Asian Rugby League

ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL PREVIEW

Hosts Philippines take on newcomers Singapore in the final of the Asian Championships with wins over Hong Kong China and Japan respectively just two days ago.

Singapore were highly impressive in their debut game thrashing Japan 48-4 who were clearly below their best and failed to put any pressure on Singapore.

The dominence of possession and play the balls in the opposition 20 metre area allowed playmaker Tyrone Berryman to dictate and he took full advantage with darting runs and holding up defenders creating space on the outside.

Philippines are three time champions of this competition winning the then named Asia Cup in 2012, 2013 and 2017. They have a contingent of skilled and experienced heritage players playing alongside some real local talent who dazzled the crowd with their skills.

The Tamaraws had to do it the hard way in their win over Hong Kong China. Don’t be fooled by the 44-10 scoreline it was a tough game and only 12-4 at half time.

Who wins and why?

Out of the 18 tries scored so far, 15 of them have been scored in the opposition’s 0-20 metre zone that’s 83%! So the game plan needs to be simple, make good yardage, post contact metres, fewer errors and force the opposition to start their sets in their own 10 metres and if you get more play the balls in the 0-20 it usually converts into tries.

The team that wins the play the ball in 0-20 statistic will win this game.

It is stinking hot in Manila with high humidity and rain on the way just to add to the excitement.

This will be the most exciting match played between Asian countries in Asia to date and we wish both teams the best of luck.