Thailand stuns Kazakhs in absorbing A5N opener

New entrants Thailand shocked big boys Kazakhstan to clinch the curtain raiser game of Asian5Nations Division I rugby tournament by a margin of 33-10 at Havelock Park on Sunday (31). Riding on heavy mistakes conceded by the mighty Kazakhs, who were favoured to win the game, Thailand capitalized to gain the grip as they maintained the lead right throughout.

Kazakhs, who were playing their first encounter since being relegated to the Division I last year, were clearly uncomfortable playing under extremely scorching conditions as Thailand collected points without much hassle.

Thailand ended up scoring from a tally of three converted tries and four penalties, in a game where their fullback emerged as hero by putting over four penalties, three conversions and manufacturing a couple of tries.

Kazakhstan were easily dominating the scrums, rucks and malls but collectively the entire team were mediocre in ball handling with the heat hampering their progress. The Thais scored from a penalty in the 9th minute and turned the pressure around to score two converted tries in the 28th and 36th minutes to secure a comfortable 17-0 lead at halftime.

The eventual winners expanded their lead with a penalty and converted try in the 46th and 52nd minutes after the resumption before Kazakhstan got their act together to score an unconverted try in the 55th minute. Despite clearly indicating the hunger to make a strong comeback, with over 20 minutes left from the finish, the Kazakhs still continued to make unforced errors as they conceded two more penalties in favour of Thailand in the 61st and 66th minutes.

Kazakhstan managed to add their second unconverted try to their tally during the dying moments of the game, which had absorbed much of the energy from the players of both sides.