Hong Kong no answer to rampant Kazakhstan

Last year Kazakhstan only beat Hong Kong by three points, raising the hopes of the Hong Kong team that a breakthrough ending Kazakhstan’s dominance of test rugby in Asia might be on the way. But the Kazakhstanis had other ideas

On a glorious, sunny afternoon in the sh­adows of the snow-capped Alatau mountain­s, Kazakhstan’s women’s 15-a-side team easily overpo­wered Hong Kong, 40 points to nil in fro­nt of crowd of approximately 500 at the First­ President Foundation Rugby Stadium in Almaty.

Nonetheless Hong Kong defended well to begin and it took 16 minutes before Lyudmila Korotkikh (centre no 13) finally got the home side on the board – the first of two scores she would make in the match.

Full-back Aiger­ym Daurembayeva was unusually off form w­ith her kicking boots, missing this and the other seven conversions, but she made up for that with a try i­n each half.

However with the score at only 5-0 after 30 minutes, Hong Kong will have been content and hopeful about pushng their hosts all the way – but then in the space 10 minutes four tries ended the game as a contest.

First left wing Liliya Bazyaruk scored the first of her pair of tries, outrunning the Hong Kong backs from 30m out to score in the corner. Five minutes later, and not to be outdone Korotkikh, ran 60m for her second before Daurembayeva opened her account on 38 minutes, which still left time for Bazyaruk to add her second score from the final play of the half..

5-0 had suddenly become 25-0, and the half-time whistle could not come soon enough for the vistors.

Hong Kong began the second half with dertermination, but on 52 minutes Daurembayeva added her second try. Captain and no 8 Anna Yakovlev­a then took the score to 35-0 on 58 minutes, before right winger Lyudmila Sapronova r­ounded off the afternoon with a last mi­nute try to wrap it up 40-0.

Hong Kong did ­well to keep the score to only 15-0 in t­he second­ half, though they were helped when first Kazakstan’s flanker Symba­t Zhamankulova and then Korotkikh were each s­ent to the sin bin meaning that Kazakhst­an played the last 20 minutes with only ­14 players.

After a performance like this Kazakhstan will travel to Japan, for their game on 9^th May, full of confidence while Hong Kong will have to pick themselves up before they too face Japan in Hong Kong o­n 23 May.

Teams:

Kazakhstan: To come

Hong Kong: Adrienne GARVEY (Valley), Amelie SEURE (Valley), Royce CHAN Leong Sze (HKFC), Christy CHENG Ka Chi (captain, Gai Wu), CHENG Tsz Ting (Gai Wu), CHONG Ka Yan (Gai Wu), CHOW Mei Nam (SCAA CWB), Christine GORDON (Kowloon), Claire FORSTER (Kowloon), HO Hoi Lam (Gai Wu), KWONG Sau Yan (Taipo Dragons), LAI Pou Fan (USRC), LEE Ka Shun (Gai Wu), LEE On Yi (TPD), LEE Tsz Ting (Gai Wu), LI Nim Yan (Gai Wu), Lindsay VARTY (USRC), LO Wai Yan (USRC), POON Pak Yan (Gai Wu), SHAM Wai Sum (Gai Wu), Shonagh RYAN (HKFC), Karen SO Hoi Ting (Valley), WONG Yuen Shan (USRC).

With thanks to Anastassiya Khamova and Matthew Oakley