Rugby World Cup final qualifying: USA coach Gold expects Hong Kong ‘to bring it to us’ in forwards battle in Dubai
- Two sides face each other in second round of matches on Saturday, with a place in Pool C in Paris ultimately up for grabs
- Both coaches make changes to the pack, with Hong Kong forced to shuffle personnel because of injuries to Patrick Jenkinson and James Sawyer
USA Eagles coach Gary Gold is expecting Hong Kong to “bring it to us upfront” on Saturday during the second round of matches at the Rugby World Cup qualifying tournament in Dubai.
Gold has made five changes to the side that hammered Kenya 68-14 in the opening game, including dropping prop Dylan Fawsitt, who scored a hat-trick in his side’s 10-try romp, to the bench.
Hong Kong have also juggled their personnel from the 42-14 defeat to Portugal, although in the case of head coach Lewis Evans, a series of injuries largely forced his hand.
Both coaches though are expecting a tighter contest than in their respective opening matches, and Evans said the need to move James Cunningham to lock to replace the injured Patrick Jenkinson gave his side “an extra back row on the field”.
With flanker James Sawyer ruled out with a fractured right thumb, skipper Josh Hrstich moves to blindside, Gregor Ramage comes in at open side and Luke van der Smit starts at No 8.
“I think when Luke came on [against Portugal] he offered some good front foot ball, the game opened up a little bit and that’s exactly what we hope to see from him again,” Evans said.
“I thought Cunningham was outstanding, so having him go from 6 to second row just gives us an extra back row on the field, and I’m excited to see Ramage go, he’s a very exciting kid and he’ll bring a lot energy to the team.”
