Appalling Defense Costs Brazil Against Hong Kong

Brazil had a shot at history and blew it. Having been ahead in the 48th minute, Brazil conceded 22 unanswered points to fall to a 38-17 defeat at the Kai Tak Sports Park in Kowloon. An appalling defensive arrangement, mediocre commitment and underwhelming discipline cost Brazil the match as Hong Kong overcame a deficit to run away in the second-half.

Hong Kong started the match strongly with a try on 5 minutes. Hooker Lam Jak Shing separated from a maul to score for the home side. Nathan De Thierry landed the conversion. With a penalty 20 minutes later, the Asian team were 10-0 up. 

Back on attack inside Brazil’s 22, Hong Kong looked for more points. However, Robert Tenório latched on to a pass and ran ahead. He found Lorenzo Massari Temer who flicked an inside pass to Théo Bastardie. The debutant from France scored under the posts for Brazil.

Tenório and Massari Temer were both involved again minutes later. The former chipped over the defense and regathered. Recycled ball saw captain Cleber Dias breaking a tackle from his opposite, Tyler McNutt, to score near the left corner. 

The second-half opened with Hong Kong up by one point. De Thierry added his second penalty to make it 16-12. Brazil’s forwards responded. Having won a scrum near half-way penalty , Brazil set up an attacking maul move which saw Henrique Ferreira over.

The try had Os Tupis on top and looking dangerous; however, from there Brazil totally fell apart. In one of the poorest displays of rugby from Brazil in many years, the South Americans capitulated.

Hong Kong restored their lead on 55 minutes. Benjamin Axten-Burrett gathered a De Thierry kick and passed to Guy Spanton. Brazil’s back-three defense was nowhere to be found.

Poor play from Rafael Teixeira saw Brazil down to 14-men. The replacement tackled Guy Spanton while in the air thing the kick-off. He, and other replacement forwards, came on early as part of an unusual bomb-squad tactic employed by Brazil.

Not doing the basics cost Brazil again with Benjamin Axten-Burrett scoring on 66 minutes. De Thierry picked up from the base of a ruck and ran from half-way. He was stopped within inches of the try zone. Hong Kong passed right with the center scoring untouched.

The defense was again lacking on 74 minutes. Despite the Hong Kong scrum retreating, their backs scored again. With no Brazilian defender in sight, a kick through was regathered with fly half João Amaral doing what he could to stop Matt Worley who easily scored.

Three of Hong Kong’s four tries came in the final quarter. This will need to be addressed by Brazil ahead of the vital Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers in 2025. Without playing drastically better rugby, Brazil are no chance of winning against South American opposition in the qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong will take plenty from their performance. World Rugby’s decision to allocate Asia and South America one place each in the qualifiers means that Hong Kong is highly likely to seal a place and be a debutant in Australia 2027.

HONG KONG (38)
TRY – LJ Shing (5′); G Spanton (55′); B Axten-Burrett (66′); M Worley (75′)
CON – N De Thierry (6′, 56′, 66′)
PEN – N De Thierry (26′, 42′)

BRAZIL (17)
TRY – T Bastardie (30′); C Dias (34′); H Ferreira (47′)
CON – L Tranquez (‘)

HONG KONG
1 Sunia Fameitau, 2 Lam Jak Shing, 3 Keelan Chapman, 4 Mark Prior, 5 Kyle Sullivan, 6 Tyler McNutt, 7 Pierce MacKinlay-West, 8 Joshua Hrstich (capt.),9 Jamie Lauder, 10 Nathan De Thierry, 11 Guy Spanton, 12 Tom Hill, 13 Benjamin Axten-Burrett, 14 Charles Higson-Smith, 15 Matt Worley

BRAZIL
1 Caique Segura, 2 Wilton Rebolo, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Cleber Dias (capt.), 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 Adrio de Melo, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 João Amaral, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Robert Tenório, 13 Lorenzo Massari Temer, 14 Théo Bastardie, 15 Lucas Tranquez

Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 João Lucas Marino, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Ben Donald, 20 Hélder Bryan Lúcio, 21 Matteo Dell’Acqua, 22 Rafael Teixeira, 23 Nicolas Azevedo

Referee: Katsuki Furuse (Japan)
Assistant Referee: Reuben Keane (Australia); Morgan White (Hong Kong)