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History was made in Asia on Saturday. Brazil defeated Hong Kong 23-10 at the Hong Kong Football Club. The test match was the first of two matches this month and the second of three between the Asia no 2 and South American no 4 this year. Hong Kong and Brazil both have Rugby World Cup aspirations; the teams are seeking to qualify for Australia 2027 and thereby make their debuts at a Men’s Rugby World Cup.
| BRAZIL CONQUER ASIA NO 2 IN HONG HONG |
Having fallen to a last gasp defeat against Hong Kong in July, Saturday’s win was all the more satisfying for Brazil. The home defeat left a sour taste in the mouths of Os Tupis. The 26-25 result was, nonetheless, very different to the only other test match between the teams; Hong Kong won 37-03 in 2011.
Fast-forward to November 2024 and Brazil conquered Hong Kong. The 23-10 victory saw a composed team in control of proceedings. Brazil’s defense was tested on numerous occasions only to hold out Hong Kong. An early instance saw the ball spun wide inside the Brazilian 22 only for Maxwell Threlkeld to knock-on while being downed by a dominant tackle.
Nathan De Thierry opened the scoring for Hong Kong. The lead from his 4th minute penalty lasted four minutes as Lucas Tranquez slotted an 8th minute penalty and another on 13 minutes, both following a dominant Brazilian scrums.
A third Tranquez penalty on 27 minutes had Brazil looking comfortable; too comfortable perhaps. Matt Worley latched on to a loose ball from a maul and ran over for the opening try of the match. The conversion gave Hong Kong a 10-9 lead on 29 minutes.
Tranquez restored Brazil’s lead on 33 minutes with a long-range penalty. Brazil then took control. Second-rower Gabriel Oliveira ran down the right touchline. Having been stopped meters short, Brazil recycled for several phases with hooker Henrique Ferreira scoring from a pick-and-go. The conversion was unsuccessful.
Brazil won the second-half 6-0 with Lucas Tranquez landing two penalties. Hong Kong had opportunities inside the Brazilian 22 but failed to score points. Brazil’s defense turned over ball on more than one occasion and got pout of the danger zone.
The match statistics for Brazil were five clean line breaks, six turnovers won, and eleven penalties conceded. Hong Kong conceded sixteen penalties, a number far too high; the penalty count was decisive in the outcome of the contest. The result means Brazil rise four places in the World Rugby Rankings from 30th to 26th in the world.
The teams meet again on Saturday, November 16 also in Hong Kong. It will close out the year of international competition for Brazil who now have gained confidence with an eye to the South American Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifying finals in 2025.
| RUGBY WORLD CUP 2027 QUALIFYING PICTURE |
Hong Kong and Brazil have differing pathways to Rugby World Cup 2027. World Rugby allocated one direct spot to both Asia and South America. The decision was not based on merit as it means Hong Kong can qualify by being Asian champions while only one of Uruguay and Chile can do so from South America.
Hong Kong and Brazil are both seeking to qualify for a Men’s Rugby World Cup for the first time. Hong Kong will compete in the 2025 Asia Men’s Rugby Championship (ARC). Hong Kong won the 2024 tournament by beating South Korea 67-7 in the final. Earlier results were and 52–5 and 70-6 wins over the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
Brazil began Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifiers in 2024. Os Tupis easily overcame Paraguay but fell 36-10 to Chile. Paraguay defeated Colombia to book the final spot in the South American finals. The champion of Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay will qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027 as South America 1. In short, Brazil has a much harder pathway than does Hong Kong.
The South American runner-up will face the fourth placed side from the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup. The tournament will consist of Canada, USA, Samoa and Tonga. In other words, three will book spots at the World Cup and the bottom side will face South America 2.
The losing team of South American 2 vs Pacific Nations Cup 4 will enter repechage with a shot at claiming the 24th, and final, place at Rugby World Cup 2027. The third place side from South America will all be involved in the repechage tournament as will Europe 5 and the winner of Africa 2 vs Asia 2.
| SCORING |
HONG KONG (10)
Try (1) – M Worley (29′)
Con (1) – N De Thierry (29′)
Pen (1) – N De Thierry (4′)
BRAZIL (23)
Try (1) – H Ferreira (37′)
Pen (6) – L Tranquez (8′, 13′, 27′, 33′, 42′, 63′)
| LINEUPS |
HONG KONG
1 Rory Cinnamond, 2 Calum Scott, 3 Faizal Solomona Penesam, 4 Mark Prior, 5 Patrick Jenkinson, 6 Joshua Hrstich (capt.), 7 Pierce Mackinlay-West, 8 Luke Van der Smit, 9 Jamie Lauder, 10 Nathan De Thierry, 11 Matt Worley, 12 Ben Axten-Burrett, 13 Maxwell Threlkeld, 14 Charles Higson-Smith, 15 Matteo Avitabile
Replacements: 16 Jude Harding, 17 Sunai Fameitau, 18 Zacceus Cinnamond, 19 Kyle Sullivan, 20 Hugh McCormick-Houston, 21 Tyler McNutt, 22 Jack Combes, 23 Guy Spanton
BRAZIL
1 Wilton Rebolo, 2 Henrique Ferreira, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Ben Donald, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Matteo Dell’Acqua, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 Cleber Dias, 9 Lucas Spago, 10 João Amaral, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Lorenzo Massari Temer, 14 Robert Tenório, 15 Lucas Tranquez
Replacements: 16 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 17 Caique Segura, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Gabriel Paganini, 20 Adrio de Melo, 21 Rafael Teixeira, 22 Felipe Gonçalves, 23 Victor Silva
| MATCH VIDEO |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Reuben Keane (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Katsuki Furuse (Japan), Morgan White (Hong Kong)
