Hat-trick hero Matthew Worley keeps Hong Kong U20s on course in Sri Lanka

Hong Kong’s under-20s eased past Sri Lanka 32-7 in Colombo on Wednesday to move one step closer to qualifying for the 2015 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy.

Scrum-half Matthew Worley collected a natural hat-trick with three consecutive tries that put the second-round ARFU Asian qualifier match out of the host’s reach and left Hong Kong top of the standings with one game to play.

In second place sit Taiwan, who bounced back from a 44-5 first-round drubbing by Hong Kong to shock South Korea 24-7.

Hong Kong face the Koreans in the final round of games on Saturday, with the overall winner advancing as Asia’s representative to next April’s Junior World Rugby Trophy in Portugal.

It was an even struggle throughout the first half against the Sri Lankans. Hong Kong led 10-7 at half time after a ninth-minute try from lock Calvin Hunter. Captain and fullback Hugo Stiles converted Hunter’s try and added a penalty midway through the first period.

What looked like developing into a tight contest was thrown wide open shortly after the break when Sri Lankan number eight Omalka Gunarathne was sent to the sin-bin for a shoulder charge.