Hong Kong beat Chinese Taipei 38-5 at the Taipei Municipal Stadium to claim the Asia Rugby U19 Championship on Tuesday.
In the final match of the four-team round-robin competition, Hong Kong scored six tries to the hosts one and claimed a bonus-point victory. Toby Jurecka scored two tries while Paul Altier collected 13 points in a win that secured them the title and qualification for next year’s World Rugby U20 Trophy in Brazil.
Having lost their opening match 17-13 to Korea, Hong Kong bounced back with two bonus-point victories – a 48-15 triumph over Sri Lanka preceding their emphatic win over Chinese Taipei.
With Korea and Chinese Taipei also winning two matches, it was bonus points which made the difference in the end. Korea finished second overall after narrowly beating Sri Lanka 29-26 with the Tuskers suffering a third defeat from three in the competition.
Asia Rugby President Aga Hussain was quick to praise the competitive nature of the tournament. “All four teams played an integral role in this year’s Asia Rugby U19 Championship,” he said. “Congratulations to Hong Kong who will now represent Asia in the World Rugby Trophy in 2019, alongside Japan, but also to the other three teams who all demonstrated the growth and development of rugby in our region.”
The 2019 edition of the World Rugby U20 Trophy will be the 12th at this level of competition and will be held at Estadio Martins Pereira in Sao Jose dos Campos from 9-21 July, 2019