HONG KONG CHINA MEN’S SEVEN OUT TO REASSERT PRESENCE AT HSBC SVNS 3

[HONG KONG, 7 January 2026]:  The Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) Men’s VII will open their bid for full-time status on the HSBC SVNS when they appear at HSBC SVNS 3 in Dubai from 17-18 January.  The two teams that reach the men’s cup final will be promoted to SVNS 2 in Kenya (14-15 Feb.), the second of World Rugby’s newly revamped three-tier competition for qualification to HSBC SVNS. 

Hong Kong are in a tough Pool A in the eight-team men’s competition alongside veteran HSBC SVNS outfit Samoa, and Tonga. Hong Kong is seeded third ahead of surprise packets Colombia who defeated Chile in their regional qualifier. Pool B sees another HSBC SVNS mainstay in Canada, joined by Madagascar, Belgium, and Italy.

For head coach Jevon Groves, SVNS 3 offers a chance at redemption after an admittedly down performance in 2025 saw Hong Kong finish 11th of 12 teams; this after finishing 4th in 2023 and 5th in 2024.

“It’s a pretty tough route to get to that end goal, but for us there is a tiny element of wanting a bit of redemption from last year. We were disappointed in our results and performances, so that's the main focus coming in; we've spoken as a group about improving on our performance from last year and I think that's going to be a little bit of added motivation.

“It was probably an outlier how we played last year, because for the most part, when we've entered these competitions, we've been competitive. Previously we reached the final and were probably only a point or two away from qualifying, so, that's in the back of our minds. This is a spot where we want to be competitive and challenging teams in this tier. If we get a result, it's also a chance to unlock three more quality tournaments, which is something we're striving for in terms of our development, and preparation for the Asian Games at the end of the year. So, this is an important tournament.”

While there is much at stake, the opportunity to prepare has been brief with the squad having just finished the New Year break. The management team factored in the off-time and kept the team training intensively after their gold medal performance at the 15th National Games last November.

“We prepped well post National Games and trained hard. It was like a mini preseason before Christmas, working hard on our conditioning and our skills, trying to increase our work capacity. We got eyes on the boys yesterday after the break and they look good. They had some self-directed training, which they did over the holiday, so, there is a high level of trust in them. This week, we're going to put the final preparations into focusing on that first game against Tonga.”

The squad will be named on Wednesday evening (7 Jan.) and departs for Dubai on Sunday.

Given the quick turnaround for SVNS 3, Groves was thankful for the National Games as a top-class competitive opportunity before the turn of the year.

“If we didn't have our National Games, we would have had to look for some other competition in that window. We used about 15 or 16 players in the Asian series and National Games performance block, and those players performed very well and have a strong case for selection. We've also got a stronger layer underneath challenging those players, and that's helped the boys who have been selected in their performances in training and in games. We've now got a wider squad where we can rotate players into that senior group and those starting 12-13 spots, it’s pretty healthy from a competition point of view. 

“Selection conversations with the coaches are interesting because we've got lots of players that we feel could and should deserve a chance. A few injuries have also healed over the break, so we've got a big and relatively healthy squad to pick from,” said Groves.

Groves has the team focused on building momentum to start the tournament and the year: 

“We’ve probably been guilty in the past of thinking too far ahead, so our focus is to try and generate some momentum by getting a performance in that first game against Tonga. We’ve played them a lot over the last few years. We know their style of play and what to expect. 

“They are very similar to Samoa actually, so we are under no illusions that it's going to be tough and it's going to be physical. They're going to get after us around the contact and the collision. We're also trying to prep for Colombia, who are maybe a little bit more of an unknown but had a great result in their qualifier against Chile. To beat them in the final is no mean feat, because they've been a consistent team in that challenger for a number of years, so, it'll be a tough group.”

“We spoke with the squad about how we felt we have grown in the last 12 months as a group, and lots of it was related to the level of work capacity we've put into our training, the level of cohesion amongst the players on and off the field is better, and I think that, coupled with executing the game plan that we want to play, will hopefully lead to a good performance and a result against Tonga,” added Groves.

HKCR SVNS 3 Pool A Match Schedule

Saturday 17 January

HKCR vs Tonga (16:12 Hong Kong time)
HKCR vs Samoa (19.50 Hong Kong time)
HKCR vs Colombia (22.44 Hong Kong time)

Hong Kong China Rugby Men’s VII selection for SVNS 3 (Dubai, 17-18 February 2026)

Seb BRIEN (co-captain); James CHRISTIE (co-captain); Julian BOURRON; Jack COMBES; Max DENMARK; FONG Kit Fung; Liam HERBERT; Callum McCULLOUGH; Alessandro NARDONI; Bryn PHILLIPS; Matt RICKARD; Harry SAYERS.