Canada thrash Hong Kong in final pool match

Canada earned a comprehensive victory over Hong Kong in their final pool match of the World Rugby u20 Trophy, scoring 12 tries en route to a 78-26 final score. Will Percillier led the way with four tries and 32 points all told, with Lachlan Kratz grabbing a hat trick. It’s Canada’s first pool stage win since 2015.

The first try came from a scrum, with Kratz simply running hard and straight through the line to touch down under the posts. His second came just a couple minutes later. David Richard made a half-break down the right side and then a back-handed pass from Thomas Isherwood put Kratz in for the double.

Hong Kong came roaring back thanks to their star player and captain Paul Altier. Playing fullback in this match, he read Brock Webster’s chip ahead to perfection and scorched around the outside for a brilliant solo effort. After nailing the sideline conversion, Altier was the hero again as he picked off Ngawati’s offload to race away untouched and draw the scores level.

The scales tipped back towards Canada immediately afterwards. Percillier finished off an attack from close range and then Ngawati and Isherwood combined to put Webster into the corner. A second Percillier try was a superb length-of-the-field run from the scrumhalf, with Frank Carson slipping over on the stroke of halftime to make it 38-14.

Percillier had his hat trick within two minutes of the restart, taking Ngawati’s offload and slicing through the middle. David Carson was next to touch down at the end of a lineout drive, and then Percillier made it four as he worked a give-and-go with Antoine de la Fontaine on another long-range strike.

Replacement winger Tomek Tsang got Hong Kong back on the board at the end of a wide attacking move but the score was cancelled out by Richard in similar fashion moments later. Nick Carson smashed his way over from the back of a scrum and Kratz got his third after another Richard break. Sam Down earned a consolation score for the Junior Dragons before time expired.

The result means Canada finishes third in Pool B and will play for 5th place on Sunday, likely against Kenya pending the results of the later matches. Hong Kong are resigned to the 7th-place play-off with hosts Brazil most likely to be opposite.

 

SCORING

HONG KONG 26
Tries – P. Altier 2 (21′, 25′), T. Tsang (58′), S. Down (73′)
Cons – P. Altier 3/4 (22′, 26′, 59′)

CANADA 78
Tries – L. Kratz 3 (8′, 12′, 66′), W. Percillier 4 (29′, 36′, 42′, 53′), B. Webster (33′), F. Carson (40′), D. Carson (47′), D. Richard (60′), N. Carson (64′)
Cons – W. Percillier 6/8 (9′, 13′, 30′, 40′, 43′, 48′), T. Isherwood 1/2 (54′), Q. Ngawati 1/1 (65′), B. Webster 1/1 (67′)

 

TEAMS

HONG KONG u20
1 Nick McGrory, 2 Callum Tam, 3 Rory Cinnamond, 4 Sam Tsoi, 5 James Rivers, 6 Ollie Overman, 7 Joseph Knight, 8 Hugo Darke-Christopher, 9 Pat Laidler, 10 Tiarnan Neville, 11 Sam Down, 12 Kyle Kitney, 13 Lucas Lacamp, 14 William Panday, 15 Paul Altier (capt.)

Replacements: 16 Cheuk-Wai Ng, 17 Man-Chun Tang, 18 Mikkel Christensen, 19 Kyle McCallum, 20 Jonathan Howells, 21 Tomek Tsang, 22 Henry Poon, 23 Thaddeus Summers, 24 Oliver Duffy, 25 Julian Onderwater

CANADA u20
1 Stefan Zuliani, 2 David Carson, 3 Tyler Rowland, 4 Frank Carson, 5 Tyler Duguid, 6 Quentin James, 7 Mason Flesch, 8 Nick Carson, 9 Will Percillier (capt.), 10 Brock Webster, 11 Antoine de la Fontaine, 12 Lachlan Kratz, 13 Quinn Ngawati, 14 David Richard, 15 Thomas Isherwood

Replacements: 16 Jared Augustin, 17 Josh Tweed, 18 Guerschom Mukendi, 19 Siaki Vikilani, 20 Jack Carson, 21 Will Matthews, 22 Gabriel Casey, 23 Jarvis Dashkewytch

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (UAR)
Assistants: Cauã Ricardo (CBRu) & Frank Méndez (FERUCHI)