PUBLISHED ON 25 JUN 2026
The Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) men’s XV warmed up for their arduous World Rugby Nations Cup campaign with a tense but entertaining24-22 victory over a Waikato XV trial squad in a friendlyplayed in cold and damp conditions in New Zealand.
Despite persistent rains making running rugby a challenge and adding emphasis to the forwards battle, (which HKCR comprehensively won), the fixture was still played with attacking spirit as the coaches made liberal use of expanded 25-player benches. The chilly conditions will have also proven a valuable experience for HKCR with temperatures in New Zealand hovering around 10 degrees – ideal preparation ahead of South American winter.
“I think it was more of a mental challenge,” HKCR Head Coach Logan Asplin said of the game.
“The conditions were tougher than I expected around the combination of the cold, the wet and the mud, obviously that'svery foreign to our players. I think we were resolute in what we did and all 25 players contributed to that performance. It wasn't perfect. There were some elements where I think we could have capitalized more, but at the same time, we showed character to grind it out in the end,” he added.
In a rain-marred affair the home side flattered to deceive witha 10-7 lead at halftime despite Hong Kong enjoying much of the run of play and large periods of possession. Hooker Harry Baron had put the first points on the board for HKCR, scoringan early try through one of the team’s preferred attacking platforms: the driving maul from the lineout to give HKCR a 7-0 lead after Paul Altier’s conversion in the 8th minute.
The clinical lineout execution was emblematic of Hong Kong’s opening half with the forwards performing well in the set piece, while Hong Kong’s backline was sharp on attack and exerted significant pressure with their rush defence.
Waikato produced a textbook try of their own in response as the backs connected on a flowing move despite the wet conditions with the fullback dotting down in the far corner. The missed conversion left the hosts trailing 7-5. Waikato then turned the tables on Hong Kong with a second well-executed try from a lineout near the 30-minute marker. The conversionwas again missed, but Waikato had taken the lead for the first time at 7-10.
HKCR had numerous chances to regain the advantage in the first half but were foiled by tough handling conditions and some unforced errors, with neither side being able to add to the scoreline before half-time.
“We had to work pretty hard for points and at times conceded them a bit too easy,” noted Asplin.
With expanded rosters of 25 players, both sides made significant changes at the interval giving the second half a fresh feel but derailing match momentum for both sides after the break.
The format “allowed us for guys to play that forty minutes for the most part, and for guys that hadn't played fifteens in a long time to get through some rugby; guys like Alexander Post, Jack Coombs and Seb Brien. So that accomplished that andallowed us some looks at different combinations and positions. Being able to rest someone like [captain] Josh Hrstic is important. We want to develop depth and versatility in positions as we head into a three game series at the Nations Cup hat is going to challenge us physically more than we'vebeen before.”
“What I liked is when we made wholesale changes with nine players off at halftime, we maintained our cohesiveness.Speaking to Waikato players and coaches, they thought theywere playing against a super organized and physical team, which is a great goal for us to be able to tick off and good for us to be able to answer some questions on that.”
Despite the flood of fresh faces, it was a veteran hand that started the scoring for HKCR with back rower James Sawyer producing a masterful charge down of the Waikato fullback’s clearance kick shortly after the restart.
He followed through to touch the bouncing ball down for a great solo effort try. Paul Altier’s second conversion returned the lead to HKCR, 14-10.
Reserve scrumhalf Eric Chui Wai Lap made an impact after coming on at the break, helping return energy and pace to the match as he moved HKCR swiftly from breakdown to breakdown. Chui completed his dress rehearsal by scoring a great try on the hour marker from broken play to extend Hong Kong’s lead to 21-10.
With so many substitutions on both sides the game took a while to return to its attacking flair as the new faces acclimated to the conditions and each other; the quality of scrummaging and loose play notably slipped with the return ofheavy rains towards the end of the game.
The home team benefited best from the mid-match flux and worsening conditions to produce crucial back-to-back tries in the final quarter, as the lead changed hands for a third time with Waikato edging ahead 22-21 inside the last ten minutes.
A composed response from Hong Kong China saw them earn the well deserved win. HKCR maintained clean possession across the final minutes with some clinical recycling of the ball as they patiently inched up field. That pressure soon toldas Waikato conceded a penalty, which Paul Altier coolly slotted from 40 metres out on the right touchline to change the lead for the fourth and final time as Hong Kong won 24-22.
Asplin noted Altier and some other performances in the group:
“I was really impressed in general with our back row, both halves and the physicality and the accuracy that they brought to the game. Paul not only did he obviously come up with clutch plays, but he had a couple of really big defensive plays late in the game. He's just going from strength to strength. He is a player that brings confidence, so I am really impressed with him.”
A second consecutive win over premier professional competition (after splitting the warm-up series with Japan Select in May) will further boost Hong Kong China Rugby’s momentum and self-confidence ahead of the Nations Cup.
HKCR will complete their cross-global transit on Friday when they move from New Zealand to South America.
The team’s next match will be at the World Rugby Nations Cup in South America where a physical test awaits against Samoa, ranked 20th in the world, on 4 July.
Hong Kong then play co-hosts Chile (ranked 18th), whom they will also meet next year at the World Cup, on 11 July,before closing out against Uruguay on 18 July, the highest ranked side in the competition at 15th in the world, in front of their home fans.