from IRB:
Kazakhstan have become the 12th and final qualifier for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 after an emphatic 43-5 defeat of Japan in the final of the four-team Asian tournament at The Padang in Singapore on Friday.
In the first ever women’s matches to be played at The Padang – let alone the first under lights – Kazakhstan lived up to their billing as the dominant force in the region, having represented Asia at the last four Women’s Rugby World Cups dating back to 1995 in Scotland.
Kazakhstan, who had overwhelmed Hong Kong 58-14 on Wednesday to reach the winner takes all showdown with Japan, showed their class from the outset despite the intermittent rain and high humidity and led 12-0 after only five minutes with outstanding centre Lyudmila Sherer scoring both of the tries.
Despite the mountain this left them to climb, Japan never relented in either their effort or passion in front of a crowd which included former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who had made the trip to Singapore to support his country’s women and their dream of World Cup qualification.
Japan’s strong organisation and discipline showed as they tightened their defensive lines and held Kazakhstan scoreless until late in the second half when flanker Alfiya Mustafina and captain Anastassiya Khamova crossed for tries with one conversion from full back Aiverzym Daurembayeva making it 24-0 at the break.
The second half began in the same vein as the first with Sherer completing her hat-trick and taking her tally to an impressive seven tries in the two matches. Kazakhstan lead grew further to 38-0 in the 65th minute when replacement Irina Chernenko score her side’s sixth try of the night.
Incredible achievement
The Japanese had defended strongly throughout despite the one-sided scoreline and looked dangerous on the break, but the Kazakhs smothered any attacks before they could develop into anything significant.
They continued to preserve and, to the delight of the crowd, were finally rewarded 10 minutes from time when full back Naoko Hasebe showed some great hands in taking advantage of a deflected pass to finish a nice move in the corner to get her side on the scoreboard.
Kazakhstan, though, weren’t finished and crossed for their seventh score, Chernenko touching down to send the Asian champions to Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 and leave captain Khamova delighted that her side had realised their goal in style.
“It is incredible. It is amazing,” she said. “It is really good for us, we didn’t qualify for RWC Sevens and that really hurt us. It was a big challenge to come back and be really positive and make sure that we qualified for 15s, but we did it so are very happy.
“The President of our Union was here to watch the game, as was our sponsor, and I am very proud that we performed to the level that we did and qualified with that support. I am very happy about everything. It will mean a lot to us to develop the game in Kazakhstan.”
Kazakhstan will join three-time defending champions New Zealand, hosts and 2006 runners up England, bronze medallists France, Canada, USA, South Africa, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Australia at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010, which takes place in London from 20 August to 5 September.
The best ever?
In the third place match, Hong Kong overcome hosts Singapore 16-3 in an evenly placed and exciting match. Singapore captain Wang Shao-Feng had cancelled out Man Po Kei’s penalty, but Hong Kong went in leading 11-3 at the break after another penalty and try from speedster Aggie Poon. Hong Kong captain Royce Chan touched down within three minutes of the restart in the only score of the second half.
“Today matched anything I have seen in the worldwide qualification process. From the fan support to the standard of play and the organisation of the tournament it has been a fantastic occasion,” said IRB Women’s Development Manager Susan Carty.
“What stood out for me was that the standard of play is excellent. Both matches featured some great ball handling, offloading, strength in defence and individual tackling.
“Full credit to Japan, despite being down early, they came right back and played a very positive game of rugby. Kazakhstan played like champions and should be very competitive in London. They have strength in every area of the pitch. Their forwards are very capable and there is real speed in the backline. They now have until August to prepare and I expect them to do very well in at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010.
“The organisers in London are making great progress and are excited to welcome the teams. Throughout the qualifying process, the teams have played really well. The Women’s Rugby World Cup in Canada in 2006 was great but I think we are in for an amazing tournament in 2010, possibly the best ever.”
