HONG KONG CHINA MEN'S XVs CONFIRM SQUAD FOR TEST MATCH AGAINST PORTUGAL

Hong Kong China Men's XVs have confirmed a 23-man squad to face Portugal in Lisbon on Saturday night (15:00 local / 23:00 HKT). The match will be shown for free live on RugbyPass TV (signup required).

This is the first full International Test Match the team will have played since qualifying for the Men's World Cup 2027 back in July, with the group preparing through an October tour to Japan, and home fixtures against the Japan XV at Kai Tak Stadium on 24 October and the ACT Brumbies at Hong Kong Football Club on 8 November. Six players, or nearly 25% of the 23-man squad, are in line to potentially earn first caps, with the selectors having kept faith with the playing group from last Saturday’s friendly versus ACT Brumbies A.

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

Hong Kong China 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.”

Sunia Fameitau, Calum Scott and Zacc Cinnamond will start in the front row after coming off the bench last Saturday against the Brumbies. No. 8 Josh Hrstich will captain the squad with veteran second rower Kyle Sullivan and Pierce Mackinlay-West starting at flanker alongside Tyler McNutt.  Gregor McNeish earns a second straight start at fly-half after a strong performance against the Brumbies, while vice captain Tom Hill and Ben Axten-Burrett combine in an experienced centres pairing. Matt Worley starts at fullback with Guy Spanton and Marcus Ramage (who plays out wide and in the centres) set to start on the wings.

Asplin was confident that the squad is the best suited for the expected conditions in Lisbon:

“We feel good about the selection. It's raining cats and dogs and windy as anything here, so I think we've got the right balance to play to what could be different conditions than what we're used to; it's a good balance with a good bench punch. 

“There were some competitive tussles for positions, and we looked at the Portuguese threat in terms of their dangerous outside backs, which dictated our selection.”

Saturday is the first test for Hong Kong China since qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027 (RWC 2027) in July. Portugal are coming off a 28-6 home loss to Uruguay, another side qualified for RWC 2027, last week.

“That game was really close until half time, and there were a couple of good individual moments that provided points late in the game to blow that score out,” said Asplin. 

“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.”

Portugal has qualified for RWC 2027 and are amongst Hong Kong China’s targets two years from now: "This is the scalp that we want to take. We've got the ability to play a team ranked four 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. 

Team Management

Andrew DOUGLAS Head of Technical Rugby
Logan ASPLIN Head Coach
Lewis EVANS Coach
Marno MEYER Coach
Pete NUGENT S&C Coach
Liam McSTAY S&C Coach
Andy YUEN Analyst
Henry ELLIOTT Physiotherapist
Jonathan MOSES Physiotherapist
Charles CHEUNG Team Manager

Player (Club)

1. Sunia FAMEITAU (HKU Sandy Bay)
2. Calum SCOTT (Hong Kong Football Club)
3. Zacceus CINNAMOND (HKU Sandy Bay)
4. Max MURPHY* (Hong Kong Football Club)
5. Kyle SULLIVAN (USRC Tigers)
6. Tyler McNUTT (Hong Kong Football Club)
7. Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST (Hong Kong Football Club)
8. Joshua HRSTICH ©️ (Hong Kong Football Club)
9. Brendon NELL* (HKU Sandy Bay)
10. Gregor McNEISH (HK Scottish)
11. Guy SPANTON (HKU Sandy Bay)
12. Thomas HILL (Hong Kong Football Club)
13. Benjamin AXTEN-BURRETT (Hong Kong Football Club)
14. Marcus RAMAGE (HK Scottish)
15. Matt WORLEY (Hong Kong Football Club)
16. Harry BARON* (HK Scottish)
17. Callum McFEAT-SMITH (Hong Kong Football Club)
18. Faizal SOLOMONA PENESA (HK Scottish)
19. Jack BARTLETT* (Hong Kong Football Club)
20. James SAWYER (Valley)
21. CHUI Wai Lap* (Kowloon)
22. Joseph BARKER (Kowloon)
23. Dylan McCANN* (Hong Kong Football Club)

*potential debut