Six additions as new era begins for World Cup debutants Hong Kong China

Six players are in line to make their Test debuts for Hong Kong China this Saturday after being named in the matchday 23 to face Portugal in Lisbon, which is being shown live and for free on RugbyPass TV.

The six include lock Max Murphy and scrum-half Brendon Nell, both of whom stood out in Hong Kong China’s build-up matches and are named as starters. Back-up number nine Eric Chui Wai Lap, wing Dylan McCann, hooker Harry Baron and back rower Jack Bartlett are on the bench.

The match against Os Lobos is Hong Kong China’s first Test since they secured qualification for Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia after winning the Asia Rugby Championship in May.

It will also be Logan Asplin’s first Test in charge of the team, having been promoted from the role of assistant, with fellow Kiwi Andrew Douglas, who led them in the qualifiers, taking on an over-arching, off-field role.

With just 23 months to go before Hong Kong China’s maiden Rugby World Cup tournament, Asplin is looking to build up the depth of his now fully professional squad.

“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.”

Hong Kong China have played Portugal twice before, with one win apiece. After last week’s home defeat to Uruguay, Portugal have just about hung on to 20th place in the world rankings, while Hong Kong China are three places further back. The likelihood is that both teams will be in Band 4 (teams ranked 19-24) when the draw for RWC 2027 takes place in Sydney on 3 December.

“This is the scalp that we want to take. We’ve got the ability to play a team ranked a few spots above us and knock them over, and how that can put us on the map, how that makes us memorable. It’s one that we can really get after and target, and it’s just the games that we need.

“The more we play at this level, the better we’re going to get, and the more consistent we are going to get in our performance. It’s all growth for us, but this is one we really want to get,” said Asplin.

Hong Kong China v Portugal:

1 Sunia Fameitau
2 Calum Scott
3 Zacceus Cinnamond
4 Maximilian Murphy*
5 Kyle Sullivan
6 Tyler McNutt
7 Pierce Mackinlay-West
8 Joshua Hrstich (capt)
9 Brendon Nell*
10 Gregor McNeish
11 Guy Spanton
12 Thomas Hill
13 Benjamin Axten-Burrett
14 Marcus Ramage
15 Matt Worley
16 Harry Baron*
17 Callum McFeat-Smith
18 Faizal Solomona-Penesa
19 Jack Bartlett*
20 James Sawyer
21 CHUI Wai Lap*
22 Joseph Barker
23 Dylan McCann*

*Potential debutant