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Hong Kong face Wales in their final match in the ‘pool of death’ at the Women’s Rugby World Cup (Kick-off Hong Kong time Friday 00:15am). Coach Jo Hull is looking for her charges to attack the ninth ranked team after hard fought but heavy losses against the second and third ranked teams in the world.
Having failed to trouble the scoreboard in either game, the first team objective is to score! The inclusion of backs Chloe Mak Ho-yee, Rose Hopewell-Fong and Adrienne Garvey in the starting 15 aims to help the quest for points.
“It would be nice to get some points on the board but to do that we have got to get our handling right, we’ve got to get our ball skills right and we have got to get our breakdown skills right,” Hong Kong coach Jo Hull said.
“We want to see some attack against Wales. Against New Zealand we were strangled in pretty much every area, so against Wales we are just trying to make sure when we have got the ball, we are executing.”
Prop Lee Ka-shun, second rower Chan Ka-yan and flankers Christie Cheng Ka-chi and Chan Tsz-ching also come into a starting line-up that Hull hopes will bring Hong Kong’s best performance to date.
“Rocky’s [Garvey] experienced, she brings that edge and she brings that toughness, and she brings it out in other players as well, so I think she is going to be a really strong addition” Hull said.
“We’ve bought Chloe back in at nine as she suits our game plan in terms of trying to play a quicker game.”
Wales opened their campaign with a 44-12 defeat by New Zealand before going down fighting in a 15-0 loss to Canada, but Hull is not expecting any sort of let up for her side come Thursday.
“This Welsh team have significantly improved over the last six months since the Six Nations, so I think they’re going to be a combination of New Zealand and Canada in one,” Hull said.
“They’re very rugby smart and we know we are in for another very, very tough day at the office. They’ve got a very strong back row and they are just knowledgeable players.”
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Natasha Olson-Thorne and 18-year-old Kelsie Bouttle combine in a strong centre pairing for Hong Kong, while Garvey starts at fullback after previously playing at centre in the tournament.
The ever-dependable Chong Ka-yan teams up with Lau Sze-wa on the wings, with Chong one of Hong Kong’s best players of the tournament so far.
Despite her size, Chong has stood tall in the face of heavy hitting from both Canada and New Zealand and Hull hopes her gutsy winger will get a chance to show what she can do with the ball in hand against Wales.
“She has showed a great resilience and I hope to get her with the ball in hand a little bit more, she really is a class player,” Hull said.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Hong-Kong-Womens-Rugby-Team/i-BSR9Qjj
Additional reporting and images: HKrugby