South Korean reality TV show live in Macau starring Song Ji-hyo, Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Jong-kook, Ji Suk-jin, Haha
Running Man
Date: 8pm, 18 February, 2017
Venue: CotaiArena
Tickets: $1,480, $1,280, $980, $680, $480 from HKTicketing
Tag: South Korea
Asia Rugby Championship 2015: South Korea 37-38 Hong Kong
A last-gasp try from Salom Yiu Kam-shing earned Hong Kong a narrow 38-37 victory over 13-man South Korea in Incheon on Saturday to keep alive their hopes of finishing second in the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship.
Winger Yiu crossed over in extra-time to score his second try of the match under the posts and the successful conversion by Niall Rowark enabled Hong Kong to snatch victory over their opponents who had played the last 30 minutes with 14 men after a red-card was shown to tighthead prop Kim Kwang-sik for a shoulder charge on John Aikman.
The home team finished with 13 men on the park when centre Kim Nam-uk was sin-binned for an off-the-ball incident and the two-man advantage gave Hong Kong a renewed burst of hope as they grabbed their chance with Hong Kong lock forward Adrian Griffiths delivering the try-scoring pass to Yiu who covered 40 metres to score.
“It was a courageous performance from the guys. We made too many errors and dug a hole for ourselves but they showed a lot of heart to fight back,” said pleased head coach Andy Hall. “That last try certainly changed my post-match talk. But it was a lot of character which got us through in the end,” Hall added.
Korea, who had won the opening leg 33-26 last month at the Hong Kong Football Club, looked well on the way to securing another win as they stretched their 19-12 lead at halftime to 29-12. Roving flanker and captain Kim Jeong-min grabbed a brace in the first half, his second coming with Hong Kong down to 14 men with prop Jack Parfitt in the sin-bin for a shoulder charge. Korean right winger Bin Jegal also scored from a snappy move by the backs but Hong Kong reduced the deficit with Yiu going over from close range after taking a lovely inside pass from fly-half Ben Rimene.
A driving maul led to a try from flanker Toby Fenn as Hong Kong finished the first half on the ascendancy and trailing just by seven points. The second half began disastrously for the visitors when a loose pass from Lachlan Chubb was intercepted by Korean left winger Chang Yong-heung who ran 70 metres to score untouched.
Korea lost prop Kim Kwang-sik to a red card ten minutes into the second half but that did not deter the rest of the forwards who turned on the pressure giving fly-half Oh Youn-hyung plenty of time to knock over a drop-goal from 20 metres out.
Hong Kong cut the deficit to 29-17 when Tyler Spitz, who had come in for centre Jamie Hood in the first half, crossed over but Korea kept play inside the Hong Kong 22 and went further ahead, 32-17 with a penalty. Lock Paul Dwyer scored Hong Kong’s fourth try to cut the deficit again, 32-24, but the feisty Koreans refused to lie down with centre Kim Nam-uk going over to stretch the lead to 37-24.
Hong Kong skipper Hewson who had been in the thick of the action all day, gave his team renewed hope when he went over with two minutes on the clock to make it a one score match, 37-31. And when Kim Nam-uk was sin-binned right at the death, it gave Hong Kong a fresh burst of energy and they kept moving the ball around in the last passage of play before Yiu spotted the gap to score the winning try.
“The guys showed a lot of heart to win that match,” Hall said.
Both Hong Kong and Korea have eight points – Korea earning two bonus points despite the loss for scoring four tries or more and finishing within a seven-point margin – and the second-placed spot will only be decided after next Saturday’s final encounter between Hong Kong and Japan. Japan who have already been crowned champions will be favourites to remain unbeaten in the competition having beaten Hong Kong 41-0 in Tokyo. “Second-place will be down to points differential. But right now we are not thinking of that. We just want to savour this result,” Hall added.
Hong Kong have a +29 points differential on South Korea but will need to work hard to maintain that edge when the ever-dangerous Japan visit Aberdeen Stadium on Saturday (16.00, 23 May).
That match will be preceded by the final match in the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship when Hong Kong host Japan at Aberdeen (13.00). Kazakhstan lead the ARWC on 6 points over Japan on 5 points but Japan have a match in hand and an away win in Hong Kong would see them claim Asia’s women’s fifteens title next weekend.
Hong Kong 27-33 South Korea @ HK Football Club – 25 April, 2015
South Korea claim away win over Hong Kong in Asia Rugby Championship
A brace of tries each in the first-half from powerful fullback Jang Seong-min and speedy right winger Jegal Bin set the foundation for a 33-26 victory for South Korea over hosts Hong Kong in week two of the Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The dangerous backs found holes in the defence to silence a sizeable crowd at Hong Kong Football Club and give South Korea an invaluable victory in their campaign to win back the number two slot in Asia currently held by Hong Kong.
Hong Kong desperately tried to claw their way back from a 25-7 deficit at the break but Korea hung on for a crucial victory in the home-and-away competition, which has been revamped to a top three format, including seven-time Asian Five Nations champions Japan.
“We weren’t good enough on the day,” conceded Hong Kong head coach Andy Hall. “Our execution was poor and to give away four tries in the first half and concede a bonus point is disappointing.”
The powerfully-built Jang, who scored a brace against Japan in the tournament opener last week in Incheon – Japan winning 56-30 – was once again in superb form as he easily sliced through to score the first of Korea’s five tries in the fifth minute.
Winger Bin Jegal then added a second a few minutes later when he rounded opposite number Salom Yiu Kam-shing to dot down to give his side a 12-0 lead.
Hong Kong who looked slow and a bit rusty had to thank sevens star Tom McQueen for their first points on the board when a solo effort saw the winger touch down under the post – having taken a quick tap and chipped and chased successfully.
But that was about the only success for the home team as Korea dominated the breakdown and the set-pieces to provide good ball to their dangerous backs with Jegal and Jang scoring again.
Korean fly-half Oh Youn-hyung could have put the result beyond doubt if he had his kicking boots on but he only managed to convert one try and a penalty as the visitors led 25-7 at halftime. Oh added a second penalty soon after the break but the sin-binning of Korean tighthead Kim Kwang-sik for a shoulder charge set the stage for a comeback by the home team.
Loosehead prop John Aikman smuggled the ball over the line from a driving maul and substitute fly-half Niall Rowark added the extra points to make it 28-14.
A lapse in concentration resulted in one of many turnovers by Hong Kong and Korea gratefully accepted the gift with left winger Chang Yong-heung scoring a try against the run of play to push the lead to 33-14.
But with Korea wilting fast, and with Hong Kong bringing on their bench, the tide began to turn. Fullback Alex McQueen spotted a hole and was through in a flash to score Hong Kong’s third try and make it 33-19.
With time running out, winger Salom Yiu Kam-shing then dotted down making full use of a long cut-out pass which created room for him to round the last line of defence. A successful conversion by Rowark brought Hong Kong within reach, 33-26, but time had run out.
“We have a lot of work to do now. It will not get any easier,” Hall said. “We had targeted both the Korean games but life is difficult with two games away now.”
Hong Kong travel to Japan and South Korea over the next two weekends before hosting Japan at home in the final round on May 23.
“Korea took their opportunities and credit to them. But it was all about what we didn’t do today,” Hall added.
A delighted Korea coach Chung Hyung Suk commented on the win, “It was truly a team performance and I think that was the difference today. We played as a team with a lot of heart but also very smartly. We implemented certain changes from how we played Japan, particularly in our defensive patterns and where we wanted to play on the pitch and that helped us create space against Hong Kong.”
The win brings South Korea’s series points total to six after today’s bonus point win. Hong Kong are on two points after collecting their own four-try bonus point and another for a loss within seven. Defending champions Japan are atop the table on six points after their opening win and with a game in hand on South Korea.
Additional reporting and photo HKRFU.