Hong Kong dare to dream after victory over South Korea
Nick Hewson and his brave band of brothers will have to rethink their summer plans after Hong Kong kept their 2015 World Cup qualifying dream alive and booked a spot in the first stage of a repêchage away to Uruguay in August.
Nick Hewson and his brave band of brothers will have to rethink their summer plans after Hong Kong kept their 2015 World Cup qualifying dreams alive and booked their spot in the first stage of a repêchage away to Uruguay in August with a superb 39-6 victory over South Korea.
The second-placed team in the Asian Five Nations will travel to Montevideo for a one-off game after a fine five-try win over the Koreans earned Hong Kong that right. But for the moment, elated skipper Hewson has urged his teammates to “dare to dream” and defeat Japan in the final game on May 25 in Tokyo.
The A5N champions will go directly to the World Cup.
“We can dream. We still have one game left and we want to have a crack at Japan,” Hewson said. “This was a special effort and I’m very proud of the guys who have conceded just one try in three matches.”
This win is not just about the 15. It was a squad effort and a whole community effort
Defence was the ket to Saturday’s performance, with fly-half Chris McAdam’s tackling leading the way. McAdam also kicked well to put the Koreans on the back foot – his place kicking earned him 11 points.
The solid presence of Hong Kong Football Club centres Lloyd Jones and Jake Phelps presented a forbidding wall which the Koreans failed to scale, with Jones also a thorn on attack with several good breaks. Hong Kong’s back-rowers Pale Tauti, Hewson and Matt Lamming worked tirelessly on cover defence and at the break down as the hosts turned over possession a number of times.
