The Hong Kong boys have ended their South American African Cup of Nations with a bang, emerging victorious and beating Uruguay 42-20 in Montevideo on Saturday.
Trailing 26-13 at half-time, Logan Asplin’s side looked set to lose for the third week in a row, after heavy defeats by Samoa and Chile, surprising their opponents, who are ranked seventh and have appeared in the last five Rugby World Cups.
Paul Altier kicked a long-range penalty at the death to seal a famous win, in a game that saw six penalty changes and a back-and-forth from the start.
“We’re excited,” Josh Hrstich, Hong Kong’s captain, said. “It’s been a tough four weeks for us, looking for that performance where we can hang our hat and show the rugby world what we can do.
“There have been a lot of questions about who we are and whether we deserve to be here. I think today we showed the world we are a team to be reckoned with when we want to emerge.”
The hosts were in control early on, thanks to scorer Joaquin Myszka, who scored a hat-trick in 25 minutes, crossing twice from close range and once from the power-play. Manuel Diana, number 8, added another as Los Teros built a big advantage at the break.
