HKCR'S RWC HOPEFULS HEAD OFF FOR NATIONS CUP CHALLENGE

A 30-man travel squad has been named for what could be the most arduous men’s tour that Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) has ever embarked upon as the city’s Rugby World Cup hopefuls set off on a month-long tour to play in the World Rugby Nations Cup in South America.

On Saturday, 20 June, the squad will depart for the Nations Cup in Chile and Uruguay, with a stopover and training match against the Waikato National Provincial Championship team in New Zealand.  With 30 hours of travel and four high intensity matches in as many weeks, including the Waikato warm-up, this will be the biggest challenge the squad has faced in its preparations for 2027. 

After only playing one team ahead of them in the world rankings since 2023, the HKCR Rugby World Cup training squad will not play a side ranked below them for the next two years – an appropriate if daunting build-up to the ultimate test: Hong Kong China’s debut Rugby World Cup in 2027.

The tour opens with a 25-player hit-out match with Waikato on 24 June, followed by a physical test against Samoa, ranked 20th in the world, in the Nations Cup opener on 5 July. Hong Kong then play co-hosts Chile (ranked 18th), whom they will also meet next year at the World Cup, on 12 July, before closing out against Uruguay on 19 July, the highest ranked side in the competition at 15th in the world, in front of their home fans.

Hong Kong China Rugby head coach Logan Asplin summed up the challenge, calling them, “Three test matches that are going to be physically tougher than any test these players have played before.”

“In Samoa you are performing against a proud nation with World Cup quarter final exposure, and a team ranked in the teens, Uruguay is ranked even higher.  All three of these teams have World Cup experience for at least one, if not more, campaigns; it is going to be tough for us from an experience piece, from a physicality piece. 

“We are realistic in that; we are working around managing expectations and understanding that this is part of a big picture. We are at the start of that World Cup journey.” 

“I am happy with the level of content we have around our game. We have performance objectives and KPIs; we have set eight benchmarks that we know are expected to play the game at this level. There are measurable expressions of how hard it will be, but it is achievable. It is also realistic that we are probably not going to achieve all of those in every single game, but the team is coming through, and we are ready. 

“Growing through exposure like this is critical,” said Asplin.

HKCR enter the competition with some momentum after securing a pivotal first win over Japan Select, rebounding from a loss in the opening match to split the away series in May.  That performance and tour informed the selection, said Asplin.

“A big part of our selection for Japan was around the group in contention for South America, and guys put their hands up in both games. It is always easy to look at a game you won versus one you lost and say the first was better, but there were significant performances in both games. There were also parts of game two where we got more right. We did well in the second game to match Japan’s game speed and doubled the number of turnovers they had from game one to two. Those were significant steps around areas that we had emphasised.

“The players selected are players we see in the pipeline to play a World Cup. It is what we think is right, right now. There are also guys that have not been selected that are in the mix as well, and guys out with injuries. There are players in the group under big performance pressure also, with guys returning from injury or otherwise becoming qualified,” said Asplin.

Part of the final squad composition is necessitated by the intensity of competition and travel noted Asplin: “It is three hours travel to Japan and 30 to South America, so we only took two halfbacks and two hookers to Japan, for South America, we need to take three each, which shortens positions for another back and forward.”

The squad is comprised mostly of those who travelled to Japan, with five additions including three forwards in overseas-based hooker Alexander Post, James Holmes and Calum Scott and two backs with Jack Combes returning from injury and HKCR Sevens co-captain Seb Brien joining the camp for the Nations Cup.  Key players missing through injury include experienced utility back Ben Axten-Burrett, prop Callum McFeat-Smith, sevens squad crossover star Callum McCullough, winger Guy Spanton and overseas-based player Nathan DeThierry.

Hong Kong China Rugby Nations Cup Squad for World Rugby Nations Cup 2026

Forwards: Josh HRSTICH (Captain); Sunia FAMEITAU; Rory CINNAMOND; James HOLMES; Calum SCOTT; Alexander POST; Harry BARON; Zacc CINNAMOND; Keelan CHAPMAN; Max MURPHY; Lachlan DOHENY*; James RIVERS*; Kyle SULLIVAN; Tyler MCNUTT; Dana FOURIE; Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST; James SAWYER. Backs: Jack COMBES; CHUI Wai Lap, Eric; Brendon NELL; Joseph BARKER; Matteo AVITABILE; Isaac CAMPBELL-WU*; Tom HILL; Marcus RAMAGE; Max THRELKELD; Harry SAYERS; Seb BRIEN; Paul ALTIER; Matt WORLEY. 

*Players in line to make potential HKCR debut.