The victory, coupled with a 15-14 win over Cambodia last month in Vientiane, gave Laos the 2008 Mekong Cup, emblematic of rugby supremacy in the Mekong Region. It marks the first time Laos has won the trophy since it was inaugurated in 2005. Cambodia had won the Cup the three previous years of its existence.
Laos jumped out to a 20-0 haltime lead, and never looked back as it took advantage of numerous dropped balls by the Kouprey back line and sixteen Kouprey penalties.
A frustrated Cambodia head coach Brian Thomas pointed out that once again, penalties and knock ons in critical situations contributed to his team's undoing.
"Sixteen penalties to their seven---what can you say?," lamented Thomas.
"A variety of penalty offenses at rucks were the primary reasons for the heavy (penalty) count against us."
"We played reasonably well in spots and threatened to score several times," added the Kouprey coach. "We were in their end of the field during much of the game, but we just couldn't capitalize."
"Laos made the most of their opportunities and that's a major reason why they won."
Laos faces host Indonesia today at 16:00 (Jakarta time) in the second round of the tournament.
Cambodia plays Indonesia on Saturday aftenoon in the concluding round.