Hong Kong national rugby union team

Early history edit

According to old newspapers, rugby union in Hong Kong dates back to the late 1870s, which would establish Hong Kong as perhaps the oldest rugby playing nation in Asia. The players during this era were all British sailors and army/navy men, as well as police and merchant men. The first secretary of rugby in Hong Kong was Jock McGregor.^[1]

The first fixtures which predate the creation of the modern Hong Kong Rugby Union in 1952 took place from 1924 to 1949. An unofficial interport team from Hong Kong played Shanghai on various dates from 1924 to 1949, both teams being composed entirely of British expatriates living in said port cities; these fixtures ceased after the establishment of Communist rule in mainland China.^[2] In 1934, a Hong Kong team played against an Australia Universities team, running out victors 11 to 5.

After the establishment of modern Chinese borders, which before greyed the exact control a union had over territory in China, the Hong Kong Rugby Union was established in 1952; the continuation of British rule in China, as well as the flow of immigrants and capital from the mainland, as well as Hong Kong establishing itself as a major port, allowed the game to flourish, albeit mostly restricted to the white British community.^{[citation needed]}

During this time frame the first official fixtures under the union took place. Hong Kong first received a NZ Universities team in 1958, losing 47 to nil. In 1958, Larry Abel, one of Hong Kong's earliest rugby pioneers, established mini rugby programmes and tournaments, and has been played annually to this day.^[3] In 1968, Hong Kong was one of the charter nations of the Asian Rugby Football Union, the others being Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Thailand. Hong Kong won its first official fixture against Japan in 1969, by the score of 24 to 22 in Tokyo.

1970s edit

During the 1970s Hong Kong played against many of its other Asian neighbors which had a rugby history, these nations being Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. Hong Kong enjoyed and endured mixed success against its neighbors, finishing second in 1972, only to lose to Japan 16 to nil on home soil.

In 1976, the first ever edition of the Hong Kong Sevens was established, which was pivotal in strengthening the sport in Hong Kong. The concept was discussed by business partners Ian Gow and Tokkie Smith, who wanted to promote a viable rugby product in Asia. The first sponsors of this event were Cathay Pacific and Rothmans International, later replaced by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The first sides at this competition were Asian, as well as 2 representative sides from Australia and New Zealand. Soon, the competition grew to include teams from around the world before becoming an official part of the Rugby Sevens calendar.^[4]

1980s–1990s edit

During the 1980s, Hong Kong lagged behind Japan and South Korea in terms of competition; Hong Kong was successful against other Asian nations but consistently finished in third place, whereas Japan and South Korea were vying for the top crown. Hong Kong officially joined the IRB in 1988, allowing Hong Kong to compete in the Rugby World Cup, though they did not enter the competition to qualify for 1991.

The 1990s proved to be a much more fruitful decade for Hong Kong. Hong Kong played its first ever test match against a non-Asia-Pacific opponent in 1992, losing 16 to 23 to the United States in 1992 in Boxer Stadium, San Francisco. In the same year, Hong Kong finally broke through and reached the final of the Asia Rugby Championship, beating South Korea 20 to 13 before losing to Japan 9 to 37.

Some notable players during the 1990s represented Hong Kong at the international level including Ashley Billington, David Lewis, Leung Yeung Kit, Chan Fuk Ping and Pieter Schats.

Hong Kong participated in its first qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup in 1995, being drawn with Thailand and Singapore in its group. Hong Kong lost its opening fixture to South Korea 28 to 17 before beating its other opponents; Hong Kong therefore missed out on a spot at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. An impressive feat achieved during this campaign though was Ashley Billington's 10 tries versus Singapore on 10 November 1994, which is the most tries ever scored in a Rugby World Cup qualifier by a single player.

Through the 1990s, Hong Kong began organizing tests against non-Asian opponents. Opponents that were played were Namibia, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Canada. Hong Kong recorded some famous victories, beating the USA Eagles on three occasions in the decade, including a victory in San Francisco, and beating Canada in 1998.

Despite major improvement in the 1990s, Hong Kong bottomed out in its qualifying group for the 1999 Rugby World Cup; Hong Kong beat its nemesis South Korea, but lost to Japan and were upset by the Chinese Taipei; they finished fourth and missed on direct qualification and a repechage.

2000–present: the new millennium edit

In 2000, Hong Kong made history when they played China in 2000; this was the first test that Hong Kong played against a team from the Chinese mainland since 1949. The game was played in Shanghai to honor the old rugby matches between Hong Kong and Shanghai. China upset Hong Kong 17 to 15 that day.

Hong Kong struggled somewhat during the early 2000s. In 2001, Hong Kong were once again surprised by China, drawing at 25 points each in Guangzhou. Hong Kong were once again upset by the Chinese Taipei in the 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifiers, losing 20 to 15, although Hong Kong beat China for the first time in that same qualification. Hong Kong lost all its fixtures in the final round of the 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign, missing out again on repechage or qualification.

The 2011 qualifying campaign was similar: Hong Kong beat both South Korea as well as newcomers Kazakhstan, but lost a crucial fixture to the Arabian Gulf; due to bonus points, Kazakhstan advanced instead of Hong Kong to the repechage.

For the 2015 qualifiers, Hong Kong finally broke through. Hong Kong were drawn into a group including its traditional East Asian rivals Japan and South Korea as well as Sri Lanka and newcomers the Philippines. Hong Kong thrashed South Korea 39 to 6 in Hong Kong, as well as recording a resounding 108 to 0 victory over the Philippines. Hong Kong finished second, and qualified for the repechage as a result. In the repechage versus Uruguay, in Montevideo, Hong Kong held firm for the first half, only trailing 6 to 3; however, Hong Kong indiscipline, coupled with key players not being available, meant that Hong Kong collapsed in the second half, losing 28 to 3, and bowing out of the qualifiers.

At the end of 2015, Hong Kong hosted the 2015 Cup of Nations, which included 3 other emerging rugby nations: Portugal, Russia, and Zimbabwe. Hong Kong finished second, beating Portugal and Zimbabwe but losing to Russia. In 2016, Hong Kong hired Leigh Jones, Japan's defense coach who played a key role in Japan's epic upset of South Africa in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, to take the role of head coach and high performance in Hong Kong.^[5]

In order to further build for future success, the HKRU, under the vision of Leigh Jones, launched its first fully professional 15s programme called the Elite Rugby Program; the goal of the programme is to encourage domestic players to pursue rugby as a profession in Hong Kong, and long-term, create a professional competition akin to Japan's Top League.^[6]

In the 2016 Cup of Nations, Hong Kong lost to Russia and won over Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. In the 2017 Cup of Nations, the team was defeated again by Russia, while beating Chile and Kenya.

Hong Kong will participate in the inaugural season of World Series Rugby, facing off against the Western Force.

Men's World Rugby Rankings v t e Top 30 as of 27 May 2024[7]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.54
2		Ireland	090.69
3		New Zealand	089.80
4		France	087.92
5		England	085.75
6		Scotland	082.82
7		Argentina	080.68
8		Italy	079.41
9		Australia	077.48
10		Wales	077.26
11		Fiji	076.38
12		Japan	074.27
13		Georgia	074.02
14		Samoa	072.23
15		Tonga	071.57
16		Portugal	070.28
17		United States	067.94
18		Uruguay	067.39
19		Spain	064.37
20		Romania	061.66
21		Canada	060.90
22		Namibia	060.56
23		Chile	060.49
24		Hong Kong	059.80
25		Russia	058.06
26		Switzerland	057.44
27		Netherlands	057.29
28		Belgium	055.89
29		Brazil	055.37
30		Korea	053.46
* Change from the previous week
Hong Kong's historical rankings
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[7] Graph updated to 27 May 2024

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Hong Kong national XV. ^[8][9][10]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Arabian Gulf	6	4	2	0	66.67%	101	115	-14
Australian Universities	2	1	0	1	50%	14	8	+6
Belgium	4	3	1	0	75%	94	73	+21
Brazil	1	1	0	0	100%	37	3	+34
Canada	7	1	6	0	14.29%	109	209	-100
Chile	1	1	0	0	100%	13	6	+7
China	5	3	1	1	60%	108	81	+27
Chinese Taipei	19	13	5	1	68.42%	638	295	+343
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0	100%	77	3	+74
Czech Republic	1	0	1	0	0.00%	5	17	-12
England XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	26	-26
Fiji	3	0	3	0	0.00%	33	155	-122
France XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	6	26	-20
Germany	4	2	2	0	50%	98	76	+22
Japan	28	4	24	0	14.29%	370	1212	-842
Japan XV	9	1	8	0	11.11%	86	299	-213
Kazakhstan	5	4	1	0	80%	126	67	+59
Kenya	7	4	2	1	57.14%	220	169	+51
Malaysia	11	11	0	0	100%	643	86	+557
Namibia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	22	-10
Netherlands	2	0	1	1	0.00%	10	25	-15
New Zealand U–23	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	47	-47
New Zealand Universities	5	0	5	0	0.00%	25	142	-117
Norway	1	1	0	0	100%	59	17	+42
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	100%	79	26	+53
Philippines	3	3	0	0	100%	241	30	+211
Portugal	2	1	1	0	50%	27	48	-21
Russia	5	0	5	0	0.00%	62	144	-82
Scotland XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	6	42	-36
Singapore	13	11	2	0	84.62%	540	112	+428
South Korea	35	19	16	0	54.29%	901	785	+116
Spain	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	29	-22
Sri Lanka	9	9	0	0	100%	431	84	+347
Thailand	9	6	3	0	66.67%	289	89	+200
Tonga	1	0	0	1	0.00%	22	44	-22
Tunisia	2	1	1	0	50%	34	41	-7
United Arab Emirates	6	6	0	0	100%	377	70	+307
United States	8	4	4	0	50%	198	201	-3
Uruguay	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	28	-25
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	57	-54
Zimbabwe	3	3	0	0	100%	86	29	+57
Total	228	121	102	5	52.86%	6115	5012	+1103

Rugby World Cup edit

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited								-
1991	did not enter								did not enter
1995	did not qualify								3	3	0	1	354	67
1999	did not qualify								3	1	0	2	39	88
2003	did not qualify								4	3	0	1	81	42
2007	did not qualify								4	2	0	2	79	243
2011	did not qualify								4	2	0	2	65	133
2015	did not qualify								9	5	0	4	333	201
2019	did not qualify								9	7	0	2	365	117
2023	did not qualify								0	0	0	0	0
Total	0/10	0	0	0	0	0	0		36	23	0	13	1316	891

Asia Rugby Championship edit

Asia Rugby Championship record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A
1972	Runner-up	3	2	0	1	35	22
1974	Fifth place	3	1	0	2	43	61
1978	Fifth place	3	0	1	2	9	26
1980	Third place	4	3	0	1	231	51
1982	Third place	4	3	0	1	76	41
1984	Fifth place	3	1	0	2	67	70
1988	Third place	4	3	0	1	61	76
1990	Third place	4	2	0	2	93	56
1992	Runners up	4	3	0	1	156	66
1994	Third place	4	3	0	1	354	67
1996	Third place	4	3	0	1	298	49
1998	Third place	3	1	0	2	39	88
2000	Fourth place	3	0	0	3	47	136
2002	Third place	3	1	0	2	50	85
2004	Third place	2	1	0	1	75	47
2006–07	Third place	2	0	0	2	8	75
2008	Third place	4	2	0	2	96	154
2009	Fourth place	4	1	0	3	110	126
2010	Third place	4	2	0	2	65	133
2011	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	155	61
2012	Third place	2	2	0	2	159	98
2013	Third place	4	2	0	2	134	108
2014	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	196	65
2015	Runners-up	4	1	1	2	64	111
2016	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	95	139
2017	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	99	65
2018	Champions	4	4	0	0	227	44
2019	Champions	4	4	0	0	212	37
2022	Champions	1	1	0	0	23	21
2023	Champions	2	2	0	0	118	19
2024	TBD	1	1	0	0	52	5
Total	4 titles	103	60	2	42	3444	2160

Hong Kong has finished first place in the Asia Rugby Championship in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023.

• Last Updated: June 1st 2024

Current squad edit

Head Coach: Andrew Douglas

Caps updated: 18 April 2024

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Matches Played	Club/province
John McCormick-Houston	Hooker	(1989-08-03) 3 August 1989 (age 34)	6	Hong Kong FC
Jude Harding	Hooker		2	Sydney University
Lam Jak Shing	Hooker		1	HKU Sandy Bay
Rory Cinnamond	Prop	(1999-07-19) 19 July 1999 (age 24)	1	HKU Sandy Bay
James Holmes	Prop		0	Kowloon RFC
Faizal Solomona Penesa	Prop	(1992-03-19) 19 March 1992 (age 32)	10	Valley RFC
Zac Cinnamond	Prop	(1994-08-25) 25 August 1994 (age 29)	1	HKU Sandy Bay
Sunia Fameitau	Prop		0	HKU Sandy Bay
Jamie Pincott	Lock	(1989-09-21) 21 September 1989 (age 34)	10	Hong Kong Scottish
Tyler McNutt	Lock	(2003-04-30) 30 April 2003 (age 21)	1	Hong Kong FC
Dana Fourie	Lock	(1994-08-25) 25 August 1994 (age 29)	0	HKU Sandy Bay
Jonathan Kenny	Lock		0	Kowloon RFC
Luke van der Smit	Back row	(1994-06-29) 29 June 1994 (age 29)	9	Valley RFC
Joshua Hrstich	Back row	(1990-11-15) 15 November 1990 (age 33)	8	Hong Kong FC
Hugh McCormick-Houston	Back row		1	Hong Kong FC
Dean Rossouw	Back row	(1993-03-12) 12 March 1993 (age 31)	0	HKU Sandy Bay
Pat Joe Laidler	Scrum-half	(1999-08-09) 9 August 1999 (age 24)	1	HKU Sandy Bay
Anthony Coebergh	Scrum-half		0	RC 't Gooi
Nathan De Thierry	Fly-half	(1994-02-14) 14 February 1994 (age 30)	11	Hunter Wildfires
Benjamin Axten-Burrett	Centre	(1992-10-01) 1 October 1992 (age 31)	12	Hong Kong FC
Tom Hill	Centre	(1989-10-20) 20 October 1989 (age 34)	8	Hong Kong FC
Jack Abbott	Centre	(2000-01-10) 10 January 2000 (age 24)	1	Hong Kong FC
Will Panday	Centre	(2000-10-08) 8 October 2000 (age 23)	2	HKU Sandy Bay
Jack Morris	Centre		0	Hong Kong Scottish
Murray Brechin	Wing		1	Hong Kong FC
Matteo Avitabile	Wing		0	Hong Kong FC
Dylan White	Fullback		1	Kowloon RFC
Dylan McCann	Fullback		0	Sydney University
Shiven Dukhande	Fullback	(2001-02-14) 14 February 2001 (age 23)	0	USRC Tigers RFC

Records edit

Most Appearances edit

1. Nick Hewson – 58
2. Alex Ng Wai Shing – 51
3. Salom, Yiu Kam Shing - 49
4. Rowan Varty – 43

Notable former players edit

The Hong Kong Rugby Union has inducted 16 players into its Hall of Fame as part of its Roll of Honour. Some of these players include;

• Ashley Billington, wing who holds the record for most tries scored in an international match.

Years	Coach
1987–1992	Jim Rowark
1993–1998	George Simpkin
1998–2001	Phil Campbell
2001–2003	Chris Roden
2004–2007	Ivan Torpey
2007–2008	John Walters
2008–2014	Dai Rees
2014–2015	Andrew Hall
2016–2018	Leigh Jones
2019–2021	Andrew Hall
2021	Craig Hammond 1
2021	Simon Armor (Interim) 1
2022-2023	Lewis Evans
2023-present	Andrew Douglas

• ¹ Hammond appointed head coach in April 2021 but left 2 months later to return back to the UK.^[11][12] He was subsequently replaced by Armor as interim coach ahead of the 2021 Asian Rugby Championship, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to Armor's abrupt departure.^[13][14]

• Rugby union in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Sevens
• Hong Kong national rugby sevens team
• Hong Kong national under-20 rugby union team
• Hong Kong women's national rugby union team
• Hong Kong women's national rugby sevens team
• List of Hong Kong national rugby union players

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