WRWC2017: Sakura Fifteen Claim Eleventh Place
At the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, the Japan Sakura Fifteen beat Hong Kong 44-5 at the Queen’s University Belfast on Saturday to claim eleventh place overall.
The Sakura Fifteen outscored their Asian rivals eight tries to one with fullback Mayu Shimizu and lock Ayano Sakurai nabbing braces while left wing Honoka Tsutsumi, right wing Akari Kato, centre Makiko Tomita and flanker Sayaka Suzuki also crossed the Hong Kong whitewash for five pointers. Shimizu and her replacement Ai Tasaka completed the scoring with a conversion apiece.
For Hong Kong, Karen So scored their points with a second half try.
Comments
Head coach Goshi Arimizu said, “Hong Kong did not allow us to get into a rhythm in the first half, but we sorted a few things out at halftime and came out firing in the second half. He fell into the Hong Kong pace of the game early on, but we gradually took control as the game progress and could express ourselves well playing our kind of rugby. We have learned a lot at this World Cup and we now have to carry this experience over into the next world tournament.”
Captain Seina Saito said, “It was really good to get our first win at the World Cup, but there are still issues for us to address in our game. We could not put it together in attack in the first half, but we strung a lot of phases together in the second half and scored some good tries. Our aim was to finish in the top eight, so we have to work hard to achieve that goal at the next World Cup. We had to play a lot of games over a short period of time, but this brought us together as a player group. Today we took our chances as they came along and played our best rugby of the tournament. After this, we have to build for the next World Cup.”
Date: Saturday, 26 August 2017
Venue: Queen’s University, Belfast
Kick-off: 12:00 (JST 20:00)
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
Halftime: Japan 15 – Hong Kong 0
Japan 44 – Tries: Mayu Shimizu 2, Ayano Sakurai 2, Honoka Tsutsumi, Akari Kato, Makiko Tomita and Sayaka Suzuki; Conversions: Mayu Shimizu and Ai Tasaka d
Hong Kong 5 – Try: Karen So.
Japan Sakura Fifteens: 1- Seina Saito (c), 2- Misaki Suzuki, 3- Saki Minami, 4- Aoi Mimura, 5- Ayano Sakurai, 6- Yuki Sue, 7- Sayaka Suzuki, 8- Maki Takano, 9- Moe Tsukui, 10- Minori Yamamoto, 11- Honoka Tsutsumi, 12- Makiko Tomita, 13- Iroha Nagata, 14- Akari Kato and 15- Mayu Shimizu. Reserves: 16- Chihiro Kobayashi, 17- Mizuho Kataoka, 18- Makoto Ebuchi, 19- Ai Hyugaji, 20- Yui Shiozaki, 21- Yumeno Noda, 22- Chikami Inoue and 23- Ai Tasaka. Coach: Goshi Arimizu.
Hong Kong: 1- Lau Nga-wun, 2- Royce Chan, 3- Lee Ka-shun, 4- Chow Mei-nam (c), 5- Chan Ka-yan, 6- Christie Cheng Ka-chi, 7- Chan Tsz-chang, 8- Christine Gordon, 9- Chloe Mak Ho-yee, 10- Rose Hopewell-Fong, 11- Chong Ka-yan, 12- Kelsie Bouttle, 13- Natasha Olson-Thorne, 14- Ivy Kwong Sau-yan and 15- Adrienne Garvey. Reserves: 16- Winnie Siu, 17- Karen So, 18- Pun Wai-yan, 19- Tsang Sin Yan, 20- Amelie Seure, 21- Jessica Ho Wai-on, 22- Lee Tsz-ting and 23- Colleen Tjosvold. Coach: Jo Hull.