Sunday, April 29, 2012

Hong Kong Powers Past UAE in HSBC A5N Top 5 Opener

Asia 5 Nations logo

Hong Kong states intent with its largest margin of victory in A5N History

[Saturday, April 28, 2012]:  Hong Kong, powered by a lethal backline, fired a clear warning to their rivals in the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 competition after they swept to a convincing 85-10 victory over the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on Friday.

Winger Rowan Varty grabbed four tries while inside centre Ally Maclay scored a hat-trick as the rampaging Hong Kong three-quarters accounted for a dozen of the 14 tries the visitors helped themselves to as they got their campaign off to a sound start.

Hong Kong, runners-up last year, has set their sights on upsetting the Asian apple cart by toppling perennial champions Japan. But despite the glut of tries, Hong Kong senior coach Leigh Jones warned that his side would have to step it up against South Korea, Japan and Kazakhstan.

“The scoreline flattered us. We have plenty of work to do,” said Jones. “But this win will give us confidence as we look ahead to South Korea next week.”

It was the biggest win by Hong Kong in the history of the HSBC Asian Five Nations, bettering last season’s 62-3 victory over the same opponents.

While Varty and Maclay collected half of the 14 tries between them, second-half substitute Alex McQueen also came to the party, scoring a brace.  Keith Robertson, Salom Yiu Kam-shing and Lee Jones also made merry. The only two tries scored by the forwards were by No 8 Pale Tauti and substitute Rory Hussey.

“We have a gifted set of backs and we knew they would be dangerous. This is the type of rugby we want to play and it was great to see Rowan score four tries,” Jones said.

Left winger Varty, captain of the national sevens team, set the ball rolling for Hong Kong when he grabbed a brace of tries inside the opening five minutes of the first half for the visitors to strike a psychological blow.

The first score was the outcome of some good work from inside centre Lee Jones who charged down a hasty clearance before popping a pass to flyhalf Keith Robertson who then put Varty in the clear.

 2012-Hong Kong off to a flying start in HSBC A5N Top 5

Varty showed his superb finishing skills a couple of minutes later receiving a pass from fullback Ross Armour to stroll over for a try. Robertson then got into the act to complete a move started by winger Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who made a strong break down the right touchline.

The rest of the first half belonged to outside centre Ally Maclay as he collected a hat-trick of tries in 10 minutes. The 110-kilogram centre was unstoppable as Hong Kong piled on the points rushing to a 39-3 lead with the home team’s only answer being a penalty from flyhalf Andrew Russell, brother of former Springbok Brent.

UAE skipper and No.8 Alistair Thompson finally gave the home team something to smile about just before the break when from a five-metre scrum he barged over close to the posts despite the close attentions of two defenders.

UAE trailed 39-10 at halftime and would have hoped the try by Thompson would be just what they needed to spark a fightback. But Hong Kong soon resumed normal service, running in a further eight tries from all parts of the park.

Jones used his full bench, giving all 22 players in the squad a chance to show what they had.

“It was a good effort individually by the players but as far as team effort was concerned, we were lacking. This is something we will have to work on. We need to improve everywhere,” Jones added.

UAE Coach Duncan Hall commented on the loss saying, “Hong Kong are a very very good team. I don’t think we underestimated them but you can’t coach speed. They were able to get that ball wide and we don’t have that”.

UAE captain Alistair Thompson said, “That’s a proven team in Hong Kong we played today while Japan may be a bit unsettled. They are building towards the Rugby World Cup in 2015 so it will be an interesting game to see how they go against each other. As for us, we have to move on now. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means but we showed a lot of improvement from the last time we played Hong Kong in December. We have another test next week and the games just seem to get harder”. 

UAE will travel away to Japan for the match next Saturday in Fukuoka. 

 

 2012-Hong Kong winger Rowan Varty opens HSBC A5N account with 4 tries v UAE
Rowan Varty on the burst

All eyes will now turn to Almaty as Japan and Kazakhstan open their HSBC A5N accounts in Almaty (kick-off 15.00 in Almaty).  Korea was on bye this weekend and will travel to Hong Kong for the match next Saturday at Hong Kong Football Club (kick-off 16.00).

Today in Dubai, the elite teams shared the spotlight with teams from the HSBC A5N Division IV championships and the debut performance of Afghanistan in an internationally sanctioned competition.

Qatar defended their Division IV title in emphatic style, blanking Lebanon 67-nil.  Former Arabian Gulf international Paul Beard who now plays his rugby for Qatar ably led from flyhalf, accounting for 27 of his side’s points from two tries, seven conversions and one penalty.

2012-Paul Beard paced Qatar to its second successive HSBC A5N Div IV championship
Paul Beard paced Qatar to its second successive HSBC A5N Div IV championship

In the 3rd/4th play-off Jordan edged Uzbekistan 19-15 after being run close throughout the afternoon.  The game hung in the balance until late in the second half when Uzbekistan conceded a penalty try for collapsing the scrum to cede Jordan its first clear advantage of the afternoon.  Jordan then capitalized further as fly-half Jamal Masri added the conversion and a further penalty in the next few minutes to pull ahead 19-8.  A late try by Asror Kuldashev of Uzbekistan tightened the scoreline once again but time expired on what was a brave and much improved performance by Uzbekistan in this year’s Division IV competition.

Afghanistan narrowly lost its three-match series to UAE Shaheen, the UAE’s Emirati development team, two games to one. But Afghanistan managed an entertaining win against its more experienced opposition, winning in spectacular style 24-nil. Afghanistan’s first try in internationally sanctioned competition was scored by Haroon Zadran which opened the floodgates for a succession of tries finished with joyful flair. Afghanistan lost a close decider 10-5 to cede the series two games to one. 

The Afghans’ exuberance was infectious throughout their visit to Dubai but it was their play today that inspired most of all. Afghanistan showed strong flashes of promise for their future competition in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations and HSBC Asian Sevens Series proving that rugby is not far off the pace in Kabul.

For more information on the HSBC Asian 5 Nations please visit www.asian5nations.com or like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HSBC.A5N.  Matches will be live scored by Twitter @asian5nations. 

 

 

About HSBC and Rugby

HSBC is a long-term investor in Rugby in Asia and around the world. As well as being the title sponsor of the Sevens World Series, Asian 5 Nations and Asian Sevens Series, the bank is co-title sponsor of the Hong Kong Sevens from 2012. HSBC is the Principal Partner of all the Hong Kong rugby teams, and the British & Irish Lions, who will play in Hong Kong in 2013 en route to Australia. The bank is also the title sponsor of the Waratahs Super 15 team in Australia, the Penguin International Coaching Academy and the Cobra 10s tournament in Malaysia.

 

Ends

 

For enquries or to arrange interviews with members of the participating teams, HSBC or ARFU officials please contact Sean Moore, Tournament Operations Mangaer of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations, on sean.moore@elitestep.com or +852 9095 8889.

 

Match Statistics:

HSBC Asian 5 Nations Top 5

Match:                          UAE v Hong Kong

Half- time score:            39 – 10             Full- time score:            85 - 10

 

Jersey

Name

Event

Score

11

Rowan Varty

Try

5-0

11

Rowan Varty

Try

10-0

10

Keith Robertson

Conversion

12-0

10

Andrew Russell (UAE)

Penalty

12-3

10

Keith Robertson

Penalty

15-3

10

Keith Robertson

Try

20-3

10

Keith Robertson

Conversion

22-3

13

Ally Maclay

Try

27-3

13

Ally Maclay

Try

32-3

10

Keith Robertson

Conversion

34-3

13

Ally Maclay

Try

39-3

8

Alistair Thompson (UAE)

Try

39-8

10

Andrew Russell (UAE)

Conversion

39-10

Second Half

22

Alex McQueen

Try

44-10

12

Lee Jones

Try

49-10

22

Alex McQueen

Try

54-10

14

Shing Yiu Kam

Try

59-10

22

Alex McQueen

Conversion

61-10

11

Rowan Varty

Try

66-10

19

Rory Hussey

Try

71-10

21

Jamie Hood

Conversion

73-10

11

Rowan Varty

Try

78-10

21

Jamie Hood

Conversion

80-10

8

Pale Tauti

Try

85-10

 

Scoring Leaders

Name

Country

Try

Conversion

Penalty

DG

Total

Rowan Varty

HKG

4

 

 

 

20

Ally Maclay

HKG

3

 

 

 

15

Keith Robertson

HKG

1

3

1

 

14

Alex McQueen

HKG

2

1

 

 

12

Alistair Thompson

UAE

1

 

 

 

5

Yiu Kam Shing

HKG

1

 

 

 

5

Pale Tauti

HKG

1

 

 

 

5

Lee Jones

HKG

1

 

 

 

5

Rory Hussey

HKG

1

 

 

 

5

Jamie Hood

HKG

 

2

 

 

4

Andrew Russell

UAE

 

 

1

 

3

Andrew Russell

UAE

 

1

 

 

2

 

Asian 5 Nations Division IV  Final

Match:              Lebanon vs Qatar         

Half- time score:            0 – 35               Full- time score:    0 - 67

Jersey

Name

Event

Score

10

Paul Beard

Try

0-5

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-7

1

Darshan Gootielikee

Try

0-12

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-14

7

Tom Featherstone

Try

0-19

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-21

12

Liam Frost

Try

0-26

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-28

4

Aaron Palmer

Try

0-33

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-35

Second Half

10

Paul Beard

Penalty

0-38

10

Paul Beard

Try

0-43

7

Tom Featherstone

Try

0-48

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-50

4

Aaron Palmer

Try

0-55

12

Liam Frost

Try

0-60

13

Daniel Liddell

Try

0-65

10

Paul Beard

Conversion

0-67

Scoring Leaders

Name

Country

Try

Conversion

Penalty

DG

Totals

Paul Beard

Qatar

2

7

1

 

27

Tom Featherstone

Qatar

2

 

 

 

10

Liam Frost

Qatar

2

 

 

 

10

Darshan Gootielikee

Qatar

1

 

 

 

5

Daniel Liddell

Qatar

1

 

 

 

5

Aaron Palmer

Qatar

2

 

 

 

10

 

Division IV 3rd/4th Place Play-off

Match: Uzbekistan vs Jordan

Half- time score:            5 – 6                 Full- time score:            15 - 19

Jersey

Name

Event

Score

10

Jamal Masri (JOR)

Penalty

0-3

19

Rustam Namirov (UZB)

Try

5-3

10

Jamal Masri (JOR)

Penalty

5-6

Second Half

13

Akbar Sattaev (UZB)

Penalty

8-6

10

Jamal Masri (JOR)

Penalty

8-9

 

 

Penalty Try

8-14

10

Jamal Masri (JOR)

Conversion

8-16

10

Jamal Masri (JOR)

Penalty

8-19

12

Asror Kuldashev (UZB)

Try

13-19

9

Radik Talipov (UZB)

Conversion

15-19

Scoring Leaders

Name

Country

Try

Conversion

Penalty

DG

Totals

Jamal Masri

Jordan

 

1

4

 

14

Rustam Namirov

Uzbekistan

1

 

 

 

5

Asror Kuldashev

Uzbekistan

1

 

 

 

5

Akbar Sattaev

Uzbekistan

 

 

1

 

3

Radik Talipov

Uzbekistan

 

1

 

 

2

Penalty Try

Jordan

1

 

 

 

5

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