Hong Kong handed Rugby World Cup reality check by dominant Chile in Nations Cup clash
South Americans run in three unanswered tries in second half, punish Hong Kong ill-discipline in prequel to clash in Australia next year
Hong Kong have been handed a stark reminder of the scale of the task they face to compete at next year’s Rugby World Cup, going down 38-17 to Chile in Vina del Mar on Saturday.
And while there was a measure of encouragement in the tenacity Hong Kong summoned to stay in touch with the hosts during the opening 40 minutes, an ill-disciplined performance was punctuated by four yellow cards, and one red for full debutant Lachlan Doheny.
Ultimately, the city team, who are ranked 24th in the world, ran out of legs and conceded three second-half tries while failing to add to their first-half tally against opponents sitting seven places higher in the pecking order.
After a bruising 66-19 loss in Samoa last week, Hong Kong are staring at the daunting prospect of a game against world No 16 team Uruguay in Montevideo next week to wrap up their South American tour.
Chile are the team Hong Kong are eyeing as potential World Cup victims next October, when a fixture against the South Americans in Townsville will be sandwiched between games with Australia and New Zealand.
In front of around 12,000 home fans, however, the South Americans established themselves as clear favourites for the showpiece encounter in 15 months.
The momentum belonged to the hosts from the ninth minute when Tomas Ninci, the Argentine referee, awarded them a penalty try and yellow carded Doheny.