Hong Kong recovered from an early scare to beat Philippines 59-20 in Manila, but the margin of defeat will give their hosts confidence they can avoid Top 5 relegation.
Having lost their opening game 121-0 to Japan two weeks ago it was imperative that the home side did better against Hong Kong than the UAE, their only realistic rivals for the drop, and they did exactly that.
The Emirates lost 53-7 to Hong Kong on the opening weekend, and will now want to keep Asian heavyweights Japan under 100 points when the pair meet in Dubai on Friday, to ensure they have superior points difference going into their clash in the Philippines nine days later.
If the two sides draw in Manila on May 19 then the battle against the drop would be decided by points difference.
On the pitch, the Philippines put their opening defeat firmly behind them as they troubled their visitors early on and lead 10-7 shortly after the midway point in the first half as Patrice Olivier touched down.
Hong Kong scored a try of their own before the break, through David Whiteford to take a 14-10 lead at the interval but their hosts hit back again as Alex Aranson’s penalty made it 14-13 shortly after half-time.
Unfortunately for the top-flight debutants that would be as good as it got though as their semi-professional rivals ran in eight tries in all, six of which were scored in the second period.
“The scoreline flattered us in the end,” Hong Kong head coach Leigh Jones admitted. “But I’m proud of my guys. They adapted to the conditions and came out in the second half fighting. They came of age today.”
In the day’s other game, South Korea were given a taste of their own medicine as Japan scored 10 tries to secure a 64-5 victory and yet another try bonus point.
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