Kazakhstan and Qatar clashed against each other in the first semi final clash of the Asia Rugby Men’s Division 1 Championship which took place at the Racecourse grounds in Colombo as Kazakhstan managed to overcome Qatar 33-31 in a game that went right down the wire.
After a delayed start due to inclement weather, the game began after a delay of more than 1 hour. Qatar made early inroads in the game after stealing the ball from Kazakhstan in the very first minute. A kick and chase were prevented from Kazakhstan with an early tackle, which the referee thought would’ve been a clear try, awarded a penalty try after showing a yellow card to the culprit, Daulet Akymbekov (Qatar 07 – 00 Kazakhstan).
A few minutes later, Kazakhstan found themselves inside the Qatar half, and a line-out inside the opposition’s 22m territory gave them the advantage. Qatar, however, managed to win the lineout but made the error of playing inside their own 22m territory for too long. A “get out of jail” kick was charged down by Grigoriy Litvinov, who touched down for the try himself to add the first points on the board for Kazakhstan. Abdrakhman Vazilov converted the try to equalize the points (Qatar 07 – 07 Kazakhstan).
The pendulum swung towards both sides in the next 15 minutes or so, but Kazakhstan made a break to the opposition’s 22m line through a scrum that followed, and they gained a lot of momentum. They switched the direction of attack from left to right of the field, and Maxim Petukhov went over the line to give his team the lead. Vazilov converted the try once again to increase their lead (Qatar 07 – 14 Kazakhstan).
A few minutes later, Qatar managed to get close to the whitewash, and an offside advantage further strengthened their chances to get over the line. From the penalty, they decided to run, and they needed just a single pass after that as Wade Lotter powered his way over the last line of defense from Kazakhstan. Brook Tremayne added the extra points to make it all even (Qatar 14 – 14 Kazakhstan).
Just before half-time, Qatar once again came close to the try line, and their chances improved further with a penalty they received around 10m away from the whitewash. They decided to run with the ball and shifted the attack from right to left and left to right in quick time, which was followed up by another penalty where they opted to run again. Qatar decided to spread the ball out wide to the left side of the field this time, and Iliesa Rakabu managed to touch down for the try. Tremayne was once again successful with the conversion as Qatar went into half-time with a 7-point buffer (Qatar 21 – 14 Kazakhstan).
Half Time: Qatar 21 – 14 Kazakhstan.
Inside the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, Kazakhstan found their way deep into Qatar territory after a long pass was intercepted. The forwards brought them even closer to the try line with some hard hits, and a lovely back-of-the-hand pass just at the end created the space for Abdrakhman Nazhibayev to go over without any hassle. Nazhibayev couldn’t convert the try as they missed out on the chance to make it all even (Qatar 21 – 19 Kazakhstan).
Just a couple of minutes later, Qatar once again found themselves inside the Kazakhstan half, and although they received a scrum inside their own 22m line, the “get out of jail” option didn’t work out as Akymbekov knocked the ball forward inside their own try line. From the scrum that followed, Johann Bezuidenhout easily went over the line to strengthen their lead even further. Tremayne kicked through a straightforward conversion as the lead increased to 9 for Qatar (Qatar 28 – 19 Kazakhstan).
The Nomads made a comeback straightaway after the try as Qatar, who tried to run with the ball from the restart kick, conceded a penalty for holding on. They took the quick tap and pulled off some slick moves to work the ball from right to left of the field, with Roman Chsherbakov finding the gap from the corner to go through. Nazhibayev then pulled off a stunning conversion from the left-hand touch line to get his team close (Qatar 28 – 26 Kazakhstan).
As Kazakhstan came closer and closer, Qatar somehow managed to find points through the mistakes made by the Nomads. An offside penalty advantage inside the opposition’s 50m line meant only one thing, and Nazhibayev kicked it through, which restored their lead back to 5 points (Qatar 31 – 26 Kazakhstan).
But straight after the penalty, Kazakhstan found space, and they entered the Qatar half with some good passing, and Alexandr Lymar finished what they started in their own half. Another 5 points meant the scores were equal, and Nazhibayev’s conversion gave Kazakhstan the lead (Qatar 31 – 33 Kazakhstan).
For the remaining 13 minutes, Qatar tried hard to find points, but a yellow card just 5 minutes before the final whistle messed up their plans as Kazakhstan were brilliant with the defensive work. The line-outs were messy from both sides in this game. The game had its moments of sheer brilliance from both sides. But it was Kazakhstan who managed to book their slot in the finals with a very close 2-point victory.
Full Time : Kazakhstan 33 (5T 4C) beat Qatar 31 (4T 3C 1P)
