HONG KONG—Russia successfully defended their Cup of Nations title on Saturday, comfortably beating Hong Kong 27-0 in the final. The results leading up to the final, gave Hong Kog cause for optimism; it proved a false dawn. On the day, Russia outclassed and out-thought Hong Kong to show there is sizeable gulf between teams ranked No 21 and No 25 in World Rugby rankings.
Russia unsettled Hong Kong from the outset of the match, using the physicality of their forward pack to dominate opening passage of play. Within 10 minutes Russia had scored twice. The first by No 8 Pavel Butenko. The conversion was missed by flyhalf Yurii Kushnarev. The second by flanker Tagir Gadzhiev, charging down a poor Hong Kong clearance; this time Kushnarev was successful with the extra points. Russia led 12-0.
This was a blow to Hong Kong’s confidence, and likely game-plan. Instead of weathering the onslaught, they leaked two tries, and needed to chase the game. Russia could relax; absorb Hong Kong pressure and counter-attack.
