New caps shine for dominant Hong Kong in Cup of Nations opener

Hong Kong set the early pace after the first round of matches in the Hong Kong Cup of Nations with a 30-11 bonus-point victory over Zimbabwe on Friday.

The home side were the only team to collect a bonus point at Hong Kong Football Club after Russia had beaten Portugal 23-12 in the opening match.

Hong Kong jumped to a 20-0 lead after fly-half Ben Rimene opened with a penalty followed by three first-half tries from scrum-half Tom Marshall, winger Charles Higson-Smith and a penalty try.

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With the bonus point win in sight, however, Hong Kong seemed to lose focus, conceding two yellow cards on either side of the break. The first against new cap and flanker James Cunningham in the 38th minute and the second to Hong Kong's other flank Matt Lamming in the 48th minute.

With their numerical advantage, Zimbabwe came out strong after the interval with 11 unanswered points.

Fly-half Tichifara Makwanya slotted over two penalties before reserve back Sanele Sibanda crossed over to touch down.

Hong Kong's replacement fly-half Niall Rowark helped steady the ship for the home side, notching a late penalty in the 74th minute to push the hosts out to 23-11 before new cap Brad Raper scored the crucial fourth try in the 78th minute to earn the bonus point.

"The win was great, but we lost control in the last 10 minutes of the first half and for the majority of the second," said Hong Kong coach Andrew Hall.

"When the game went loose Zimbabwe really looked dangerous, but when we kept our structure like in the first 30 minutes, we created a lot of chances, which was a positive.