Youth Asian Rugby second leg in Hong Kong

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka’s youth rugby players led by Kevin Dixon secured a plate trophy (fifth place) during the second leg of the Youth Asian Rugby Sevens, which concluded at Kings Park in Hong Kong during the weekend. 

Sri Lanka, playing the Cup quarterfinals were edged out by Taipei 19-24 by the narrow margin of one try. Moving into the Plate semifinal, Sri Lanka’s youth players got the better of Kazakhstan (35-5) and went on to secure the Plate by beating Thailand 21-15 in the final. Though they won, compared to their first leg performance in Malaysia two weeks ago where Sri Lanka ended as runner-up to Hong Kong, they dropped three places to finish fifth in the eight-team event.

Hong Kong defended the Rugby Youth Sevens trophy when they beat Malaysia 52-9 in a one-sided final. In the first leg too Hong Kong won the trophy in Johor, Malaysia. China secured third place by defeating Taipei 33-12. 

Sri Lanka on the initial day in the group stages beat Malaysia and lost to China and the UAE. On the second day they lost to Taipei in the Cup quarters and went on to beat Kazakhstan and Thailand in their Plate encounters.