Hong Kong battled top-flight Australian club side ACT Brumbies to a 21-21 draw at half-time before eventually succumbing to the visitors 63-31 at Hong Kong Football Club.
It was a much-improved showing after a disappointing loss to Japan XV at Kai Tak Stadium a fortnight ago. On that occasion, Hong Kong struggled to master territory and possession, but they righted that scenario from the off against the Brumbies with an impressive first half.
"It is an improvement on Japan XV,” said Andrew Douglas Head of Technical Rugby at Hong Kong China Rugby.
"We certainly stayed in the battle longer, but at this level if you make an error, good teams like this will sting you.”
Hong Kong started quick as they controlled play for most of the opening ten minutes at Hong Kong Football Club. They were rewarded for their efforts with a confidence-boosting try after six minutes when center Marcus Ramage scored to crown a strong period of ball retention for the hosts.
Fly-half Gregor McNeish, who came off the bench against Japan but earned the start in this game, added the conversion and controlled the game well in his first start after returning from an injury that had kept him out of Hong Kong's successful Rugby World Cup qualification campaign at the Asia Rugby Championships this summer.
Brumbies wrested back some control of the match at the 20-minute marker as they generated a series of line-breaks that proved how dangerous they are with ball in hand - and that they are still in pre-season form, as those attacks were foiled by final passes just going to ground.
The visitors eventually forced their way through on 20 minutes when hooker Chris Mickelson received ball in space close to Hong Kong's line for their first try. Captain and fly-half Declan Meredith added the conversion – starting a perfect night with the boot for the skipper who would notch eight more conversions in the game.
Brumbies scored again two minutes later after they put Hong Kong's defense under pressure with a blocked charge down of a McNeish clearance kick. Scrum-half Klayton Thorn disrupted ball at the back of the ensuing ruck to force Hong Kong out of possession and then capped his own effort by finishing the line move a few phases later beneath the posts. Meredith's conversion gave Brumbies a 14-7 lead.
Hong Kong took the attack to the Brumbies in the 26th minute with flanker Tyler McNutt deposited over the line to finish a strong period of driving ball retention from the forward pack; McNeish's conversion levelled the scores at 14-all. Brumbies lock Lachlan Shaw was sent to the sin bin soon after, which created opportunity for another drive by the Hong Kong pack - and a second try for McNutt in similar fashion. McNeish’s conversion gave Hong Kong a 21-14 lead with four minutes to the break, but the Brumbies bounced back again through Mickelson who took an intercepted pass 70 meters for the try, levelling the score 21-all.
A stung Brumbies unit came out hot in the second half, scoring four unanswered tries over the next 30 minutes, including two from winger Shane Wilcox, who collected a hat-trick in the final stanza. The pressure and mounting scoreline forced Hong Kong into press mode and contributed to some key turnovers down the stretch.
The hosts were trailing 49-21 before Ramage conjured his second try – a fantastic solo effort coming from an attacking scrum for Hong Kong, whose set-piece functioned much better against the Brumbies than against Japan. Ramage kept the ball, stepped his first marker and outgassed the Brumbies cover defense over 25 meters for the score, but a missed conversion left the tally at 49-26.
Brumbies again quickly replied to extend their lead to 54-26, before Ramage completed his hat-trick off of an errant Brumbies pass that went to ground at his feet to score against the run of play. A second missed conversion left the score at 56-31 before Wilcox completed his hat-trick in the 79th minute to give the visitors a 63-31 win.
Despite the loss, spirits were high after the match.
"Growth from last game for sure,” said Ramage. “We were in that for 40 minutes, so there are definitely positives. Turnovers in the second half cost us; we lost the territory battle straight off the bat and had to scramble, but there was growth from two weeks ago.”
HKCR Head of Technical Coaching & Elite Development Andrew Douglas concurred: “There were a lot of Super Rugby players and a couple of Wallabies out there, and we put them under pressure in the first half, but they absorbed it.
"We go into halftime 21-all, come back and make a couple of errors and all of a sudden we're down 14 and the momentum is gone. When you're down, you start forcing things and that leads to more errors.
"We just need to work on learning how to control the game and learn how to wrest momentum back when we lose it. But we're getting closer. We've seen advancement from Japan XV, and we need to keep doing it consistently and keep playing games at this level to get there. We are getting closer,” added Douglas.
"We just have to keep growing every time we play together. We aren't the massive money Premiership superstars, but we can be the best team, the best connected players, and that comes from playing together more and more. That can be the turning point for us, and we have an opportunity to do that over the next 18 months,” said Ramage.
