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The Hong Kong China team qualified for a Men’s Rugby World Cup for the first time in the Union’s 73-year history, but since they dominated the Asia Rugby Men’s Championship, they have had subsequent losses to a JRLO Division 3 side, the JAPAN XV, and the Brumbies. The Test against Portugal on 15 November at Estadio Nacional will be their biggest game yet since confirming qualification for RWC 2027.
The match in Lisbon is Hong Kong China’s first Test since July, and the Portuguese will be the favourites at home and are ranked higher at 20th compared to 23rd for the Asian visitors.
The last time Portugal faced Hong Kong China was in 2022, and the Europeans were victorious.
Portugal has not had smooth sailing either and comes into the match off an 8-26 loss last week at home to Uruguay. This followed poor results in the Summer when an understrength Ireland team put a century of points on them. The Portuguese are seeking consistency and progression ahead of the RWC in Australia, too.
In the loss to the South Americans last week, both discipline and consistency issues were highlighted, but the Asian side faces the same issues as they have leaked some soft tries in the preparation matches and shown glimpses of what they can do, but have yet to put together a solid half, never mind a full 80 minutes
The HKCR coaches have been trying new combinations of players, and the side is without a handful of experienced campaigners who helped them qualify for Australia, which means a number of test debuts run out this weekend.
Hong Kong China’s coaches have selected a similar matchday 23 that faced Japan XV and the Brumbies. There are no changes to the pack at all, and Max Murphy in the second row will earn his first cap. The towering lock has experience from the RFU Championship and has been in great form.
The loose trio offer a good balance of power and skills, and their talisman is captain Joshua Hrstich, who carries well and tends to deliver big shots to lift the team. Tyler McNutt remains one to watch and puts in a good shift.
The backline sees debut caps for South African-born Brendan Nell, who has jumped up the pecking order at scrumhalf and was the Hong Kong fans' MOTM in the loss to Japan XV. The back three are all dangerous ball carriers, and Guy Spanton, Marcus Ramage and fullback Matt Worley will all look to exploit space. The centre pairing know each other well and should add solid carries and defence in the midfield.
Hong Kong head coach Logan Asplin spoke about the number of debutants saying, “It's awesome, a big part of qualifying for a Rugby World Cup was extending not only our player base but injecting some youth into it as well. These are guys that have got two cycles or more in them. For a World Cup two years from now we need to be probably four deep in every position, if not five, so this is a good way to reward the work that the guys have done. It’s a very small percentage of rugby players in the world that become internationally capped players, and you know, whether first cap or 30th cap, the significance of that is massive.”
The reserves also see potential debut caps for hooker Harry Baron, loose forward Jack Bartlett (who impressed against the Brumbies), scrumhalf Chui Wai Lap, and outside back Dylan McCann.
Asplin said of Portugal, “We know about the threat that Portugal pose. If we allow them to play to the edges, to their back three, then we're going to put ourselves under defensive pressure. We centered around defensively how we could defuse Portugal's threats, but also probably picking the midfield that will help us play a tighter, more direct game.
There are a few opportunities that we've found that we want to exploit. Uruguay created a lot of spacing in their defensive line, particularly off of turnover ball, so if we look at our power and style, and maybe a little bit around the conditions, I think we'll have some opportunities to apply pretty constant pressure. And then we have just have to build momentum and continue to grow from where we were out of the Brumbies.”
The Wolves (Portugal) cannot improve on 20th place with a victory over Hong Kong China, unless it comes with a heavy loss for Samoa against Namibia in the Final Qualification Tournament.
Hong Kong China could enter the top 20 for the first time if they can beat Portugal by more than 15 points and other results go their way, a scenario which would make them the higher-ranked of the two teams.
Hollie Davidson will be the match referee - her first test since the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 final.
