National rugby coach Danny Tauroa has called on his men to stand up and be counted in today's crunch match against Hong Kong. The Lions must win their Asian Five Nations encounter at the Hong Kong Football Club ground if they hope to retain their place among the continent's elite.
Disappointed by the narrow 19-22 loss to Kazakhstan last Saturday, when his men were leading at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium until 10 minutes from time, Tauroa has called on them to be 'ruthless' and minimise mistakes today. After opening their campaign with a 0-65 loss to South Korea last month, the Lions were let down by basic errors against Kazakhstan.
The losses have left them bottom of the five-team table and on the brink of relegation, as the last-placed side will drop to Division One.
A win may not be enough though. With an intimidating encounter looming against powerhouses Japan at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium next Saturday, the Republic must win tomorrow's game and need Hong Kong to lose in Kazakhstan next week, on top of that, to avoid the drop. Tauroa is not worrying about Japan though, as he keeps his team fully focused on today's task. Having studied videos of their opponents' matches, he highlighted their forwards as a possible weakness. He said: 'They have looked a bit lazy in the ruck and sit in their defence too much. We've worked on our scrums this week and will look to be aggressive from the start, running the ball at them as often as possible.'