Hong Kong Powers Past UAE in HSBC A5N Top 5 Opener

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.

 

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. 

 

 
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.

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

In the 3^rd/4^th 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 3^rd/4^th 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