Howzit-HongKong.com attended the Asian5Nations match between hosts Hong Kong and Asian rugby powerhouse Japan at a packed Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC) today.

We’ve been attending events there for the last 4 years and today’s crowd was probably the best we’re encountered.  While entrance was free, there were plenty of families taking in the atmosphere.  The visitors had strong support from locally-based Japanese but the crowd was firmly behind the home team.

Out on the pitch it was a rusty Japan who eked out a win against a spirited Hong Kong, and the disappointment showed on coach John Kirwan face immediately after the match.

“The only positive out of this game was the win (45 – 22),” said Kirwan (pictured below by Mike Jansen). “But I’d rather this happens now than later on this season. We have plenty of work to do.”

Japan ran in seven tries – five of them in the first half – with winger Alisi Tupuailai grabbing a hat-trick. No.8 Ryukoliniasi Holani, flyhalf Shaun Webb, left winger Hirotoki Onozawa and flanker Michael Leitch also scored one each. Centre Ryan Nicholas collected 10 points from the boot.

No. 14 Alisi Tupuailai almost scored his 4th try but fumbled the pass with a few minutes left on the clock and time running out for HK (Pic: Mike Jansen)

But the glut turned into a drought as Hong Kong bravely fought back and took their chances superbly to leave Japan in disarray by the end of the game.

“It was a poor performance from our team,” Kirwan said. “We didn’t protect the ball and we lost our composure. I thought we were rusty at halftime, but we got rustier as the game wore on.”

Despite pre-game worries by Kirwan of a slow start, the players who are all in the preliminary World Cup squad came out firing on all cylinders, dominating both set pieces as well as in the loose to look threatening. But the spark died down after the break as a gutsy Hong Kong didn’t let up.

Gutsy Hong Kong fight-back

“We got in their faces and put them under pressure,” said Hong Kong national coach Dai Rees. “This is the best performance in recent years against Japan and the guys can be very proud of themselves.”

Hong Kong’s second-half resurgence began with a lovely break from fullback Ross Armour, who made up for his first-half sin-binning, by slicing through the midfield and sending an inside pass to replacement winger Alex McQueen who scored under the posts.

Hong Kong then capitalised on Japanese errors to run in two more tries. The first came from openside flanker Mark Goosen, who picked up from a breakdown and took the direct route to the tryline catching the defence flatfooted. Then winger Rowan Varty turned on the speed when he picked up a dropped pass metres from his own line to run the length of the pitch and score.

A slip of the finger made this a black&white, but when you have to snap Rowan Varty gunning for the line, there are no second chances and you have to be ready! Thankfully I got the shot. (Pic: Mike Jansen)

“We took our chances. We had two 50-50 chances to score tries and we took them,” Rees said. “We had an unfortunate first half and were hard done by in contact areas, but all credit to the guys for coming back strongly.”

Hong Kong captain Tom McColl praised his side for the resilience showed against Japan who has dominated the tournament since it began in 2008.

“I’m really happy that we didn’t give up. The disappointing thing is that we couldn’t quite get the bonus point for scoring four tries. This was our goal before the game, to be in contention for a win at the end or to try and score four tries,” McColl said.

“We gave away a few early soft tries but then our defence picked up. What we proved today is that we can compete with Japan and this is a huge morale boost for the team,” McColl added.

Asian5Nations Standings

The United Arab Emirates 24-10 victory over Kazakhstan leaves them at the top of the standings with eight points after round two. Japan is in second place with six points but with a game in hand on the rest of the pack. Hong Kong lie third (five points) followed by Sri Lanka (three) and Kazakhstan (0).

Hong Kong received an extra boost following their Asian 5 Nations victory over Kazakhstan as they moved up five spots in the IRB World Rankings.

First half tries by Tom McColl and Peter McKee gave Hong Kong a comfortable 20-3 half-time lead in Almaty and there was no way back for their hosts, who were reduced to 13 players after the break with two sent-off. The game ended 23-10.

Hong Kong’s win over the 2010 runners-up lifts them above Germany, Tunisia, Kenya, Poland and Korea to 32nd and their highest ranking for two years. Defeat means Kazakhstan fall to 30th.

Hong Kong now return home to face defending champions Japan on Saturday, a side who overwhelmed them 94-5 last year en route to claiming Asia’s place at World Cup 2011.

(Source: IRB)

Officials at the launch of the Asian 5 Nations Tournament in 2010

Following on our recent post Hallelujah for rugby coverage in HK? we have been digging, trawling the internet and even asked around at bars in Kowloon.

Howzit-HongKong.com is happy to report that Setanda has announced that the 2011 season of the RBS Six Nations will be available live online for viewers in Asia.

Much like we used to be able to buy programmes from the now-defunct RugbyZone, Asian rugby fans can watch all matches for US$59.99, which includes access to Setanta-i for a full year.

Or you can buy individual matches for a one-off fee of US$14.99.

The 2011 RBS Six Nations schedule:

06 Feb 2010 14:30 GMT Ireland v Italy

06 Feb 2010 17:00 GMT England v Wales

07 Feb 2010 15:00 GMT Scotland v France

13 Feb 2010 14:00 GMT Wales v Scotland

13 Feb 2010 16:30 GMT France v Ireland

14 Feb 2010 14:30 GMT Italy v England

26 Feb 2010 20:00 GMT Wales v France

27Feb 2010 13:30 GMT Italy v Scotland

27 Feb 2010 16:00 GMT England v Ireland

13 Mar 2010 14:30 GMT Ireland v Wales

13 Mar 2010 17:00 GMT Scotland v England

14 Mar 2010 14:30 GMT France v Italy

20 Mar 2010 14:30 GMT Wales v Italy

20 Mar 2010 17:00 GMT Ireland v Scotland

20 Mar 2010 19:45 GMT France v England

More news to follow soon.

The South African Women’s Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong) is showing their support of the UN Peace Celebrations in Hong Kong at a Gala Dinner later this month.

The speaker on the evening will be Vanessa Farr, the United Nations Development Program’s Senior Social Development and Gender Advisor in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Farr has been with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for about 6 years where she served in various countries. She is an acclaimed speaker and has co-authored a book titled Sexed Pistols: The Gendered Impacts of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Vanessa Farr will be in Hong Kong from the 13th to the 20th September.  For more information about the event or to register, visit the SAWCC website

With all the international rugby on telly over the last weekend, it was easy to have missed the final match of the Asian 5 Nations tournament between Japan and Hong Kong.  Luckily, here in Hong Kong the Tokyo-match was at a favourable time-slot on Saturday (1pm) which was before the first ball was kicked in the England Sevens or even the two Super14 Semi-finals later on Saturday evening (Bulls vs. Crusaders/Stormers vs. Waratahs).

I found myself in Happy Valley on Saturday morning and popped into The Canny Man in Wanchai where I watched the Asian 5 Nations game.

Asian powerhouse Japan qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with an emphatic 94-5 victory over Hong Kong in the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five competition in Tokyo on Saturday.

A slick Japanese outfit went on a 14-try rampage in their final game in the qualifying campaign to grab the solitary direct entry for the World Cup given to Asia.

I must say that I was really disappointed in the Hong Kong effort as they weren’t in the game at any time during the match.  I posted the final score on my FaceBook page and a friend who works for SA Rugby rightly asked: “Is rugby in Asia that bad that Japan could post such a big score?  Wasn’t Hong Kong 2nd on the log going into this game? “

Fair question and one that administrators in Asia should find an answer for. 

More heartache

There was more heartache for Hong Kong as Kazakhstan clinched the runner-up spot with a 32-25 win over South Korea in Incheon to claim the berth in the cross-continental play-off for RWC 2011 against Uruguay. Flanker Anton Rudoy scored a hat-trick as Kazakhstan scored four tries to secure the crucial bonus point that saw them edge ahead of Hong Kong in the standings.

Having posted half-century victories over all its opponents – South Korea (71-3), the Arabian Gulf (60-5) and Kazakhstan (101-7) – Japan continued in their merry fashion as they out-muscled Hong Kong at the breakdown, and pushed their opponents off their own ball in the scrums to stitch together another convincing victory.

“We have achieved our first goal this year which was to qualify for the World Cup,” said a pleased Japan coach John Kirwan. “The players have worked very hard and that was our best performance in the competition so far. But there is a long way to go.”

Japan will play in Pool A at the World Cup alongside hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

Always the joker

“It is an easy pool,”joked Kirwan. “But really, this is a fantastic opportunity for the players whose dream is to play at a World Cup. Hopefully we can show the Japanese style of rugby.”

Kirwan went on to thank the Japanese crowd for their support in fluent Japanese. 

                 Match captain Hitoshi Ono prepares to receive the impressive HSBC A5N trophy

With one foot already in the door, high-flying Japan is confident of sealing its berth at IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 when they take on Hong Kong in their final game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations (HSBC A5N) Top Five competition in Tokyo on Saturday.

In the second match of the weekend, Kazakhstan finds itself in the unique position of either finishing as A5N runners-up and entering the cross-continental play-off for RWC 2011 or facing relegation to Division I against Korea.

 Japan only need a point from their final match and as such, even a draw will do. But this will be furthest from the mind of coach John Kirwan who is demanding a complete 80-minute performance from his team.

Kirwan made three changes to the team that thrashed Kazakhstan 101-7 last week for the HSBC Asian Five Nations finale against Hong Kong on Saturday. Ryu Holani returns at No. 8, Alisi Tupuailei is named on the wing and Shinsuke Nakamura starts at tighthead as Japan look to maintain their perfect record in the A5N and, more importantly, qualify for next year’s Rugby World Cup.

“We wanted to make sure Holani was 100 percent right and we need to see how Nakamura has improved,” Kirwan said of the changes.

Holani’s return at No. 8 – his last cap was in November 2008 – means Masakazu Toyota shifts from No. 8 to No. 6. Elsewhere the team is pretty much the side that started against South Korea and Kazakhstan.

“We want to go to the World Cup so we have picked the best team,” Kirwan said.

Shota Horie lines up at hooker with Hisateru Hirashima and Nakamura either side of him. Hitoshi Ono, who will again lead the side, pairs up with Luke Thompson in the engine room with Touetsu Taufa at openside. Fumiaki Tanaka and Shaun Webb carry on at halfback with the Suntory pair of Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira in the centres, Kosuke Endo on the wing and Goshi Tachikawa at fullback.

Japan goes into the game needing just a point to book its place in Pool A in New Zealand. But that didn’t stop Kirwan from having a few harsh words for his team after what he believed was a less-than-satisfactory captain’s run on Friday.

“I am not happy with the quality of training. I just hope we play better than we train,” he said.

Hong Kong still in with a chance

Hong Kong arrives in Tokyo with high hopes of grabbing the runner-up spot and keeping the dream alive of qualifying for the World Cup through the cross-continental play-offs.

Hong Kong is currently on 12 points and need to beat Japan or grab a bonus point by scoring four tries or finishing within a seven-point margin of defeat to secure the runner-up slot. Failing this, they will have to hope that Kazakhstan either lose to South Korea in the other game on Saturday in Incheon, Korea, or if they win, fail to pick up a bonus point.

“It will be all about us performing in Tokyo and not about how others are playing,” said Hong Kong head coach Dai Rees. “Our problem so far has been that we are underachieving in terms of ball retention. As far as defence goes, I’m happy. We have conceded only two tries so far this season.”

One of those tries was an intercept try which earned the Arabian Gulf a 16-9 victory that put paid to Hong Kong’s plans of going to Tokyo with the runner-up slot secured.

Hong Kong defeated South Korea 32-8 in their opening game and defeated Kazakhstan 19-15 two weeks ago. Both wins came at home.

“If someone at the beginning of the tournament had said you would beat South Korea and Kazakhstan and you would be disappointed, I wouldn’t have believed him,” Rees said after Hong Kong’s win over Kazakhstan.

Hong Kong have made a number of changes to that side due to injury and the absence of veteran forward Nigel Clarke who will be getting married in England on Saturday.

In the front row, an injury in training to tighthead prop Nigel Hobler has resulted in youngster Alex Ng Wai-shing being drafted into the hot seat. James Stokes comes in at lock to replace Clarke while in the backrow Kwok Ka-chun will replace the injured Nick Hewson at blindside.

Up-and-coming youngster Kenneth Hsieh Chun-hang will win his first cap and start at scrum-half with regular Tim Alexander on the bench. Alexander has been in the wars, and Rees wants to give him as much time as possible to recover. The rest of the backline will be the same, but on the bench, there will be a few new faces including flanker Renaud Chavanis, centre Tsang Hing-hung and winger Adam Raby who gets his first opportunity this season.

Japanese counterpart Kirwan will have the luxury of selecting from a full squad. He has given every player in an extended squad a run this season, and is happy with what he has seen so far.

“When we get over the advantage line early and get quick ball we are pretty hard to stop,” Kirwan said.

This will be the worry for Hong Kong as they bid to clinch second spot in the Top Five.

But Hong Kong isn’t the only team with worries heading into the final week’s action. In Incheon, a disappointed Korea team will be throwing everything into a last-ditch effort to repel visiting Kazakhstan and avoid what would have been unthinkable just four weeks ago – relegation to next year’s Division I championship.

Kazakhstan meanwhile face a conundrum: how to approach the match against Korea where a bonus point will see them off to Uruguay for the RWC repechage while a loss and conceding a bonus point will see them relegated to Division I.

The game is “win or die” according to Kazakhstan captain and No. 8 Timur Mashurov, “Korea will fight for every ball, for every cm of the pitch”.

Fortunately for the hosts, Korea have star lock You Young Nam back after his four-week match ban was reduced to three weeks on appeal. You was named the top player in his position in Japan’s professional Top League last season. You’s appearance could be decisive in a match that is likely to be won or lost up front.

Kazakhstan coach Evgeniy Zuev’s objective is for his side “to play more with the ball. We need to get more share of the ball from scrums and lineouts than we have so far in the competition. But most importantly in the last week of the A5N I want the team to demonstrate what they can do and show how people from Kazakhstan can play rugby.”

Kazakhstan will be relying on Mashurov and star flanker Anton Rudoy this weekend in what promises to be a tense encounter in Incheon.

“It is still too far to qualify for World Cup even if we get second place there is a long process for us to navigate. But as for relegation, it is just behind the corner”, added captain Mashurov, indicating the focus for this weekend in Incheon is firmly on retaining a spot in Asia’s top tier rugby competition, the HSBC Asian 5 Nations.

Starting Line-ups:

Japan:

1. Hirashima, Hisateru 2. Horie, Shota 3. Nakamura, Shinsuke 4. Ono ©, Hitoshi 5. Thompson, Luke 6. Toyota, Masakazu 7. Taufa, Touetsu 8. Holani, Ryukoliniaishi 9. Tanaka, Fumiaki 10. Webb, Shaun 11. Endo, Kosuke 12. Nicholas, Ryan 13. Taira, Koji 14. Tupuailei Alisi 15. Tachikawa, Goshi 16. Yuhara, Hiroki 17. Kawamata, Naoki 18. Toshizumi Kitagawa 19. Leitch, Michael 20. Yoshida, Tomoki 21. Arlidge, James 22. Matsushita Kaoru

Hong Kong

1. Spizziri, Peter 2. Abel, Jon 3. NG, Alex Wai Shing, 4. Stokes, James 5. French, Charles 6. Kwok, Ka Chun 7. Wright, Mark 8. Leung, Simon Ho Yam © 9. Hsieh, Chun-Hang Kenneth 10. Robertson, Keith 11. McQueen, Alex 12. Hempel, Simon 13. Varty, Rowan 14. Yiu, Salom Kam Shing 15. Bisley, Colin 16. Baddeley, Alex 17. Bennett, Jack 18. Chavanis, Renaud 19. Hussey, Rory 20. Alexander, Tim 21. Tsang, Hing Hung 22. Raby, Adam

Yebo Yes! Not only does Saturday May 22, 2010 see the start of the England Sevens at Twickenham, back home there’s also the Semi-finals of the 2010 Super 14 featuring TWO South African teams in the Stormers & Bulls,while locally our Hong Kong Boys also has a crunch-match in the Asian5Nations Top 5 Competition.

Hong Kong’s rugby warriors will take on the might of Japan in the final game of the HSBC Asian5Nations.  That game takes place at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo around 1pm (Hong Kong time).

Victory for Japan’s Brave Blossoms will confirm their entry into Pool A of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup alongside hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

Japan only needs a point from their final match and as such, even a draw will do. But this will be furthest from the mind of coach John Kirwan who is demanding a complete 80-minute performance from his team.

However, all is not lost for Hong Kong as they can still, mathematically clinch the RWC automatic entry spot from the Japanese team.  All the Hong Kongers have to do to finish top of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations standings, and gain automatic entry to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year, is to defeat Japan with a bonus point and deny their hosts a losing or try scoring bonus point.

That’s it. Done. Alles oor. Finish & Klaar.

How’s that for a reason to travel to The-Land-of-the-Silver-Fern next year but to (1) support the Springboks as well as the (2) Boys representing your home-away-from-home!

Now THAT’S Ayoba!

Howzit-HongKong.com will be checking out Hong Kong taking on Japan in this crunch-game at The Canny Man tomorrow.  If you’re in the area, do join us?!  We’ll be at the table enjoying the sponsor’s brew and haggis! S’true!

The Canny Man

B/1 Wharney Guang Dong Hotel

57-73 Lockhart Road

Wanchai

I am hearing the words ’2010 is Africa’s year’ all over the media these days. 

Of course the words refer to the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup that kicks off in South Africa in June later this year.  People are hoping that a successful World Cup on Africa’s soil (a first in soccer history) will help dispel the notion that Africa is the so-called ‘dark continent’where poverty, corruption and indeed AIDS are all-pervasive and that nothing good comes out of Africa.  “TIA… this is Africa” said Leonardo DeCaprio’s character in the movie Blood Diamond.

The African Cup of Nations (ACN) that kicks off in Angola today, was supposed to be a curtain-raiser of sorts to the World Cup.  Another major sports event to help prove to the world that the faith put in Africa to host the biggest sports event in the world was the right decision.  That a group of ’terrorists‘ decided to use the ACN to further their own ideals, put a serious bump in the road toward SA 2010 (despite the South African President’s statements to the contrary). 

I read an interesting article in today’s South China Morning Post titled: “Cup of good hope.“  While David Smith, writing for the Guardian News & Media, could have been referring to the African Cup of Nation or even the Soccer World Cup, he was actually writing about the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

While the William Webb Ellis Cup indeed brought South Africans together in 1995, Africans also need the African Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cup to do likewise.  This time for the entire continent.

Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa’s Humanity

(Click on the scans to view larger in new tab)

(Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa’s Humanity is the official slogan of the 2010 World Cup)