Gulf in class as Hong Kong get a taste of ‘what Test rugby is all about’ in World Cup final qualifying
- City’s 49-7 defeat by USA Eagles ‘up there as one of toughest games I’ve ever played, physically,’ admits captain Josh Hrstich
- Lewis Evans’ Hong Kong side face final game against Kenya on Friday in Dubai, having also lost to Portugal
Hong Kong were always going to struggle to beat the USA in Dubai, and even if everything had gone perfectly it would have been an uphill battle.
Unfortunately it didn’t, and Saturday’s second round of matches in the Rugby World Cup final qualifying tournament only served to highlight the gulf in class to the US and Portugal, who will battle it out for the final spot in Paris on Friday, and the rest.
But while the latter’s 85-0 battering of Kenya was a procession of tries from the first minute to the last, Gary Gold’s USA Eagles at least knew they had been in a game in their 49-7 win.
Hong Kong are a tough bunch, who do not shy away from the shuddering tackles and hard yards needed in games such as this. And while the US forward power ultimately proved too much to handle, the task was not made any easier by a misfiring line-out and individual errors.
“When you’re struggling with your set-piece, and [losing] the territory battle and possession, it’s going to be hard to get anything going,” Josh Hrstich, the Hong Kong captain, said.
“It’s definitely up there as one of the toughest games I’ve ever played, physically, when you’re compounding being trapped in your 22, big bodies coming wave after wave. We didn’t shirk, or not get in front of them, but they just stacked players up and showed us what Test footy is all about.”
It is easy to shower fake praise on an underdog in the hopes of glossing over the disparities so clearly on show, but the margin of victory was a fair reflection of the day’s events, and of a game between a team largely made up of semi-professionals from Hong Kong and one of players earning their livings at the highest club levels.
But if Eagles head coach Gold felt his side left “three or four tries out there” in their bid to narrow the points gap with Portugal, counterpart Lewis Evans was “gutted” that the perfection needed to even hint at an upset was missing.
Evans though can be proud of his side’s effort in the face of unrelenting attacks, and take some comfort in the fact Gold felt it necessary to start his European contingent, who ply their trade at clubs such as Saracens and Toulouse.
And if Hong Kong had taken the lead after just two minutes, when Gregor McNeish pushed a shot at goal just wide, who knows how that might have changed things.
Needing to win to have any hope of reaching Paris, Hong Kong started with a barrelling run from Luke van der Smit and battled hard at the breakdown, earning the early penalty by forcing Viliami Helu to infringe at the ruck.
But in marked contrast to their first half performance in the opening game against Kenya, the US came out firing, and No 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz’s try from close range in the 13th minute set the tone for proceedings.
Three of the Eagles’ first four scores came from forwards, with hooker Kapeli Pifeleti and lock Cam Dolan touching down either side of wing Nate Augspurger grabbing the first of his two tries.
Hong Kong’s defence lasted seven minutes after the break before Augspurger breached it for a second time, before Mitch Wilson and Moni Tonga’uiha ran in two more.
The last two were separated by Matt Worley’s fine individual effort for Hong Kong, which Nik Cumming, who made his debut from the bench, converted.
AJ MacGinty, the US captain, maintained his perfect kicking record, adding the extras for six of the seven tries, before he made way at the end for Luke Carty.
MacGinty’s side now face Portugal in a winner-takes-all game, and the fly half said he was “happy with the performance” against Hong Kong.
“We knew it was going to be a big test upfront, our pack have done a lot of work in the last eight weeks, and it was a dominant performance from our pack,” he said.
