PUBLISHED ON 10 JUL 2026

Hong Kong China Rugby’s (HKCR) men’s representative XV will face 2027 Rugby World Cup pool mate Chile at the World Rugby Nations Cup in South America on Saturday, 11 July (kick-off time in Hong Kong is 06.00 on Sunday, 12 July).

Hong Kong China lost to Samoa 66-19 in the opener last week and now travel to the national rugby hotbed of Viña del Mar to face Nations Cup co-hosts Chile for the first time since 2024.

HKCR are in Pool A with Chile, New Zealand and Australia at next year’s Rugby World Cup (RWC 2027). It will be Hong Kong’s first ever Rugby World Cup, while Chile qualified for the first time in 2023. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength and qualified for RWC 2027 after beating Samoa 66-44 on aggregate.

HKCR met Chile in South America two years ago, losing 22-17, while Hong Kong beat Chile 13-6 at home in their first meeting in 2017. It is the first meeting of the teams since the advent of the HKCR’s professionally contracted Rugby World Cup programme, adding spice to the encounter.

“It is definitely going to be a line in the sand. Regardless of last week’s result, this game should have a little more edge because there is not only the game in a year's time, but we played them two years ago as well, so there is a bit of prior understanding and knowledge between the teams. Regardless of what the outcome is, it is going to give us that litmus test around where we need to be,” said Hong Kong China Rugby men’s XVs Head Coach Logan Asplin.

“One thing I am probably most looking forward to is the adjustment that our players make from last week to this week. We have hit the halfway point in a long tour. We are resolute and resilient in bouncing back from a result. This group has proven to be able to do that and it is really important that we see that shift internally in our group, which would then display externally in the way that we play on Saturday. I am really looking forward to what that bounce back looks like,” Asplin added.

That bounce will be aided by the return of talismanic HKCR captain Josh Hrstich. The gritty no.8 has passed fully fit from a non-rugby related injury to crack the matchday 23 for the first time on tour.

“Obviously you never want to be watching, but it was probably a silver lining getting to see our young guys step up and our leaders develop. Pierce [Mackinlay-West] led the week incredibly well, and the boys really got around him. I think the clarity that we had going into that game was some of the best that we have had, we just were not able to execute the plan well enough,” said Hrstich from Chile.

“Chile is a very different challenge to Samoa. It is about adapting our style to play them and making a few little tweaks; business as usual. I know my role and I know if I can execute and play my game and put my best foot forward, the team will be in a good spot, and it will give the guys confidence to nail their details as well.”

Hrstich confirmed that the game was high on the minds of the squad saying: “We have definitely talked about it; we understand that we are going to be playing them in 2027 and you want to give a pretty good account of yourself. They are a pretty sharp side with a lot of threats and are well backed, I think it was 16,000 at the Romania game a week before. So, we see what the World Cup has done for them and for their growth. It is a big test for us to reach those heights,” said the 36-year old who has led multiple Hong Kong clubs to Premiership titles.

Asplin also stressed the challenge of facing different playing styles in short order: “When you watch Chile, they are really cohesive. You pair that with South American passion and then probably what is going to be a sold out crowd this weekend, you know, 25,000 people would be pretty hostile, so it is a massive challenge for us to take on.

“There are elements of the Samoa game which we were proud of, but there are more elements that we are disappointed with; the biggest test of resilience this week is how do we stand up the following week? How do we grow? Because in a way, we've got to put even tomorrow’s game out the window now and go, what's the next challenge? That's part of our professional standards and everything we do to be resolute and ready for the next challenge,” added Asplin.

With the return of Hrstich, five changes have been made in the starting XV, with most of the impact in the front row as hooker Harry Baron’s Nations Cup has ended early after an injury against Samoa. The experienced Alexander Post once again steps in, with Calum Scott added to the reserves bench.

Lachlan Doheny will partner HKCR mainstay Kyle Sullivan at lock after he impressed after coming on in his Hong Kong China debut against Samoa.

“Lockie was awesome and physical off the bench in his first games. He comes in and starts now, which is probably a test for him of stacking big moments together, but also another way to shore up our line out defense,” said Asplin.

It’s a family affair against Chile with front row forward Zac Cinnamond returning to the starting XV to partner his younger brother Rory at prop, while James Rivers is in line to earn a first cap - and join his sisters Georgia and Gabrielle as HKCR representative players - after being named to the bench.

In the backs, Jack Combes will again start at scrumhalf after an enterprising performance against Samoa, while Brendon Nell is rotated in for Eric Chui Wai Lap on the reserves bench.

Joe Barker starts at flyhalf with Isaac Campbell-Wu starting at inside centre, pairing with Max Threlkeld at outside centre. A dangerous back three of wingers Harry Sayers and Marcus Ramage (each of whom scored against Samoa) and Paul Altier (who set up Hong Kong China’s penalty try positioning) has been kept intact for Chile.

The bench provided a massive input against Samoa and the mindset and expectation for Chile is the same. Utility back Matteo Avitabile will backstop the line from the reserves, with Nell and scoring threat Matthew Worley. Props Sunia Fameitau and Keelan Chapman join Scott as the front row reserves with James Sawyer also on the bench after starting in replacement for Hrstich last week.

“Chile's game is based a whole lot off high position stakes through maul. I think they mauled twelve out of fourteen lineouts they had against Romania, and obviously they want to play from that. They are pretty similar to Samoa, where they are direct, they are probably just more organized in how they do it, so we obviously have to combat and disrupt that. In Hong Kong we have done some great preview on Chile in the last three or four months, so we have had a bit of a blueprint on what we know to expect.

“The important thing is repeatability, which is something we have talked about. We know guys in our team are physical. We know they have the ability to stop teams in different shapes and forms. Can we repeat it? Can we be consistent with it? Can we do what we say? That's the biggest shift. We know the things that we did not do well and the mindset shift that we need to change. But we are only needing small changes to make significant gains. This group is highly capable of doing that but we really have to chase that and make those changes ourselves,” said Asplin.

WORLD RUGBY NATIONS CUP 2026 HONG KONG CHINA RUGBY XV vs CHILE

1.Rory CINNAMOND, 2. Alexander POST, 3. Zac CINNAMOND, 4. Lachlan DOHENY, 5. Kyle SULLIVAN, 6. Tyler McNUTT, 7. Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST, 8. Josh HRSTICH (Captain), 9. Jack COMBES, 10. Joe BARKER, 11. Harry SAYER, 12. Isaac CAMPBELL-WU, 13. Max THRELKELD, 14. Marcus RAMAGE, 15. Paul ALTIER, 16. Callum SCOTT; 17. Sunia FAMEITAU, 18. Keelan CHAPMAN, 19. James RIVERS* 20. James SAWYER, 21. Brendon NELL, 22. Matteo AVATABILE, 23. Matthew WORLEY

*potential Hong Kong China Rugby debut

Team Management

Manager: Charles CHEUNG

Head Coach: Logan ASPLIN

Head of Technical Rugby: Andrew DOUGLAS

Coaches: Lewis WILSON; Kane HAMES; Marno MEYER

S&C Coaches: Liam McSTAY; Madison HUNTING

Physiotherapists: Henry ELLIOTT; Stephen MUTCH

Analyst: Andy YUEN

The match will be live streamed on RugbyPass TV.