Rugby Academy | Bats compete at their first HK festival of the season

Local rugby team the Macau Bats competed in their first festival of the new season held at King’s Park, Hong Kong last weekend. The festival hosts were USRC Tigers and the tournamentl kicked off on a warm and sunny morning. First up were the U7s against the Tigers. The young Bats played some good, flowing rugby and secured a 2-1 victory over the hosts. This was followed by draws, (2-2) against Sandy Bay and Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC), also 2-2, before a 1-3 loss to Valley Fort.

The U8s also had a mixed set of results – a win against Tai Hang Tung, a 2-2 draw with the Flying Kukris and losses against Valley Fort (1-3) and Sandy Bay (2-3). The team showed enough promise to be optimistic about upcoming tournaments.Meanwhile the U9s got off to an impressive start with wins over Sandy Bay (2-0), East Kowloon (4-1) and Shatin Sha Pei (6-1). The Bats came up against a good Tin Shui Wan Eagles team and lost an exciting game 2-4.

The U10s arrived with a depleted squad, however reinforced with some last minute additions the team went on to record four victories – 2-0 in a very tough game against South Lantau Buffaloes followed by wins over Shatin Sha Pei (3-1), HKFC (5-2) and Tai Po (6-1).

Last up at King’s Park were the U11s who started with a 2-4 loss to South Lantau Buffaloes in what was a very even game until the Bats let in two late tries. However spirits soared as the Bats showed a more determined and ruthless streak in beating Tigers 5-0. The Bats continued their fine play against HKFC and quickly led 5-0 lead with a series of strong scores before letting Football Club back into the game for a final 6-3 score.

Over at Happy Valley on Hong Kong island the U12s were playing in the Bowl competition of the Richard Hawkes Cup.The Bats won their group with two wins and a draw to play in the final. This also ended in a 1-1 draw and will see the Bats promoted for the next round of the competition in November.

To complete a busy day of rugby the U19s played last season’s champions USRC Tigers. The Bats acquitted themselves well, scoring three tries before going down 30-19 to a very good Tigers team. However, the team should take encouragement from how competitively they played against one of the favourites for the overall championship. Donald Shaw, Hong Kong, Special to MDT