The Hong Kong U20s lost their final pool match at the World Rugby U20 Trophy to Namibia 70-8.Hong Kong will now play hosts Zimbabwe in the 7th-place play-off on Sunday.

Hong Kong started a side largely unchanged from that which lost to the USA in round two. The only changes came in the forwards with John Markley starting at hooker while flanker Jonathan Healy moved to No.8, making room for Tang Cheuk Hang – one of Hong Kong’s Junior Elite Rugby Programme players.

Namibia showed a lethal combination of power and pace that proved too much for Hong Kong.Leveraging their significant physical advantage in the forwards, Namibia created numerous attacking opportunities as they exploded for nine tries, five of them coming in a blistering first half.

Crashing runs by the burly Namibian pack opened holes in the Hong Kong defence which were skilfully exploited by the backline, especially silky fly half Cliven Loubser, who accounted for 22 points with a try (6 points under the scoring trial in place for the tournament) and eight of nine conversions.

By half time the Namibians had amassed an insurmountable 38-0 lead. Despite the lopsided score line, it was an open contest for much of the match with end-to-end action seeing Hong Kong perched on the Namibian try-line on numerous occasions. Several of Hong Kong’s forays deep in Namibian territory were stymied not just by the staunch defence but by plenty of infringements as well, with the referee warning Namibia four times on their own try-line in the first half alone.

Two apparent first-half tries for Austin Robertshaw and Hugo Stiles were disallowed by the Assistant Referee; Robertshaw’s came with Hong Kong trailing 16-0 but was disallowed as the winger, who looked the most dangerous attacker for the U20s throughout the match, was said to have put a foot in touch.

Stiles’ try was called back due to apparent foul play up-pitch, not only costing Hong Kong the points but handing possession back to Namibia, who marched up field to score in a damaging reversal to Hong Kong’s fortunes.

The referee finally showed Namibia the yellow card eight minutes from full-time, with Hong Kong trailing 62-0. The resulting penalty lead to a quick tap-and-run try beneath the posts by prop Callum Smith, another player in the HKRU’s Junior Elite Rugby Programme.

Hong Kong heads dropped in the second half and the side started to fall off tackles while the Namibians continued to pick up steam, adding their sixth try shortly after the kick-off of the second half.With the opportunity to secure Hong Kong’s first win at the World U20s slipping away, coach Peter Drewett called upon his reserves bench, looking to blood players for future campaigns. Play fragmented slightly but Hong Kong fought all the way to the final whistle with centre Liam Owens showing the way with some extraordinary commitment in the tackle throughout the game.

It was a disappointing finish to the pool stages for the U20s but they still have an opportunity to notch an historic first win at the World Rugby U20s when they take on hosts Zimbabwe in the seventh-place play-off.Zimbabwe qualified by virtue of hosting just as Hong Kong did on their debut appearance it the World U20 Trophy in 2014.

“We were disappointed with our performance today. We made too many handling errors and gave away six turnovers while defensively we were a bit slow to react at times. The Namibians did well to capitalise on their opportunities,” said coach Peter Drewett.

“We now have three days to prepare to play the hosts Zimbabwe and will work hard to put in a performance that the players can be proud of,” concluded Drewett.

Hong Kong squad v Namibia

1. Ken Encarnacion, 2. John Markley, 3. Callum Smith, 4. Oisin Harbitz, 5. Alessandro Nardoni, 6. Ben Tang Cheuk Hang, 7. Pierce Mackinlay-West (captain), 8. Jonathon Healy, 9. Mark Coebergh, 10. Hugo Stiles, 11. Austin Robertshaw, 12. Liam Owens, 13. Matthew Worley, 14. Ron Siew, 15. James Christie, 16. Lachlan Oliver-Kerby, 17. Michael Earley, 18. Cheung Ho Yin, 19. Wesley Yip, 20. James Karton, 21. Paul Altier, 22. Jack Combes.