Chinese Taipei v India, Chinese Taipei beat India 44-5 on Wednesday and will now face Thailand in a winner-takes-all match on Saturday for the ARC Division II crown.
Following an 18-12 win over India, Saturday will see either Thailand or Chinese Taipei become ARC Div II champions.
In the second match of the tournament, Chinese Taipei got off to a flying start and never looked back.
Chun-Hao Yeh kicked the first points of the afternoon with a penalty before Cheng-Yu Yeh scored the opening try at Nong Prue Stadium.
Following by a well worked try from a lineout, Taipei made a bursting break through the Indian defence before the forwards took over and powered over for the opening try of the match for Yeh.
A second try followed for Yeh, and the prop completed his hat-trick before half-time, with Taipei leading India 29-0 at the break.
The second half was a lot closer and although Ta-Ming Liu scored Taipei’s fourth try of the match, India’s wing Roshan Lobo gave the Indian support something to cheer.
There was still enough time for one more try and a penalty for Taipei but India held out to leave the scores 44-5 after the 80 minutes.
For India it was a second defeat in the ARC Division II but they will have gained valuable experience playing against two teams ranked higher than themselves in the World Rugby rankings.
Many players spoke about how rugby is growing in India, especially since its inclusion in the Olympics.
Fly-half Akash Balmaki said: “In our country rugby is going very well. There is a lot of children getting into the sport and a lot of people are getting to know about it and are all loving it. Rugby is everything to me, it teaches you a lot, it gives you main values.”
Wing Lobo, who scored in the match, said: “A good part of rugby is that it is now an Olympic sport, so it is recognised in schools and colleges in india. They are all trying to promote it now which is a big advantage for us, and we can expect some good players coming through, it makes a big difference to see it and on TV.”
Wing Prince Khatri added: “Because it is an Olympic sport rugby is doing really well. It still needs to be everywhere but it is growing well. It means everything to me, because of rugby I get so many opportunities to meet people and get out of my village so it means everything to me.”
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