Canada became the last team to qualify for the 2019 World Cup after beating Hong Kong 27-10 in the final repechage match in Marseille on Friday.
The Canadians join the All Blacks, Springboks, Italy and Namibia in Pool B.
Canada needed just a single log point to qualify for the showpiece tournament, while Hong Kong needed to win with a bonus point and deny Canada that point.
It was the Asian nation that came out firing, holding 75% of the possession in the first half, but they could not finish their opportunities. The Canadians did well to absorb the pressure, and struck their first blow when veteran hooker Ray Barkwill scored from close range.
Hong Kong got on the board through a penalty from flyhalf Matt Rosslee, but were hit with another blow when Canada wing DTH van der Merwe charged down Rosslee’s attempted clearance and regathered to go over for their second.
Canada were far more comfortable in the second half, and despite conceding a try to big wing Conor Hartley, extended their lead through a couple of Gordon McRorie penalties before Van der Merwe beat four would-be tacklers for his brace.
Canada – Tries: DTH van der Merwe (2), Ray Barkwill. Conversions: Gordon McRorie (3). Penalties: McRorie (2).
Hong Kong – Try: Conor Harley. Conversion: Matt Rosslee. Penalty: Rosslee.
Canada – 15 Theo Sauder, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Ben LeSage, 12 Ciaran Hern, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Gordon McRorie, 9 Phil Mack (c), 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Kyle Baillie, 5 Evan Olmstead, 4 Mike Sheppard, 3 Matt Tierney, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Subs: 16 Eric Howard, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Jake Ilnicky, 19 Brett Beukeboom, 20 Matt Heaton, 21 Jamie MacKenzie, 22 Nick Blevins, 23 Conor Trainor.
Hong Kong – 15 Casey Stone, 14 Salom Yiu, 13 Tyler Spitz, 12 Ben Axten-Burrett, 11 Conor Hartley, 10 Matt Rosslee, 9 Liam Slatem, 8 Thomas Lamboley, 7 Toby Fenn, 6 James Cunningham, 5 Fin Field, 4 Craig Lodge, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Dayne Jans, 1 Dan Barlow.
Subs: 16 Alex Post, 17 Ben Higgins, 18 Jack Parfitt, 19 Michael Parfitt, 20 Nick Hewson, 21 Jamie Lauder, 22 Jamie Hood, 23 Max Woodward.
Photo: rugbyworldcup.com
