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| Kazakhstan beat Hong Kong to take 2nd in HSBC Asian Five Nations 2009 |
Japan was again the runaway champion this year after going undefeated through its four matches (with four bonus points for scoring four or more tries in each match) to finish on 24 points. Kazakhstan's victory today leaves them a distant second on 15 points, two ahead of Korea which finished in third with 13 points from 2 wins and three bonus points. Hong Kong finished in fourth place on 8 points while Singapore finished in last place on 1 point. Singapore will now be relegated to the Division I championship in 2010 to be replaced by the Arabian Gulf, the winners of the 2009 Division I championship in Dubai.Today's win sees Kazakhstan finish up two places from its performance in last year's inaugural HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 competition when it only managed a single win over the Arabian Gulf. Hong Kong meanwhile slips to fourth place from its third placed finish of 2008. Torrential rains through much of the middle quarters of the match reflected a dour performance from both sides as each team struggled for fluidity early on. Kazakhstan soon focused on involving their talented back row in repeated charging runs from flanker Anton "the Horse" Rudoy and captain and No. 8 Timur Mashurov. Hong Kong's only respite early on was from a penalty for off-sides, which was successfully converted by Hong Kong fly-half Kenzo Pannell to edge the visitors out to a 3-0 lead. That encounter would set the pattern for the day as Kazakhstan lost the penalty count in the match but Hong Kong failed to translate its advantages into significant points. All day long Hong Kong had trouble from the set pieces and in the 15th minute the visitors lost a lineout (the first of six on the day) that was scooped up by Rudoy who took it forward well in the first phase. Quick recycling of the ball put No. 8 Mashurov into space against Hong Kong's outside backs. The captain charged through from 10 metres without much difficulty to score the first try of the match. The conversion from fullback Maxim Lifontov brought the score to 7-3 in favour of Kazakhstan. In the 23rd minute, winger Daulet Akymbekov tore away from Hong Kong's cover defence to touch down for Kazakhstan's second try of the half. Lifontov's second conversion of the day brought the halftime score to 14-3 Kazakhstan. Hong Kong's hope of rallying in the second half were soon scotched by penalties in the 41st and 57th minute, both of which were converted by Lifontov to stretch the home side's lead to 20-3. Hong Kong's only points in the second half came through replacement fly-half Keith Robertson who slotted over a penalty attempt shortly after coming in to the match in the 60th minute to bring the score to 17-6. As the clock ticked over, the weather and the match deteriorated further with Kazakh indiscipline resulting in four yellow cards in the second half, each of them coming in pairs. Despite playing with consistent two man advantages for over 20 minutes, Hong Kong could not exploit the gaps and failed to score any more points during the remainder of the match. In injury time, Kazakh centre Ildar Abdrazakov tore away for another long-range try to bring the score to the final 25-6 marker. Speaking after the game a delighted Timur Mashurov captain of Kazakhstan said, "Today's win is going to be a great boost for rugby in Kazakhstan. We are really happy to win in front of our home crowd today but we know we have to do it again next year if we want to go to the Rugby World Cup in 2011." Next year's HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 competition will be the final qualification stage for Asia for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The winner of the Top 5 in 2010 will be Asia's sole direct entrant to New Zealand in 2011, while the runners-up will enter a repechage process. A sanguine Hong Kong coach Dai Rees said that his charges could still take a lot from today's match: "It is impossible to win matches when your set pieces are not functioning properly so in that respect it was a disappointing match. But in the long view, I am very pleased with the reaction of the team to the new system we are putting in place. I have always said that this team needs one championship under its belt for seasoning and we now have that. We will go back and regroup and come back bigger and better next year. It isn't easy to win here and next year Kazakhstan will have to travel to Hong Kong. We will be ready for them." Scoreline:
Kazakhstan: 25
Tries: Mashurov, Akymbekov, Abdrazakov
Conversions: Lifontov (2)
Penalties: Liftontov (2)Hong Kong: 6
Penalties: Pannell, Robertson
Halftime score: 14-3 |
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