Hong Kong find the going tough in U20s World Trophy
It was inevitable, almost like waiting for the tide to come in. Brave Hong Kong tried to delay the expected, but in the end they were swept aside by the United States who opened their IRB Junior World Trophy campaign with a 37-0 victory at Hong Kong Football Club on Monday night.
It was inevitable, almost like waiting for the tide to come in. Brave Hong Kong tried to delay the expected, but in the end they were swept aside by the United States who opened their IRB Junior World Trophy campaign with a 37-0 victory at Hong Kong Football Club on Monday night.
There were shock results earlier in the opening round of games in the eight-team under-20 competition - where the winner will earn the right to join the big boys in the IRB Junior World Championship in Italy next year - but the top-seeded Americans were in no mood to take things easy in pool A.
Hong Kong held them to 8-0 in the first half, but the floodgates opened in the second period as the Americans added four more tries to their five-try haul. Mike Parfitt and the local boys could not find an opening, even though a small crowd willed them on.
A lot of the guys put their hands up and this is a big step up for them, with quite a few 17-year-olds playing against guys who were 19 and 20
"It was definitely a game of two halves. We had a charged-down kick leading to a try in the first half and then we played well … but we couldn't cope with the pressure the US brought [in the second half]," said Hong Kong coach Pale Tauti.
"A lot of the guys put their hands up and this is a big step up for a lot of them, with quite a few 17-year-olds playing against guys who were 19 and 20."
The second-half onslaught was led by American outside centre Nemia Qoro who scored a brace, while inside centre Gabe Farley added to the try he scored in the first half. The other try was scored by fullback Niall Barry.
In upsets, Asian champions and third seed Japan and second seed Canada lost to Uruguay and Namibia, respectively.
"This is a huge win for us. We struggle for players, only having four teams in our country in this age group, and to beat a team like Japan, who can rely on thousands of players from universities and high schools, is massive for us," said Uruguayan coach Martin Mendaro.
Japan coach Keisuke Sawaki blamed his side's "lack of hunger" for the loss.
Also in pool B, Canada suffered a 37-25 defeat to Namibia.
"We played poorly and made too many errors, and turned over too much ball and lost to a very good Namibia side that physically beat us up," said Canada head coach Mike Shelley.
