VIENTIANE, LAOS (May 31): Flyhalf Chris Mastaglio's penalty goal from 25 meters with less than five minutes left to play proved to be decisive as Laos edged the Cambodia Koupreys, 15-14 in an international rugby friendly Saturday afternoon at the National University of Laos.
The encounter between the two Southeast Asian neighbors marked the first ever international rugby match in the history of the Lao PDR. It also marked the first victory by Laos over Cambodia in rugby. The Koupreys had won the first two meetings, 26-16 last year and 30-0 in 2006.
Mastaglio, an Englishman eligible to play for Laos under the International Rugby Board's 3 year expatriate residency requirement, accounted for all of his team's scoring, booting 5 penalty goals without a miss.
A boisterous, flag waving near capacity crowd at the University's Dong Dok Stadium witnessed a hard fought battle between two closely matched teams.
Mastaglio's winning boot came nearly nine minutes after Cambodia had taken a 14-12 lead. Kouprey prop Ray Leos scored a try on a pick and go off a ruck from 5 meters out to knot the score at 12-12 at the 66th minute. Fullback Sun Malen kicked the conversion, giving Cambodia the two point advantage.
But Mastaglio quickly led his team down the field, setting up his backs with some nifty passing. Several costly Cambodian penalties also contributed to the scoring drive, with the last penalty setting up Mastaglio's winning penalty kick.
Cambodia still had a shot to win it in the closing moments, moving inside the Lao 20 meter line. But the Koupreys passed up an opportunity for a penalty goal from 18 meters out, choosing instead to run it in for a try. That proved to be a costly gamble as the Cambodians were stopped by the Lao defense as time ran out.
Cambodia coach Brian Thomas said poor decision making by his players contributed to the team's defeat.
"We should have taken that (penalty) kick at the end, no question," said a frustrated Thomas. "We had a decent distance, a decent angle and an able kicker. But I think our guys got a little emotional out there, thinking they could run it in (for the try)."
"There were some other times during the match where we didn't think and made some poor choices. A lot of that has to do with our inexperience, so I think all of this is part of the learning process."
Laos jumped out to a 9-0 first half lead on penalty kicks by Mastaglio at the 5th, 10tt, and 17th minute marks.
Cambodia responded midway through the first half as flanker Vong Vannak found a gap off a ruck and scampered in for a try from 15 meters at the 19th minute. Malen's conversion kick cut the Lao lead to 9-7.
In the second half, Laos extended its lead to 12-7 on Mastaglio's fourth penalty goal at the 59th minute before Cambodia responded with its go ahead score seven minutes later.
Thomas credited Laos with a strong effort.
"The Lao boys defended well and gave it their all," said the Kouprey coach. "I have been telling our players for weeks that they (Laos) are vastly improved and I was expecting the match to be decided in the final minutes. It turns out I was right. "
The two teams meet again on July 12 in Jakarta, Indonesia as part of the Asian 5 Nations Series tournament.
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ray Leos
Director of Media Relations
Cambodian Federation of Rugby
Email: cambodia.rugby @gmail.com
Tel. (855) 12 620 571