Hong Kong’s men’s U20 rugby team opened the eight-team World Rugby U20 Trophy tournament with a 41-20 loss to Samoa last night in Bucharest, Romania.  The winners of the U20 Trophy will be promoted to the 2019 tier one World Rugby U20 Championship.

Hong Kong were given the dubious honour of opening the U20 junior championship against top seeds Samoa, relegated from last year’s World Championship and one of three teams taking part that have won the tournament previously, alongside Uruguay and Romania.

The Samoans, who have won this competition on every appearance at this level (2006, 2011) showed their intent to return to the top flight from the opening kick-off, controlling the first half against Hong Kong.

Conceding both possession and territory, Hong Kong was able to muster only a handful of attacking forays over the first forty minutes. 

A committed and team-wide defensive effort, and a ‘bend but don’t break’ approach - while failing to produce enough one-on-one tackles, kept the Samoans in check in the opening half.

In defence, Hong Kong harried and frustrated Samoa and managed to hold off wave after wave of attacks.

“Our effort was outstanding,” said disappointed coach Stephen Dowse post-match.

“We again showed that we can compete at this level. Samoa are a very good team, having been playing in the World Championships for the last three years and are likely the favourites to go up again this year.

“We certainly worked very hard against them, but there were crucial times in the game where we lost our ability to execute accurately from our own half and our ability to convert try-scoring opportunities, which we had. We created a fair number of opportunities but we couldn’t convert them,” he added.

“It only compounds what we’ve been working on in training. It illustrates the way we have to play and what we have to do to get results at this level. We have to be more accurate and trust in ourselves and our structures. This is something we’ll work on in our review process ahead of Namibia,” added Dowse.

Given the game flow, the 0-0 scoreline at the 30-minute marker was an accomplishment, but also looked increasingly untenable, considering the lethal Samoan backline stocked with player after player flashing real pace and unpredictability in attack. 

Linked with a burly but workmanlike pack, Samoa continued to chip away at Hong Kong’s defence.  As the match wore on, their ball carriers gained more and more metres with every touch of the ball until the dam broke and Samoa crossed the line for its first try with centre Vaesavali Tato crossing over after being the beneficiary of a no-look backhand pass from winger Niulevea.

Samoa carried the ball back to the Hong Kong try-line from the re-start with another spate of open-field running from the backs.  The try was only narrowly averted when the ball was pushed into touch at Hong Kong’s five-metre line by winger Shiven Dukhande, who was promptly sin-binned for the offence.

Samoa quickly capitalised on the gaps in Hong Kong’s line with a steam-rolling driving maul try by the forwards extending the lead to 12-0 after the conversion.  Tato collected his second try in  the 32^nd minute, this time doing all the work himself, as he slashed through the defence to score.

Trailing 17-0 and having already logged numerous tackles, Hong Kong looked in danger of being overrun, but they rallied well and manged to convert one of their few first half trips into Samoan territory into points after Paul Altier positioned the squad perfectly off a booming touchfinder kick.

Hooker Callum Tam found his man at the back of the lineout and, as they had done all day in defence, Hong Kong swarmed to the ball in attack, with a dynamic driving maul that caught the Samoan pack flat-footed.  Tam was on the spot to finish the drive as Hong Kong slammed over the line.

Altier missed the conversion but Hong Kong had drawn its first blood of the match shortly before half-time with the promise of some momentum building in the second half.  But that momentum was delayed if not derailed after a lumbering Samoan try from the kick-off as the gap widened to 22-5. 

Aided by a string of Samoan penalties, Hong Kong marched calmly back to score in a signal that the match was going to be more evenly contested in the second stanza.

The second try again came off of a line-out deep in the Samoan half. This time Tam went to the front of the line where prop Daniel Hood collected and returned service immediately, giving Tam a clear shot to the line in the corner for his second of the day.

Altier’s conversion attempt from the touchline was unsuccessful, but Hong Kong had once again managed to stay in punching range. They further reduced the deficit to 22-13 after Altier’s efforts with the boot were finally rewarded with a penalty in the 50^th minute.

Hong Kong then enjoyed its best patch of play in the third quarter as they set the pace and direction of the action for the first time, building strength and understanding as the game went on, and forcing the Samoans off the boil and into a series of penalties.

Neither side could convert plenty of opportunities as the game became more evenly contested at midfield, but it was Samoa that would keep its distance with a 60^th minute try pushing their lead to 27-13.

But the Samoans once again could not put Hong Kong away and found themselves defending another attacking line-out with their backs to the try-line moments later.

The throw went to the end of the line but this time no one was at home for Hong Kong.  Samoa pounced on the loose ball and looked set to spring the counter-attack as they shipped the ball out wide to the wings – where it was intercepted by a beautifully timed run from reserve winger Sam Down.

Down scooted behind the posts to touch down, setting up the conversion for Altier, as Hong Kong pulled to within nine points, trailing 29-20 entering the final ten minutes.

Hong Kong had a chance to salvage a bonus point with ten minutes remaining, but two late tries in the final ten minutes ultimately put a disappointing gloss on the scoreline as Samoa ran out 41-20 winners.

Hong Kong will play Namibia, last year’s fourth placed  finishers, on Saturday, 1^st September (20.00 Hong Kong time).

Hong Kong World Rugby U20 Trophy Squad v Samoa:

1. Daniel HOOD, 2. Callum TAM, 3. Mikkel CHRISTENSEN, 4. Zachary BALDWIN, 5. Sam TSOI Kin-san (co-captain), 6. Gregor RAMAGE, 7. Oliver OVERMAN, 8. Jake BARLOW, 9. Mark COEBERGH (co-captain), 10. Paul ALTIER, 11. Shiven DUHKANDE, 12. Alex NISBET, 13. Jack ABBOTT, 14. Liam DOHERTY, 15. Oliver DUFFY, 16. Takamasa HOSHIYAMA, 17. TANG Man-chun, 18. CHAU Siu-fung, 19. James RIVERS, 20. Christopher LAW, 21. Samuel DOWN, 22. Pat LAIDLER, 23. James GOSTICK