A Hong Kong Rugby Union’s men’s national team with nine players making their international debut beat Belgium, 36-17, yesterday at a frigid Nelson Mandela Stadium in Brussels.

Hong Kong coach Andrew Hall wanted to know if his side could win a European style arm wrestle and he found out, after a physically demanding first thirty minutes left no impact on the scoreboard. The deadlock was broken when fly half Gregor McNeish scored his first points for Hong Kong on his debut with a confidence-building penalty.

Hong Kong took ruthless advantage of the crack in the wall and the first broken play opportunities of the game, scoring four tries in a ten minute frenzy to close out the half, with two coming off long-range counter attacks as the visitors ran their advantage to 29-0. 

Captain Liam Slatem struck first; followed by McNeish, centre Ben Axten-Burrett and wing Harry Sayers as Hong Kong repeatedly punished the Belgian defence to close out the first stanza.

The hosts regrouped admirably in the second half, returning the game to stalemate conditions and - helped by two Hong Kong yellow cards - scored three tries to claw back 17 points on the board. First cap Nate De Thierry was carded shortly after the second half got underway, while fellow debutant Josh Dowsing was shown the chair in the 65^th minute, creating space for the Belgian attack.

Dowsing’s yellow left Hong Kong play a man down for much of the last quarter, with the Belgians gaining momentum, but a judicial use of the reserves bench by Hall brought on some much needed energy for the understrength tourists.  

The impact of a veteran bench helped Hong Kong push the attack to the Belgian 22-metre line where Hong Kong camped out for a sustained attack to finish the match; the pressure created space for Sayers to score his second on the wing, with McNeish’s conversion pushing the final score to 36-12.

Dai Rees, Chief Rugby Operations Officer who was with the management team in Brussels, was satisfied with the result, particularly given the conditions.

“It was a tough game, you know, it was that gritty European style game we wanted. Three degrees, high impact, high contact, and absolutely no space to operate, but McNeish’s penalty gave us the lead and we really came alive in broken play, with some quick-fire tries.

“The second half was just like the first. Both sides had their chances and we missed a few penalties and another scoring chance, but the subs brought a lot of energy on in the last ten, and that impact made a difference in setting Harry up for his second.

“We played pretty well. This was a good test and a good result, but we have another challenge next week against Spain. It is just the start of the journey to 2023,” Rees said.

It was the first test against Belgium since December 2013. The win brings Hong Kong’s record against Belgium to 3-1 in the five tests the teams have played since 2012. 

Hong Kong Squad v Belgium (November Tests v Belgium/Spain 2019):

1. Tom BRISTOW* 2. Jamie TSANG, 3. Tau KOLOAMATANGI*, 4. Mark PRIOR*, 5. Craig LODGE, 6. Lawrence MILLER*, 7. James SAWYER*, 8. Josh DOWSING*, 9. Liam SLATEM (Captain), 10. Gregor MCNEISH* 11. Harry SAYERS 12. Ben AXTEN-BURRETT, 13. Lewis WARNER, 14. Marcus RAMAGE, 15. Nathan DE THIERRY*, 16. Mitch ANDREWS, 17. Dan BARLOW, 18. Faizal SOLOMONA, 19. Kyle SULLIVAN 20. Sam TSOI Kin-san, 21. Guy SPANTON*, 22. Paul ALTIER, 23. Bryn PHILLIPS         *Hong Kong debut