HK men's rugby team win the Melrose Claymores, defeating Japanese rivals 22:12

Hong Kong’s men blew out regional rivals Japan to claim the first-ever Melrose Claymores at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday, though Hong Kong's women went down to China in their final bout.

The local men's sevens representatives were blown out by their Japanese rivals yesterday (Apr 6), losing 14:33, and finished the group stage second.

The local team adjusted the lineup, which saw a boost in the organization ability of the team.

During the first half, the Hong Kong side's Bryn Phillips opens up the score with a try. 

The hosts then followed this up by Fong Kit-Fung scoring a brace to balloon the lead to 15:0 and ending the first half with a shutout against the Japanese rivals.

At the beginning of the second half, the Hong Kong side continued their assault, and Hugo Stiles scored an additional try for a 22:0 game score.

The Japanese representatives did not falter, and Kippei Taninaka scored a brace to bring the game score back to 22:12.

However, they rallied too late, and the Hong Kong representatives were able to bid farewell to the Hong Kong Stadium with a win at the Melrose Claymores Competition.

For their victory, the Hong Kong side got their hands on one of the most unique prizes in sport – a trophy in the form of a Scottish-style Claymore sword.

Sadly, the same could not be said at the women's Melrose competition, as the Chinese side were able to get revenge on the hosts with a game score of 24:10.

Back-to-back Asian Games gold medalist Salom Yiu Kam-shing, who will officially retire after winning today's match, was emotional and grateful that the coach allowed him to play for the final few minutes.

He said he would miss competing in the sport and Hong Kong Stadium and did not expect that he would actually retire from the sport.

Yiu also apologized for being selfish and lying about retiring multiple times before finally retiring today.