Hong Kong push to finish on a high in Asia Rugby Championship finale against South Korea

Hong Kong coach Leigh Jones has made five changes to his starting 15 from last week’s loss to Japan as his charges prepare to battle for second place against South Korea in the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship finale at Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday.

Reading Time:3 minutes

Ryan Meacheam retains his place on the right wing for Hong Kong when they face South Korea at HKFC Saturday in a battle to finish second in the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship. Photos: HKRU

Published: 1:30am, 3 Jun 2016Updated: 2:07pm, 31 Aug 2018

Hong Kong coach Leigh Jones has made five changes to his starting 15 from last week’s loss to Japan as his charges prepare to battle for second place against South Korea in the 2016 Asia Rugby Championship finale at Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday.

Captain Nick Hewson returns as flanker after starting on the bench in Tokyo while lock Paul Dwyer, flanker Toby Fenn, scrum-half Jamie Hood and winger Salom Yiu Kam-shing are all back.

Lex Kaleca and Finlay Field also come in and will start on the bench, with Jack Delaforce, Matt Lamming, Rowan Varty, Tony Wong Ho-yeung, Adam Rolston and Lee Jones making way.

“We’ve been lucky, we’ve got a pretty strong complement to pick from,” Jones said Friday. “We’ve managed to avoid injuries which says a lot about our preparation, our conditioning and the medical team over the last month. We are looking forward to finishing the competition on a high.”

Salom Yiu Kam-shing returns on the left wing against South Korea.

It will be Field’s first match for senior 15 – if he sees action after returning to Hong Kong for the summer in between his studies in Edinburgh – though he has already amassed several age-grade honours including representing Hong Kong at the World Rugby U20 Trophy in 2014 and 2015.

His debut has been fast-tracked due to the injury to Delaforce and the 20-year-old, whose father Richard also represented Hong Kong, is buzzing about the opportunity.