Asia Rugby Championship: Hong Kong coach says thrashing Malaysia ‘not the best preparation’
- City will host South Korea in championship decider in significant step up this month before July tour to South America
Andrew Douglas, the Hong Kong head coach, has called for a shake-up of the Asia Rugby Championship after his side crushed Malaysia 70-6 on Saturday.
The stormy Selangor weather that delayed kick-off by 30 minutes was a tougher opponent for Hong Kong than the hosts. Douglas made seven changes from the previous week’s cruise against United Arab Emirates, and there was a belated debut from the bench for former England under-20 hooker Calum Scott.
Douglas praised his players’ “outstanding effort and attitude”, but questioned whether steamrollering Malaysia, ranked 49 in the world to Hong Kong’s 24, was sufficient preparation for an ARC decider against South Korea in a fortnight, and subsequent three-match South America tour.
One solution for a more competitive ARC, Douglas said, would be to include a Japan ‘A’ team.
“It would be beneficial to play against a team of that level,” the Kiwi said. “[Asia Rugby could] start discussions with the Japan rugby union to see if they would be keen for their emerging players to play Test matches.
“I don’t want to be condescending or arrogant, but [playing Malaysia] is not the best preparation for [South Korea and South America]. Malaysia are great hosts, and try very hard, but we are trying to lift Hong Kong rugby.
