What a wonderful sight to see Hong Kong running onto the pitch at a World Cup. The stadium reverberating to the sound of “Hong Kong! Hong Kong!” from a packed crowd.
As for the match, it was always going to be this way, unlike in football minnows rarely if ever beat the top ranked teams – Canada are third in the world with almost double the ranking points of Hong Kong. But the only way you can improve is to play better teams and while they didn’t score Hong Kong certainly had their moments.
The score 98-0 score does and doesn’t reflect the match. Hong Kong one speedster, Canada several and in the scrum size really does tell. Canada are a big fit side and played some beautiful rugby – hitting the line at full speed on numerous occasions and powerful forward runs.
But credit to Jo Hull’s side, Hong Kong have improved they’ve cut out a lot of the individual errors and swarmed the breakdown forcing several turnovers. And even as the scoreboard ticked over the team refused to lie down enjoying some fine periods of possession especially in the second-half.
“We actually fought for the entire game, we asked them to play like warriors and they did. It’s the reality of where we are, we’re at a World Cup, we’re trying our hardest and I’m proud of them,” Hull said. “We made some silly mistakes, which we will obviously look at, and it’s hard to play when you don’t have the ball.”
Hong Kong battled hard on defence in the opening stages but it took just four minutes for centre Andrea Burk to open the scoring for Canada.
Tries to fullback Elissa Alarie, winger Magali Harvey and skipper Kelly Russell followed as Canada pushed their lead 24-0 by the end of the first quarter. There was plenty more to come before the break, with Harvey scoring twice more and Russell and Burk landing first-half doubles for a half-time score of 46-0.
Canada continued to score freely after the break with Alarie, Amanda Thornborough and Alex Tessier all scoring as Hong Kong fell behind 65-0 after 50 minutes.
A 51st-minute yellow card to winger Chong Ka-yan – who collided with her opponent in the air – didn’t help Hong Kong’s cause, however Canada’s Olivia DeMerchant found herself in the bin soon after and Hong Kong’s most promising attacking thrusts took place then.
It amounted to nothing, though, and Harvey’s fourth try and one to replacement Brittany Waters kept the scoreboard ticking over for Canada. Tries to Russell, Thornborough and a fifth to Harvey completed the rout, with Hull refusing to get caught up in the result.
“A 98-point margin is always a surprise, no coach is going to be happy with that. But I’m not going to dwell on that, it’s a number, fair play to Canada, they were excellent, they were clinical, they’ve got very athletic ball carriers and they deserved that win today.”
“Our players will take a lot of heart from it and I hope the crowd felt it as well, the fact that the crowd were behind us at every 10-minute mark today shows the character that we played with,” said Hull.
Hull was pleased with the impact of her subs, in particular 18-year-old centre Kelsie Bouttle, and also praised the work of tireless winger Chong Ka-yan.
“She showed that resilience today. I wanted to get her with the ball in hand a little bit more, but she showed she’s a class player and I was pleased with her today,” Hull said of Chong.
“Kelsie made an impact when she came on and I think our front row did their job today even though our scrum was going backwards. In terms of physicality, when we had a one-on-one opportunity I think we managed but once they got momentum, we were in a bit of trouble.”
Canada were quick to pounce, twice intercepting the ball and streaking away to the try line. “They’re very fast and have very hot line speed,” Hull said. “That’s what quality sides do, they look at where they can take those little one percenters and today they took them.
“There were periods where we turned them over, we turned them over at the breakdown a couple of times and we forced some mistakes. They’re wins for us and I think we did match them in some areas, but it is difficult to play with your scrum going backwards.”
The relentless pressure of the Canadians took its toll on Hong Kong, with winger Aggie Poon Pak-yan one player nursing an injury ahead of Sunday’s clash with New Zealand.
Watch the full match here: https://www.facebook.com/worldrugby/videos/10154912013928123/
Match stats: http://www.bcmagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/RWC-2017-Canada-v-Hong-Kong-Match-Stats.pdf
Additional reporting:HKRugby
Images: World Rugby