute left. They proved beatable, though, on Hong Kong’s way to Asian Games gold last year.
Hong Kong found themselves trailing 19-7 after James Christie gave them an early lead. Liam Herbert gave his side some hope with a try with less than three minutes to go, only for their opponents to grab two late scores for a flattering margin of victory.
“I thought we started really well and scored a really good try,” Groves said. “But there were probably some individual inconsistencies in our performance.
“There were lapses in a kick-off, a turnover. There were two kick-offs really that we didn’t regather, and from there they scored tries.”
Hong Kong were playing without the injured Max Denmark and Seb Brien, who starred here last year, but Groves insisted his side were “no weaker” for it.
“We’re missing some established players, but we’ve given opportunities to others and they’re well experienced,” he said. “There are not many guys out there that haven’t played a number of international matches, either sevens or 15s.”
The next event for Groves’ side is the third and final World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series leg in Munich, where Hong Kong are grouped with Uganda, Tongo and Mexico.
“It’s a good draw for us,” Groves said. “Tonga and Uganda beat us before, so they can challenge us for sure. Mexico will be better after getting two tournaments on their belt.
“We defeated Japan last time [in Montevideo], we just need to rebuild that momentum, and finish as high as possible in that tournament to give us an opportunity to play in the play-off [to contest promotion to the HSBC SVNS circuit] in Madrid.”
The city’s women earlier outscored Thailand 28-10 in a rematch of the Asian Games bronze medal play-off, thanks to a pair of tries by Micayla Baltazar, and one each from Chong Ka-yan and captain Natasha Olson-Throne.
Baltazar, 20, was keen to share the glory after storming to three tries in two matches.
“I think I’m always there for my team, [and] even if it’s my try, it’s set up by all of them and it’s just me finishing the hard work that they put in,” she said.
After two wins, a spot in Sunday afternoon’s final is guaranteed, with China and Thailand each competing for a rematch.
Those three teams are to play each other again next month at the Challenger Series, which also features Czechia, in Krakow, Poland.
“[This is a draw that] goes both ways, in the sense of we know the teams, we know pretty well what to expect from them,” Andy Vilk, head coach of the women’s side, said. “I suppose the positive is we are playing teams we know, so we know how to prepare for that.
“Ultimately, it comes down to application. It’s about getting that mindset right on the day. It’s about focusing on getting our basics right, what we can do, what we can bring to the game, and focus on us.”
