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Hong Kong could be next underdog to land shock spot at World Cup

Ball carrier Lewis Evans (c) of Newport Gwent Dragons during the Guinness Pro14 match between Southern Kings and Newport Gwent Dragons at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 02, 2018 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Former Dragons forward Lewis Evans is expecting his Hong Kong team to face a ferocious assault from Tonga in their Asia/Pacific 1 play-off Rugby World Cup clash on the Sunshine Coast in Australia with victory earning a place in Pool B alongside champions South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania in France next year.

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Rookie head coach Evans is taking heart from Tonga’s winless performances in the recent Pacific Nations Cup and the absence of stars such as Israel Folau, Malakai Fekitoa and Charles Piutau for various reasons.

The loser has one more chance of making the 2023 finals in France by winning November’s Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai for a spot in Pool C with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Georgia.

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Hong Kong earned their shot at Tonga after a narrow 23-21 win over South Korea, achieved despite having a player sent off in the first minute. It has been a disrupted period for Hong Kong with the pandemic hitting their union’s finances with the postponement of the Hong Kong Sevens.

A lack of matches has also been a major headache for Evans, who is taking charge of only his second game as head coach, having quit playing for the Welsh regional side a year ago after 15 seasons at Rodney Parade. Evans was originally appointed as assistant to Simon Amor but took over when the former England attack coach joined the Japan coaching setup.

Evans told Rugby Asia 247 : “It is daunting in some respects but this group of players are very excited to get out there and very keen to play against some of the best players in the world and it’s something some of these guys have been dreaming of for a few years. We know Tonga will be ferocious with the ball carrying and spot blitzing so we know we are going to feel that heat.

“Our first 40 minutes against Korea showed our potential and it demonstrated that we have the attacking ability in our team. The second half showed resilience when we had to dig in and the ability to stay switched on and belief.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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