Hong Kong’s men sensationally overcame regional powerhouses Japan to claim the first ever Melrose Claymores contest at the Hong Kong Sevens on Sunday, though the SAR’s women went down to China in their final.

Hong Kong were beaten 33-14 by the Japanese in the pool stage of the new Asia-focused competition on Saturday, but thrilled an enthusiastic home crowd on Sunday by flying out of the blocks to build a 15-0 half-time lead care of tries from Bryn Phillips and a brace from Fong Kit-fung.

Hugo Stiles added another early in the second half with a brilliant kick and chase, followed by a conversion to make it 22-0 and leave the home crowd struggling to believe it.

Japan battled back later in the half, especially after Harry Sayers was sent to the sin-bin. Kippei Taninaka’s first try was converted and the fans held their breath as he scored a second out wide. However the kick fell short and Hong Kong hung on to get their hands on surely one of the most unique prizes in sport – a trophy in the form of a Scottish-style Claymore sword.

Speaking after the match, Stiles said: “Japan put up a pretty good fight against us and this time we started off pretty strong and kind of just managed to hold on at the end there and it’s great to finish on a high on the last Sevens here in the stadium.”

“It’s always been a boyhood dream to score in Hong Kong. It didn’t happen last year and for it to happen just then, yeah, it just doesn’t get much better.

“I’ve been coming since I was about six years old…I’ll be sad to see it go, but it’s exciting next year.”

Stiles said he's looking forward to next year's event at Kai Tak, adding: “It looks unbelievable, I know Hong Kong’s going to bring the support no matter where and so yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

There was to be no glory in the new Melrose Claymores competition for the SAR’s women with China getting revenge for their defeat in Friday’s pool encounter.

Wang Wanyu’s converted try put China ahead before Chan Tsz-ching got five points back. But with the conversion missed, Yang Feifei’s try built China’s lead to seven points before an immediate response from Chong Ka-yan.

That left Hong Kong needing to pile on the pressure, but further tries from Zhou Yan and Wang Rui wrapped up the 24-10 victory for the visitors.

Captain Natasha Olson-Thorne told RTHK: “The whole tournament’s just been amazing. Of course, it’s not how we wanted to finish, but still went out there, played our hearts out and we’re happy with how things have gone.

“The team’s been amazing, we’ve been building, building, building. Of course, we just fell a little bit short in the final but still, lots of positive energy and the crowds have been amazing they’ve been backing us up the whole weekend and that’s been amazing to feel.”
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Last updated: 2024-04-07 HKT 17:58