ALTHOUGH they only reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong 10s, Silverbacks coach Gerald Nsenga has commended the national team for finishing in 3rd place in their second appearance at the competition. Silverbacks started well in the one day tournament with victories over Laos Development (14-0), Hong Kong Cricket Club (7-0) and Macau and Shenzhen (7-0).In the quarter finals, silverbacks defeated tournament hosts Altus Kowloon RFC 12-0 in the Cup quarter-finals, but their luck ran out in the semis after a 7-0 defeat to King Penguins, a UK based veterans club. But the Silverbacks recovered well and posted a resounding victory of 33-7 over Australian side Double Bay in the third-place playoff. Nsenga thinks it is a commendable achievement of the team in their second appearance at the tourney.“Our target was to win the main cup but we played a formidable side in King Penguins, but reaching the semi-finals was good enough and am particularly pleased that we finished in 3rd place,” the 30-year-old said. Silverbacks reached the plate final last year, were they lost 0-7 to ARC All-Stars, which had a selection of players from Hong Kong, New Zealand and South Africa. Ends
