Hong Kong Sevens 2019: Asian teams review

With the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens drawing to a close on Sunday 7th April,  and Fiji cementing their Kings status at Hong Kong Stadium, we look at how the Asian teams fared over the Hong Kong 7s week in 2019.

The main 7s series threw in plenty of upsets on Sunday in the knockout stages, with Samoa and France surprise semi-finalists (and the French also finalists) but Fiji claimed their 5th consecutive title in Hong Kong to restore some normality.

Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong 7s 2019 won by Fiji (Photo credit- Hong Kong Sevens)

As we previewed the Asian teams and pools before the tournament we now look at the results of these sides and ask where to now?

World Series – Men’s

In 2018 Japan sealed their place in the HSBC World Mens 7s Series in Hong Kong by beating Ireland in the semi-finals and then Germany in the finals in a nailbiter. This season has not been fantastic for Japan however but they did put in a great display in Hong Kong over the weekend to claim invaluable points in their bid to stay up for another year.

Despite making the Bowl Final, Japan did blow a healthy lead in the second half against Scotland and may well rue those dropped World Series points. In addition, questions still remain about the high number of Pacific Island born players in the squad, something that was constantly remarked on by fans in the stadium.

Japan

Pool results:

• Japan 7-22 South Africa
• Japan 21-31 Samoa
• Japan 19-33 Scotland

Bowl Quarter Final

• Japan 7-38 Wales

Bowl Semi Final

• Japan 21-12 Kenya

Bowl Final

• Japan 24-26 Scotland

Women’s 7s Qualifiers 2019

Firstly well done to the Brazilian ladies 7s team for securing the top spot and qualification into the Women’s Sevens World Series for next season.

As for the Asian teams, the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens was not the most memorable, with none of the teams reaching the Final.

Japan reached the semi-finals before falling to losing finalists, Scotland. Hong Kong was a touch fortunate to make the quarter-finals after losing two of their three pool games and then lost to Japan in the quarterfinals.

Kazakhstan also lost two out of three of their pool games and went on to play the eventual winners Brazil and lose for the second time to the South Americans in the space of two days.

To be fair, Japan remains the best Asian hope, but more needs to be done to raise the level of the women’s sevens game with regular high-quality tournaments in Asia and support for lower ranked nations on the continent.

Japan (Pool X)

Pool results:

• Japan 54-0 Mexico
• Japan 27-19 Scotland
• Japan 35-0 Belgium

Quarter Final

• Japan 27-7 Hong Kong

Semi-Final

• Japan 19-24 Scotland

Hong Kong (Pool Y)

Pool results:

• Hong Kong 14-22 Papua New Guinea
• Hong Kong 5-36 Kenya
• Hong Kong 26-5 Uganda

Quarter Final

• Hong Kong 7-27 Japan

Kazakhstan (Pool Z)

Pool results:

• Kazakhstan 17-12 Argentina
• Kazakhstan 12-14 Brazil
• Kazakhstan 10-12 Poland

Quarter Final

• Kazakhstan 5-21 Brazil

Men’s 7s Qualifiers 2019

Ireland broke Hong Kong’s hearts in the final but they were also one of the best looking teams in 2018 before falling to Japan. They have also taken full advantage of the World Sevens Series tournaments they have been involved in and looked too good throughout this year’s qualifiers.

The Philippines can hold their heads high as they had some good wins and close losses, including those two against Hong Kong. The men’s national team though showed that for all the funding HK has available, the Philippines can compete with them.

Hong Kong fell at the final hurdle. The team looks good but questions will again need to be asked about the budget available to Hong Kong Rugby Union and how they plan for the future? Would it not be better to see local Hong Kong/Chinese players dominate the team and get a wider selection of the population to propel the team?

They have now lost in the final stages of World Cup 2019 qualification for XVs and come agonisingly close in the 7s Qualifiers in 2019.

Hong Kong men’s lost the 2019 qualification final to Ireland (Photo credit Hong Kong Sevens)

Hong Kong (Pool E)

Pool results:

• Hong Kong 33-17 Philippines
• Hong Kong 14-7 Zimbabwe
• Hong Kong 19-12 Tonga

Quarter Final

• Hong Kong 17-7 Philippines

Semi-Final

• Hong Kong 7-5 Chile

Final

• Hong Kong 7-28 Ireland

Philippines (Pool E)

Pool results:

• Philippines 17-33 Hong Kong
• Philippines 17-36 Tonga
• Philippines 24-12 Zimbabwe

Quarter Final

• Philippines 17-7 Hong Kong