Comfortable win for Spanish XV
The Spanish XV beat Hong Kong 59-12 in a non-test international friendly match at the John Paul II of Hortaleza, Madrid today (Tuesday 15th December) - the first of two matches in the series, and the first victory for the new-look Spanish XV.
Published by John Birch, December 16th, 2015
3 minute read
The match had a nervy start with both teams showing some tension, each team making errors. Possession switched between the teams, but it was Spain who gained more terretory and spent more time in opposition end. With that advantage the first try came in the eighth minute after a great move by the forwards culminating in a score by Jeanina Vinueza. From that moment, the Lions relexed and begane to dominate the the game especially at the breakdown ans scrums, continually winning the challenges. So would the rest of the first part test: Mre tries followed. Erbina on 15 minutes, Perez 18, Alonso 29 and Yurrita in 36 completed a five-try first half for Spain and with added three conversions from Meliz gave them a 31-0 lead at the break.
With the resumption Lionesses returned to the attack, so much so that it would take only three minutes to score again, Claudia Alonso, on her debut, getting her second try. Just then, when it seemed that the second part would be a carbon copy of the first, Poon took advantage of a handing error by Spanish and opened the scoring in Hong Kong. Spain responded with three more tries from Redondo, Fernandez and Macias. At the stroke of 70 minutes, with the benches emptied, Hong Kong began to dominate the Spanish thanks to the speed of their three quarters which resulted in a second trial, Olson-Thorne, who had just come onto the field, broke the defense line and outpaced to the second defensive line to score by the flag. With this latest trial closed the scoring in the final 59-12.
Spanish XV:1. Isabel RICO, 2. Claudia ALONSO, 3. Jeanina VINUEZA, 4. María RIBERA, 5. Mónica CASTELO 6. Carmen PÉREZ 7. Nerea AGUIRRE, 8. Elena REDONDO, 9. Anne FERNÁNDEZ, 10. Carlota MELIZ, 11. Lucía DÍAZ, 12. Amaia ERBINA, 13. Anna RAMÓN, 14. Nuria YURRITA, 15. África FÉLEZ.
Replacements: 16. Magdalena PÉREZ (x 16, min 51), 17. Selene ROZ (x 2, min 44), 18. María SOBRINOS (x 1, min 56), 19. Isabel MACÍAS (x5, min 44), 20. Saioa JAURENA (x6, min 25), 21. Macarena DEL VALLE (x 7, min 44), 22. Isis VELASCO (x 10, min 51), 23. Lourdes ALAMEDA (x 13, min 44).
Hong Kong XV:1 Nga Wun LAU, 2. Karen SO, 3. Ka Shun LEE, 4. Mei Nam CHOW, 5. Claire FOSTER, 6. Melody LI, 7. Chrisåty CHENG, 8. Amelie SEURE, 9. Wai Sum SHAM, 10. Rebecca THOMPSON, 11. Stephanie CAUVELIER, 12. Collen TJOSVOLD, 13. Adrienne GARVEY, 14. Sze Wa LAU, 15. Pak Yan POON.
Replacements: 16. CHAN, 17. CHEUNG, 18. SIU, 19. CHENG, 20. LO, 21. MAK, 22. OLSON-THORNE, 23. CHENG.
Officials:
Luis García-Mon (referee), Paloma Loza and Gonzalo Pardo (assistants).