14 December 2012
by Sylvia Ho
With great urgency and quick clearance at
the breakdowns, Singapore found herself controlling the pace of the game well
in the starting minutes of the game. 7 minutes into a game, out-centre Angelina
Liu crossed under the posts after receiving an offload from in-centre Wong
Yilin who made a break just outside Hong Kong's 22m.
For the next few minutes, Singapore held on
to the possession of the ball in Hong Kong’s 22 due to consecutive penalties
being awarded against the visitors. Shortly after, on the 11th
minute, Singapore’s No.8, Annabel Woo, crossed over the line through a short ball off
the ruck. Both tries were successfully converted by fullback, Christabelle Lim.
It did not take long for Hong Kong to
respond and a quick tap off a penalty
saw Hong Kong creating an 4 on 3 overload on the outside, which led to a first
of four tries by Hong Kong’s winger Natasha Olson-Thorne.
On the 20th minute, Hong Kong a switch between fly-half Emmy Chan and inside centre Rose Margaret Siu caught the Singapore defence napping and saw a
30 metre linebreak made by Siu. Albeit taken down, support from fellow inside back Candy Cheng resulted in another try under the posts while the hosts were scrambling to get onside.
Just 5 minutes past Hong Kong’s second try,
a quick penalty in Singapore half awarded to the visitors once again resulted
in an overload on the wing. Olson-Thorne once again unleashed a hard run,
breaking four tackles, which saw her crossing the line under the posts. Winger,
Aggie Poon then made her second successful conversion attempt, bringing the
score to 19 – 14, this time round Hong Kong taking the lead.
On the 33th minute, a turnover made by Hong
Kong in the midfield caught the Singapore defense off-guard, allowing Poon to break through on the wing. The first
half was concluded by another successful conversion by the try-scorer herself,
this time bringing the score to 26 – 14 to Hong Kong.
The starting half of the second half saw
good defense efforts by both teams. Due to the lack of discipline at the
breakdowns, 3 penalties were given against Singapore while the players were
defending aggressively at their own try line. This eventually resulted in a
clear overload on the wing but the try did not materialize as Hong Kong player
knocked on the ball under pressure. After winning the scrum, Lim attempted a
clearance kick as the hosts needed to relieve the pressure by getting out of
their own 22. The ball however, unfortunately, did not make the touchline.
Olson-Thorne then capitalized on this opportunity, picked up the loose ball,
dashed through the unprepared defenders and scored her hat trick under the
posts. With a successful conversion, the score was brought up to 33 – 14, to
Hong Kong.
The next ten minutes saw Hong Kong putting
in another two tries. On the 25th minute, ran off the ruck from
their opposition’s 22 to make another one under the posts. Shortly after,
Singapore was awarded a penalty when a Hong Kong player did not release the
ball in the ruck. Unfortunately, the ball did not go out of touch and Olson-Thorne
made it her 4th try of the match with a 70m break.
Finally, on the 35th minute, two
penalties saw the Singapore team advancing closer towards the try line with the
forwards taking in and securing the ball relentlessly.
Through a pick-and-go off the ruck, flanker Priscilla Humphries noticed a gap
and over the line she went. Lim converted successfully bringing the final score
to 45 – 21 to Hong Kong.
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