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Last week’s international rugby kicked off last Tuesday in Doha which hosted Division 2 of the Asian Rugby Championships.
Despite being seeded No. 1, Thailand was forced to send a depleted team for the competition due to visa problems and the political situation in their country.
And they payed the price.
The home team Qatar, seeded fourth, scored two tries to one to beat Thailand, 24-11.
The other match was between second seed, Malaysia, and third seed, Iran. This turned into a try fest as Malaysia scored six tries to four for a 43-22 victory.
The finals were played on Friday and in the minor game, Iran went out to an early lead but ran out of condition as the below strength Thailand hit back in the second half. But they could not bridge the gap and Iran recorded a well deserved 26-23 victory.
In the main game, Malaysia showed its superior skills to head off a determined Qatar for a 31-22 win. This was Qatar’s first loss in four years as it progressed each year through the lower divisions undefeated.
Next year the revamped Division 2 will comprise of Chinese Taipei, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Qatar. Thailand and Iran will be in the Division 3 group.
In Hamburg, a Rugby World Cup elimination game was played between Germany and Russia. A crowd of 4000 was on hand and Russia scored two first half tries to lead 10-3 at the break. Shortly after resumption, Germany scored two converted tries to take a 17-10 lead. Russia levelled at 17-17, but Germany edged ahead again with a penalty. With four minutes remaining, a big upset was on hand.
However, Russia got its act together and scored two converted tries in the last four minutes to win 31-20. The five tries to two margin was not a true indication of the closeness of the game. The result means that Germany is now eliminated and Russia progresses to the repechages and will play the runner-up in the African qualifying series.
South Korea now has third spot in the Asian Five Nations following its emphatic 52-22 win over Philippines in Laguna. South Korea was always in control and the eight tries to three emphasised that, but the Volcanoes did not give up and scored the final try of the game. This means South Korea will join Japan and Hong Kong in next year’s reworked Asia Three Nations, while Philippines and Sri Lanka will join Kazakhstan and Singapore in Division 1.
It seems South American rugby change the rules as they go along. Recently, the CONSURA tournament was played to decide which two teams would meet Argentina for the CONSUR Cup. The nations finished, in order, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Chile, so Uruguay and Paraguay should have gone to the next round. Uruguay was selected but Chile was also named as the other team.
In response, it was said that the teams selected would be from the 2013 series, not the current one. It certainly smacks of Chile being a favoured nation and believed to be of a better standard and a rosier rugby future than Paraguay. In Santiago, a below strength Puma team scored 11 tries to nil and a 73-12 score line to thrash Chile for Argentina to win the inaugural CONSUR Cup.
In the final game at Tokyo’s national stadium before it is pulled down to make way for a new stadium for the Rugby World Cup 2019, the final match of his year’s Asia Five Nations was played between the two undefeated sides, Japan and Hong Kong in front of a 16,371 crowd.
The first half was one-way traffic as Hong Kong barely got out of its own half. Japan scored four tries in this session to lead 27-3 and only dropped ball and a spate of penalties prevented an even bigger margin.
The second half saw a more committed Hong Kong side, who managed to score a try and hold Japan pointless for the first 30 minutes of the term. Eddie Jones then brought on fresh legs and Japan ran in four tries in the last 10 minutes to win the championship, 49-8. Japan will now represent Asia in Pool B of the Rugby World Cup to play South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and USA. Hong Kong will play in a repechage game against Uruguay, the America’s zone runners-up.
In the NACRA south championship league, Trinidad and Tobago beat Barbados, 34-5, in Port of Spain. Trinidad will now play Guyana in the final of the south division.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.