Trio advance to Asian Juniors semi finals

(IRB.COM) Saturday 5 September 2009

Hosts Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei emerged victorious on the first day of the Olympus Capital Asian Rugby Junior Championship on Saturday to join defending champions Korea in the semi finals.

The matches at the Hong Kong Football Club saw Chinese Taipei upset fourth seeds Thailand 28-23 to set up a last four meeting with Korea, while Sri Lanka ran out 65-0 winners over Singapore and the hosts defeated Malaysia 69-9.

Thailand's battle with Chinese Taipei was a thrilling affair that saw the lead change hands six times. In a match played in searing conditions, both teams put on an excellent display of skills and free-flowing rugby.

At half-time it was Thailand who led 20-14, but after the break Chinese Taipei came out firing, taking the lead with a 47th minute try. The Thais responded with a penalty to make it 23-21 and it remained that way until two minutes from time when Chinese Taipei flanker Chen Kuo Lun broke away following an interception to seal victory for the fifth seeds.

In the second match, third seeds Sri Lanka cruised to an early lead over Singapore, scoring their first try in just the third minute. They never looked back after that, running away with an easy victory that should put them in good stead for their semi final with Hong Kong.

The hosts, captained by Ed Rolston, ran in an impressive 11 tries to advance past seventh seeds Malaysia 69-9. Fly half Niall Rowark scored 17 of Hong Kong's points with a try, two penalties and two conversions.

Korea, who had a bye into the semi finals as top seeds in the seven-team tournament, will face Chinese Taipei at 10:00 local time on Wednesday, followed by Hong Kong's encounter with Sri Lanka. Thailand will advance directly to the fifth place play-off on Saturday, when they will face the winner of Singapore and Malaysia's match on Wednesday.