Gai Wu coach Wesley Feausi talks to bc about his team’s victory over CWB Pheonix
When you play a team for the second time in a season, as coach how does that affect your pre-matching planing?
Playing a team the second time round I find preparation a bit easier based on the feedback I give each player individually from the previous game with Causeway Bay, this helps me select the girls and gives me an idea of how to prepare. What do I change/keep in place etc.
Do you change your team practices based on perceived weakness in the opposition or to strengthen your team?
I train my team on weaknesses first, and think about the opposition later in the week.
It’s roughly the mid-point of the season, how do you think the team has improved/matured since the start of the season?
I would like to say that the Gai Wu girls are consistent, it has helped with Sai Lo Pang on board as a development coach for the up and coming girls whom are sitting at the top of their table, this is the foundation of Gai Wu rugby along with the unseen work that is done by Candy Cheng and Emmy Chan.
What are looking to see from the team in the second half of the season?
Again, we have been consistent with our performances, I would like this to continue, but plenty of work to do and both the girls and I know that the season can change with a loss so just take each game as it comes and the rest will fall into place hopefully.
How would you describe today’s game?
Having previously beaten Causeway Bay we knew that it wasn’t going to be the same team turning up on their home pitch and that scoring opportunities would be few and far between. As expected, we were defending in the opening stanza and were caught on the backfoot at times, but to our credit we withstood forward exchanges in the ruck areas and in general play around the pitch. We had a few key members of our squad out with injury and this offered me a chance to see what depth I have in this team and to make starting spots a challenge weekly.
The 19-0 half-time scoreline was flattering to us as Causeway Bay had defended staunchly in the first half. Some individual brilliance from our winger Aggie Poon – a chip and re-gather try – at the start of the second half provided the impetuous as both teams played with vigor and passion, attack on attack canceling each other out. The defense from both teams was of a very high standard, a few areas where we lost control caused some problems for us but in the end we were fortunate to dominate the later stages of the match, including a hat trick of tries to Aggie. Kwan, Yung, Sharon T, Melody and Po Kei were dominant in their positions and I’d like to give a special mention to Po Kei Man as she leaves our team on a high to pursue her career, we wish Po Kei all the best. Final score Gai WU 36-0 over Causeway Bay. Valley next week is our biggest challenge, again.
Gai Wu:
Tammy Lau (vc), Mang Li, Shun Lee, Yung Ching, Sharon Tsang, Belsy Yuen, Po Kei Man, Melody Li, Sum Wai Sham, Emmy Chan, Kwan Tang, Jay Ho (c), Candy Cheng, Aggie Poon, GMA Lau, Aying Ku, Sharon Lui, BB Lee, Rainbow Leung
Tries: Melody Li, Aggie Poon (3), GMA Lau, Kwan Tang, Conversions: Aggie Poon (3)