Brazil earn dramatic extra-time win over Hong Kong

Brazil stole a famous victory over Hong Kong on Sunday as a Lucas Spago drop goal in extra time gave them a dramatic 32-29 victory in São José dos Campos. It gives Os Curumins their much-desired win in their first ever appearance at the tournament and spares them the indignity of finishing in last place.

Hong Kong came out quickest. Paul Altier missed an early penalty attempt but Os Curumins couldn’t clear their lines and the result was a try for Kyle Kitney after Altier had made a break on the counter-attack.

A barreling run from Henrique Ribeiro got Brazil close to the line and set up a reply from Gabriel Quirino. Spago landed the extras to take a two-point lead, but it wouldn’t last long. Altier himself made sure of that, his chip and chase rolling in-goal with the fullback using his speed to get the touchdown.

There were two tries from Brazil before halftime. The forwards made good headway through heavy traffic and at long last Ribeiro went low to scrape over the line. Again the pack set the stage but this time the ball came to Spago and he slipped through a gap, converting his own try to take a 19-12 lead into the break.

The second half was hotly contested by both sides. Brazil scored first, with the scrum giving Adrio de Melo a platform to fire off the back. He was hauled down just short, but quick ball came out to Quirino and the outside center had the strength to finish for his second try.

Altier landed a penalty to get Hong Kong back in the picture. A try would be the next order of business. It came from a driving maul with Joseph Knight getting the credit at the bottom of the pile. The conversion closed the gap to just two points.

With time winding down quick hands put Rafael Dos Santos into space and the flanker sprinted home from 25 meters for what looked like the winning score. It wasn’t to be. Spago couldn’t hit the conversion and instead Nick McGrory scored from close range after the lineout drive was stopped short. Altier’s kick was on target to tie the game and force extra time.

Sudden death, or ‘golden point’ as it is called, was the route to victory and the glory would go to Brazil. The long restart forced Hong Kong to kick for touch, and from there Os Curumins never relinquished possession. de Melo made a break to the 22 meter line and the forwards worked there way to the middle of the field. Spago stepped back into the pocket and set a picture-perfect kick through the uprights as the partisan crowd celebrated the historic achievement.

 

SCORING

BRAZIL 32
Tries – G. Quirino 2 (9′, 47′), H. Ribeiro (27′), L. Spago (38′), R. Dos Santos (73′)
Cons – L. Spago 2/5 (10′, 39′)
Drop goals – L. Spago (83′)

HONG KONG 29
Tries – K. Kitney (3′), P. Altier (18′), J. Knight (63′), N. McGrory (78′)
Cons – P. Altier 3/4 (19′, 64′, 79′)
Pens – P. Altier 1/2 (51′)
Yellow cards – C. Tam (41′)

 

TEAMS

BRAZIL u20
1 Naassom Porto (capt.), 2 Leonardo Da Silva, 3 Henrique Ribeiro, 4 Matheus de Oliviera, 5 Filippo Bugno, 6 Rafael Dos Santos, 7 Henrique Da Silva, 8 Adrio de Melo (capt.), 9 Felipe Cunha, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Alisson Kalkmann, 12 Joel Santos, 13 Gabriel Quirino, 14 Vicent Quirino, 15 Murillo Bonesso

Replacements: 16 Felipe Quevedo, 17 Marcos de Melo, 18 Matheus Diniz, 19 Gabriel Oliviera, 20 Weslley Barbosa, 21 João Furst, 22 Carlos Moura, 23 Gerónimo Olivares, 24 Guylherme Rangel, 25 Luiz Octávio Nunes

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

Replacements: 16 Nick McGrory, 17 Man-Chun Tang, 18 Cheuk-Wai Ng, 19 Wai-Shing Sung, 20 Henry Poon, 21 Tomek Tsang, 22 Julian Onderwater, 23 Thaddeus Summers, 24 Kyle McCallum

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Assistants: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (UAR) & Frank Méndez (FERUCHI)