Japan Women Secure Championship With 60 – 19 Victory Over Hong Kong

The Sakura Women sealed the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2017 tonight at King’s Park, Kowloon with another emphatic win over Hong Kong Women, 60 – 19.

It was a tough evening at King’s Park for Hong Kong in the second and final match of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, with Japan on top from the outset to ensure Hull has plenty to think about before her side’s World Cup opener against Canada on August 9.

“Obviously we are not happy with that, I think there were some real individual errors that cost us dearly,” said Hull, while highlighting the good work of back-row forward Chan Tsz-ching.

“But there were some positives from last week, I think our commitment and physicality in the contact area [was good]. Getting a few tries in there is a slight consolation. “Our breakdown area was good and we actually got some momentum in attack so we started to carry the ball a little bit better.”

Hong Kong struggled with handling errors early in the match and it was Japan centre Riho Kurogi who opened the scoring, converting her own try as Japan’s size and speed immediately came to the fore. Tries to full back Ai Tasaka, second rower Aoi Mimura and Captain Seina Saito pushed the score out to 24-0 but Hong Kong didn’t drop their heads, with captain Chow Mei-nam finding the line in the 30th minute.

Her try, coupled with winger Aggie Poon Pak-yan’s tough conversion, roused the home crowd but did little to halt Japan’s momentum, with Kurogi again dotting down to give her side a 24-point lead at the break.

Hong Kong struck first in the second half through a crafty effort from winger Chong Ka-yan, but Japan kept coming and tries to Takano and winger Honoka Tsutsumi pushed the score along to 43-14. Takano found herself in the sin bin soon after and Hong Kong capitalised, with substitute scrum half Sham Wai-sum crossing for her side’s third try.

It was all Japan in the final 20 minutes, with tries to Sachiko Kato, Yumeno Noda and Yuki Oyokawa rounding out a comprehensive victory for the Sakura

story from http://www.scmp.com

Photo Credit : @HKRFU

Sam Agars

Asia Women’s Rugby Championship

Veiw Full Result Details