When close friends make midfield magic
Jake Phelps and Lloyd Jones will be a key pairing for Hong Kong in the winner-takes-all clash in Japan
Bad hamstrings and knowing each other's sleeping patterns have helped forge one of the best midfield combinations for Hong Kong in many years, but Jake Phelps and Lloyd Jones admit the real test will come on Sunday when they face Japan in the winners-take-all Asian Five Nations finale in Tokyo.
Australians Phelps, 27, and Jones, 30, have sizzled this season ever since the latter became eligible and joined his former Sydney Easts team-mate Phelps as the centre pairing for Hong Kong in the Asian Five Nations. The duo haven't tasted defeat playing together for Hong Kong and have been largely credited with helping the side stand one game away from a berth in the 2015 World Cup.
Dreams aside, the Hong Kong Football Club duo have their feet firmly planted on terra firma and acknowledge the Tokyo clash will be Godzilla-like, with Japan overwhelming favourites to clinch their accustomed berth and represent Asia at the World Cup.
We have nothing to lose and in terms of pressure we are the underdogs. But I will be playing to win like always, and anything but a win is a failure
"Japan is the real test," says Phelps. "It's a gauge to see where we are as a team and not just individuals. We have nothing to lose and in terms of pressure we are the underdogs. But I will be playing to win like always, and anything but a win is a failure."
Jones said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the result of hours of work on the field, in the gym and in the office. It's a privilege and honour to be given this opportunity so I'll be treating it exactly like that."
Inside centre Phelps and outside centre Jones both work in the finance industry. They knew each other in passing back home in Sydney but forged a close bond only after coming to Hong Kong.
"Jake and I have played together for HKFC for three years since I moved up here in 2011. We played for the same club back in Sydney, at Easts Rugby Union Club, but unfortunately he was always injured. He was probably one of the most talented but unlucky juniors out of school. We didn't play that many games together as I was always playing and he was always running my water," laughed Jones.
The oft-heard jest at the Sports Road club is that Phelps and Jones are an item, and if they are on their own, they are greeted with cries of "where's your wife?". Jones, who played for NSW Waratahs as well as Australia under-19s and under-21s, agrees they are inseparable.
