International Results : 2017 November

It's been a busy year for RL and as the game grows the oft neglected part of the game - internationals - have been growing too. For November, there was a one off game and two competitions played outside of the WC. Here they are.

Played in King's Park, Hong Kong:

Japan 24-22 Hong Kong.

Summary While Japan has played RL since 1993, it has struggled to grow. In Hong Kong, RL was only formed two years ago and this was their first international match.

Japan hit the ground running and dominated the first half, going in 20-4 ahead. It took the score to 24-4 early in the second half and things were looking ominous for the hosts. However, they stormed back and nearly took the game by the end. 

Played in Maha Sarakham, Thailand the Gathering Of Nations Tournament:

Philippines 72-0 Hungary.
Philippines 64-2 Thailand.

SummaryThis was a four team competition that included a team of mixed national origin so I have only included the genuine internationals above. The Philippines easily overcame a game Hungary side before impressively defeating the host nation as well. The selection team narrowly won against Thailand 28-26 but lost to Hungary 28-44.

Played in Los Ángeles, Chile the Latin American Championship:

Argentina 36-4 Colombia
Chile 54-8 Brazil
Colombia 22-18 Brazil
Chile 32-12 Argentina

SummaryDay 1. The opening match was the first international RL game played in South America. They were also both playing their first test matches. While the game was close, the score went the way of Argentina by some margin over Colombia. The second game was a first international for Brazil against their move experienced hosts Chile. Despite the lack of experience and some issues before the game, Brazil bravely gave their all but were outclassed as expected.

Day 2. The teams were back at it the next day! The playoff for third and fourth was big as neither side had won a test match before, being just the second international for both nations. Colombia took control, then Brazil came back to lead, only for Colombia to finally take the spoils. In the final, the powerful Argentinian side were full of passion but lacked the experience and skill of Chile, the latter taking the game and the tournament.

Women's team from Argentina and Chile aols played, with Argentina prevailing.

Latin America has arrived and that more of such events need to be organised.