Hong Kong China Rugby

Emblem	Chinese dragon
Union	Hong Kong China Rugby
Head coach	Logan Asplin
Captain	Josh Hrstich
Mostcaps	Nick Hewson (58)
Top scorer	Matthew Rosslee (201)
Top try scorer	Rowan Varty (24)
Home stadium	Kai Tak Stadium &Hong Kong Stadium
Firstcolours Secondcolours
World Rugby ranking
Current	23 (as of 21 July 2025)
Highest	21 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Lowest	39 (2009, 2010)
First international
Hong Kong 11–5 Australian Universities (1934)
Biggest win
Hong Kong 164–13Singapore  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 27 October 1994)
Biggest defeat
Japan 94–5Hong Kong (Tokyo, Japan; 22 May 2010)
World Cup
Appearances	0
Website	www.hkrugby.com

TheHong Kong men's national rugby union team (also known asHong Kong China) represents Hong Kong in men'srugby union. Since 1952, rugby union in Hong Kong has been administered byHong Kong China Rugby. The team successfully competes annually in theAsia Rugby Championship.

Hong Kong has one of the oldest rugby traditions in Asia, having been played there since the 19th century, when British colonists arrived in Hong Kong and brought the sport with them. For a long time, rugby union in Hong Kong was traditionally associated with Hong Kong's British colonial settlers, but since the 1990s there has been extensive efforts to integrate the game with the localCantonese Chinese community, it included some local born players, with a degree of success; the first of these players being "Rambo" Leung Yeung Kit, considered to be, one of best Hong Kong players during his era. Other players such as Ricky Cheuk, Max Woodward, Nick Hewson, Rowan Varty andCado Lee had made significant impact in international tournaments.

Hong Kong has finished first place in theAsia Rugby Championship in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and made it to therepechage of the2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, though lost toUruguay 24 to 3.They again competed in therepechage tournament for the2019 Rugby World Cup and 2023 Rugby World Cup.

They qualified for the2027 Rugby World Cup for the first time by winning the2025 Asia Rugby Championship.^[1]

According to old newspapers, rugby union in Hong Kong dates back to the late 1870s, which would establish Hong Kong as perhaps the oldest rugby playing nation in Asia. The players during this era were all British sailors and army/navy men, as well as police and merchant men. The first secretary of rugby in Hong Kong was Jock McGregor.^[2]

The first fixtures which predate the creation of the modern Hong Kong Rugby Union in 1952 took place from 1924 to 1949. An unofficial interport team from Hong Kong played Shanghai on various dates from 1924 to 1949, both teams being composed entirely of British expatriates living in said port cities; these fixtures ceased after the establishment ofCommunist rule in mainland China.^[3] In 1934, a Hong Kong team played against an Australia Universities team, running out victors 11 to 5.

After the establishment of modern Chinese borders, which before greyed the exact control a union had over territory in China, the Hong Kong Rugby Union was established in 1952; the continuation of British rule in China, as well as the flow of immigrants and capital from the mainland, as well as Hong Kong establishing itself as a major port, allowed the game to flourish, albeit mostly restricted to the white British community.^{[citation needed]}

During this time frame the first official fixtures under the union took place. Hong Kong first received an NZ Universities team in 1958, losing 47 to nil. In 1958, Larry Abel, one of Hong Kong's earliest rugby pioneers, established mini rugby programmes and tournaments, and has been played annually to this day.^[4] In 1968, Hong Kong was one of the charter nations of the Asian Rugby Football Union, the others being Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Thailand. Hong Kong won its first official fixture againstJapan in 1969, by the score of 24 to 22 in Tokyo.

During the 1970s Hong Kong played against many of its other Asian neighbors which had a rugby history, these nations being Japan,South Korea,Chinese Taipei,Thailand,Malaysia,Sri Lanka, andSingapore. Hong Kong enjoyed and endured mixed success against its neighbors, finishing second in 1972, only to lose to Japan 16 to nil on home soil.

In 1976, the first ever edition of theHong Kong Sevens was established, which was pivotal in strengthening the sport in Hong Kong. The concept was discussed by business partners Ian Gow and Tokkie Smith, who wanted to promote a viable rugby product in Asia. The first sponsors of this event wereCathay Pacific andRothmans International, later replaced byThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The first sides at this competition were Asian, as well as two representative sides from Australia and New Zealand. Soon, the competition grew to include teams from around the world before becoming an official part of the Rugby Sevens calendar.^[5]

During the 1980s, Hong Kong lagged behind Japan and South Korea in terms of competition; Hong Kong was successful against other Asian nations but consistently finished in third place, whereas Japan and South Korea were vying for the top crown. Hong Kong officially joined theIRB in 1988, allowing Hong Kong to compete in theRugby World Cup, though they did not enter the competition to qualify for 1991.

The 1990s proved to be a much more fruitful decade for Hong Kong. Hong Kong played its first ever test match against a non-Asia-Pacific opponent in 1992, losing 16 to 23 to theUnited States in 1992 inKezar Stadium, San Francisco. In the same year, Hong Kong finally broke through and reached the final of the Asia Rugby Championship, beating South Korea 20 to 13 before losing to Japan 9 to 37.

Some notable players during the 1990s represented Hong Kong at the international level including Ashley Billington, David Lewis, Leung Yeung Kit, Chan Fuk Ping and Pieter Schats.

Hong Kong participated in its first qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup in 1995, being drawn with Thailand and Singapore in its group. Hong Kong lost its opening fixture to South Korea 28 to 17 before beating its other opponents; Hong Kong therefore missed out on a spot at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. An impressive feat achieved during this campaign though was Ashley Billington's ten tries versus Singapore on 10 November 1994, which is the most tries ever scored in a Rugby World Cup qualifier by a single player.

Through the 1990s, Hong Kong began organizing tests against non-Asian opponents. Opponents that were played wereNamibia,Papua New Guinea, the United States, andCanada. Hong Kong recorded some famous victories, beating the USA Eagles on three occasions in the decade, including a victory in San Francisco, and beating Canada in 1998.

Despite major improvement in the 1990s, Hong Kong bottomed out in its qualifying group for the 1999 Rugby World Cup; Hong Kong beat its nemesis South Korea, but lost to Japan and were upset by the Chinese Taipei; they finished fourth and missed on direct qualification and a repechage.

In 2000, Hong Kong made history when they playedChina; this was the first test that Hong Kong played against a team from the Chinese mainland since 1949. The game was played in Shanghai to honor the old rugby matches between Hong Kong and Shanghai. China upset Hong Kong 17 to 15 that day.

Hong Kong struggled during the early 2000s and in 2001, Hong Kong were once again surprised by China, drawing at 25 points each in Guangzhou. In the2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Hong Kong were upset by the Chinese Taipei, losing 20 to 15 to see them fail to progress past the second round of the qualification process; although Hong Kong did beat China for the first time in that same qualification.

In 2005, Hong Kong finished bottom of their division during the2007 Rugby World Cup Asian qualification process, seeing the drop down to the second division of Asian rugby for 2006. However, with wins over China andSri Lanka they quickly returned to the top division for the final stage of qualification. Hong Kong later lost all its fixtures in the final round of the World Cup qualifying campaign, missing out again on repechage or qualification.

The 2011 qualifying campaign was similar: Hong Kong beat both South Korea as well as newcomersKazakhstan, but lost a crucial fixture to the Arabian Gulf; due to bonus points, Kazakhstan advanced instead of Hong Kong to the repechage.

After the 2011, Hong Kong became a development nation forWorld Rugby, and were included in the inauguralCup of Nations tournament held inDubai. Hong Kong won the tournament, earning their first bit of significant silverware.

Between 2011 and 2015, Hong Kong rugby continued to grow, and by the time of the2015 Rugby World Cup qualifiers, Hong Kong established themselves as the second ranked team in Asian behind Japan. In this time, Hong Kong thrashed South Korea 39 to 6, as well as recording a resounding 108 to 0 victory over the Philippines. At the conclusion of the2014 Asian Five Nations, Hong Kong finished as runners-up, to see them advance to the2015 Rugby World Cup repechage play-offs againstUruguay.

In the repechage match, Hong Kong held firm for the first half, only trailing 6 to 3; however, Hong Kong indiscipline, coupled with key players not being available, meant that Hong Kong collapsed in the second half, losing 28 to 3, and bowing out of the qualifiers.

At the end of 2015, Hong Kong hosted the2015 Cup of Nations, which included 3 other emerging rugby nations:Portugal,Russia, andZimbabwe. Hong Kong finished second, beating Portugal and Zimbabwe but losing to Russia.

In 2016, Hong Kong hired Leigh Jones, Japan's defense coach who played a key role in Japan's epic upset ofSouth Africa in the2015 Rugby World Cup, to take the role of head coach and high performance in Hong Kong.^[6]

In order to further build for future success, the HKRU, under the vision of Leigh Jones, launched its first fully professional 15s programme called the Elite Rugby Program; the goal of the programme is to encourage domestic players to pursue rugby as a profession in Hong Kong, and long-term, create a professional competition akin to Japan'sTop League.^[7]

The foundations set by Jones, saw Hong Kong finish as runners-up in theAsia Rugby Championship in 2016 and 2017, seeing them finish in second for four straight years.

Hong Kong continued to receive World Rugby development status, and hosted the Cup of Nations tournament in2016 Cup of Nations and2017 Cup of Nations. In both tournament, they finished in second, behind Russia in both 2016 and 2017.

With Japan already qualified for the2019 Rugby World Cup (by virtue of hosting), the2018 Asia Rugby Championship saw only the developing nations in Asia compete, a stance that still remains. This saw Hong Kong claim the title for the first time, winning all four of their games over South Korea and Malaysia. This saw them progress in the2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying process, advancing to an Asia/Oceania play-off series against theCook Islands, which they won on aggregate 77 to 3.

In a revampedWorld Cup qualifying Repechage, Hong Kong played in a round-robin tournament againstCanada,Germany andKenya to earn the final spot in the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Hong Kong finished in third spot with just one win over Kenya.

Between 2019 and 2023, Hong Kong retained their Asian Rugby Championship title, and in 2022 once again advances to aWorld Cup Final Qualification Tournament. However, like in 2018, they only secured one victory (again against Kenya), to them not progress to the World Cup.

From 2018 and 2021, Hong Kong also played alongside will theWestern Force and other developing Asian sides in theGlobal Rapid Rugby competition.

Ahead of the2027 Rugby World Cup, World Rugby expended the competition to 24 teams, and thequalification process granted Asia a direct spot into the World Cup alongside the already qualified Japan. This encouraged further development for Hong Kong, prompting a tour to South America during the2024 July window and significant home tests during the2024 November window.

In June and July 2025, Hong Kong competed against the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Sri Lanka in the2025 Asia Rugby Championship. Hong Kong won all their matches to remain Champions and in doing so they qualified for theRugby World Cup for the first time, becoming just the second Asian nation to qualify. They will play Australia in the opening match.^[8]

The national team's home kit is typically a blue shirt, blue shorts, and black or white socks, while the away kit features red and white shirts and shorts, and red or white socks.

Kit supplier	Period
Canterbury of New Zealand	1990s
Adidas	1990s
Kukri Sports	2006–2024
Castore	2024–present

Men'sWorld Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 30 as of 9 February 2026^[9]

Rank	Change[i]	Team	Points
1		South Africa	093.94
2		New Zealand	090.33
3		England	089.41
4	5	France	088.40
5	4	Ireland	086.81
6		Argentina	084.97
7		Australia	081.53
8		Fiji	081.14
9	10	Italy	079.81
10	9	Scotland	078.98
11		Wales	074.23
12		Japan	074.09
13		Georgia	073.18
14		Uruguay	069.19
15		Spain	069.16
16		United States	068.26
17		Chile	066.72
18		Tonga	066.66
19	20	Portugal	066.53
20	19	Samoa	066.43
21		Belgium	060.77
22		Romania	059.68
23		Hong Kong	059.61
24		Zimbabwe	058.80
25		Canada	058.75
26	27	Namibia	056.96
27	26	Netherlands	056.86
28		Switzerland	055.26
29		Czech Republic	054.78
30		Poland	052.96

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Hong Kong national XV at test level up until5 July 2025, updated after match with South Korea.^[10][11][12]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Arabian Gulf	6	4	2	0	66.67%	101	115	–14
Australian Universities	2	1	0	1	50%	14	8	+6
Belgium	4	3	1	0	75%	94	73	+21
Brazil	4	3	0	1	75%	111	68	+43
Canada	7	1	6	0	14.29%	109	209	–100
Chile	2	1	1	0	50%	30	28	+2
China	5	3	1	1	60%	108	81	+27
Chinese Taipei	19	13	5	1	68.42%	638	295	+343
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0	100%	77	3	+74
Czech Republic	1	0	1	0	0.00%	5	17	–12
England XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	26	–26
Fiji	3	0	3	0	0.00%	33	155	–122
France XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	6	26	–20
Germany	4	2	2	0	50%	98	76	+22
Japan	28	4	24	0	14.29%	370	1212	–842
Japan XV	9	1	8	0	11.11%	86	299	–213
Kazakhstan	5	4	1	0	80%	126	67	+59
Kenya	7	4	2	1	57.14%	220	169	+51
Malaysia	11	11	0	0	100%	643	86	+557
Namibia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	22	–10
Netherlands	2	0	1	1	0.00%	10	25	–15
New Zealand U–23	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	47	–47
New Zealand Universities	5	0	5	0	0.00%	25	142	–117
Norway	1	1	0	0	100%	59	17	+42
Paraguay	1	1	0	0	100.00%	80	12	+68
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	100%	79	26	+53
Philippines	3	3	0	0	100%	241	30	+211
Portugal	2	1	1	0	50%	27	48	–21
Russia	5	0	5	0	0.00%	62	144	–82
Scotland XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	6	42	–36
Singapore	13	11	2	0	84.62%	540	112	+428
South Korea	36	20	16	0	80.56%	971	807	+164
Spain	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	29	–22
Sri Lanka	10	10	0	0	100%	509	91	+418
Thailand	9	6	3	0	66.67%	289	89	+200
Tonga	1	0	0	1	0.00%	22	44	–22
Tunisia	2	1	1	0	50%	34	41	–7
United Arab Emirates	7	7	0	0	100%	420	80	+340
United States	8	4	4	0	50%	198	201	–3
Uruguay	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	28	–25
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	57	–54
Zimbabwe	3	3	0	0	100%	86	29	+57
Total	237	127	103	7	53.59%	6,482	5,154	+1,328

Rugby World Cuprecord										Qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Not invited									Not invited
1991	Did not enter									Did not enter
1995	Did not qualify								2nd	3	2	0	1	274	41
1999									4th	3	1	0	2	39	88
2003									3rd	4	3	0	1	81	42
2007									3rd	6	2	0	4	79	243
2011									3rd	4	2	0	2	65	133
2015									P/O	9	5	0	4	333	201
2019									P/O	9	7	0	2	365	117
2023									P/O	5	2	0	3	88	177
2027	Qualified								1st	6	6	0	0	380	57
2031	To be determined								To be determined
Total	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	49	30	0	19	1704	1099
Champions  Runners–up  Third place  Fourth place  Home venue

Asia Rugby Championship record
Year	Position	P	W	D	L	F	A
1972	Runner-up	3	2	0	1	35	22
1974	Fifth place	3	1	0	2	43	61
1978	Fifth place	3	0	1	2	9	26
1980	Third place	4	3	0	1	231	51
1982	Third place	4	3	0	1	76	41
1984	Fifth place	3	1	0	2	67	70
1988	Third place	4	3	0	1	61	76
1990	Third place	4	2	0	2	93	56
1992	Runners up	4	3	0	1	156	66
1994	Third place	4	3	0	1	354	67
1996	Third place	4	3	0	1	298	49
1998	Third place	3	1	0	2	39	88
2000	Fourth place	3	0	0	3	47	136
2002	Third place	3	1	0	2	50	85
2004	Third place	2	1	0	1	75	47
2006–07	Third place	2	0	0	2	8	75
2008	Third place	4	2	0	2	96	154
2009	Fourth place	4	1	0	3	110	126
2010	Third place	4	2	0	2	65	133
2011	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	155	61
2012	Third place	2	2	0	2	159	98
2013	Third place	4	2	0	2	134	108
2014	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	196	65
2015	Runners-up	4	1	1	2	64	111
2016	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	95	139
2017	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	99	65
2018	Champions	4	4	0	0	227	44
2019	Champions	4	4	0	0	212	37
2022	Champions	1	1	0	0	23	21
2023	Champions	2	2	0	0	118	19
2024	Champions	3	3	0	0	122	11
2025	Champions	3	3	0	0	191	39
Total	6 titles	106	63	2	42	3705	2205

Cup of Nations record
Year	Position	P	W	D	L	F	A
2011	Champions	3	3	0	0	153	34
2012	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	85	37
2015	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	55	48
2016	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	85	33
2017	Runners-up	3	2	0	1	66	52
Total	1 title	15	11	0	4	444	204

On 26 September, Hong Kong announced a 34-player squad for their2025 end-of-year tour matches, including their two-match tour to Japan.^[13]

Head Coach:Andrew Douglas

• Caps updated: 15 November 2025(after Portugal v Hong Kong)

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined byWorld Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Harry Baron	Hooker	(1996-07-03)3 July 1996 (age 29)	1	Hong Kong Scottish
Calum Scott	Hooker	(2003-02-28)28 February 2003 (age 22)	9	Hong Kong Football Club
Rory Cinnamond	Prop	(1999-07-19)19 July 1999 (age 26)	10	HKU Sandy Bay
Zacceus Cinnamond	Prop	(1994-08-25)25 August 1994 (age 31)	18	HKU Sandy Bay
Sunia Fameitau	Prop	(1995-06-14)14 June 1995 (age 30)	5	HKU Sandy Bay
James Holmes	Prop		3	Hong Kong Football Club
Callum McFeat Smith	Prop	(1996-03-08)8 March 1996 (age 29)	7	Hong Kong Football Club
Faizal Solomona-Penesa	Prop	(1992-03-19)19 March 1992 (age 33)	21	Hong Kong Scottish
Dana Fourie	Lock		0	HKU Sandy Bay
Max Murphy	Lock		1	Hong Kong Football Club
Kyle Sullivan	Lock	(1995-06-20)20 June 1995 (age 30)	29	USRC Tigers
Jack Bartlett	Back row	(2000-01-23)23 January 2000 (age 26)	1	Hong Kong Football Club
Lachlan Doheny	Back row		0	Hong Kong Football Club
Joshua Hrstich (c)	Back row	(1990-11-15)15 November 1990 (age 35)	20	Hong Kong Football Club
Pierce MacKinlay-West	Back row	(1996-12-07)7 December 1996 (age 29)	15	Hong Kong Football Club
Tyler McNutt	Back row	(2003-04-30)30 April 2003 (age 22)	11	Hong Kong Football Club
James Sawyer	Back row	(1993-05-23)23 May 1993 (age 32)	16	Valley RFC
Brendon Nell	Scrum-half		1	HKU Sandy Bay
Chui Wai Lap Eric	Scrum-half		1	Kowloon
Joe Barker	Fly-half	(1991-05-14)14 May 1991 (age 34)	4	Kowloon
Gregor McNeish	Fly-half	(1992-05-02)2 May 1992 (age 33)	11	Hong Kong Scottish
Jack Abbott	Centre	(2000-10-06)6 October 2000 (age 25)	1	Hong Kong Football Club
Benjamin Axten-Burrett	Centre	(1992-10-01)1 October 1992 (age 33)	23	Hong Kong Football Club
Isaac Campbell-Wu	Centre		0	Valley RFC
Thomas Hill	Centre	(1989-10-20)20 October 1989 (age 36)	17	Hong Kong Football Club
James Rivers	Lock		0	Hong Kong Scottish
Guy Spanton	Centre		9	HKU Sandy Bay
Murray Brechin	Wing		3	Kowloon
Charlie Higson-Smith	Wing	(1991-08-03)3 August 1991 (age 34)	17	Hong Kong Football Club
Dylan McCann	Wing		1	Hong Kong Football Club
Elliott Quinton	Wing		0	Hong Kong Scottish
Marcus Ramage	Wing	(1998-05-27)27 May 1998 (age 27)	6	Hong Kong Scottish
Penetana Smith	Fullback		0	Hong Kong Football Club
Matt Worley	Fullback	(1997-09-06)6 September 1997 (age 28)	16	Hong Kong Football Club

1. Nick Hewson – 58
2. Alex Ng Wai Shing – 51
3. Salom, Yiu Kam Shing - 49
4. Rowan Varty – 43

The Hong Kong Rugby Union has inducted 16 players into its Hall of Fame as part of its Roll of Honour. Some of these players include;

• Ashley Billington, wing who holds the record for most tries scored in an international match.

Years	Coach
1987–1992	Jim Rowark
1993–1998	George Simpkin
1998–2001	Phil Campbell
2001–2003	Chris Roden
2004–2007	Ivan Torpey
2007–2008	John Walters
2008–2014	Dai Rees
2014–2015	Andrew Hall
2016–2018	Leigh Jones
2019–2021	Andrew Hall
2021	Craig Hammond1
2021	Simon Armor (Interim)1
2022–2023	Lewis Evans
2023–2025	Andrew Douglas
2025–Present	Logan Asplin

• ¹ Hammond appointed head coach in April 2021 but left two months later to return to the UK.^[14][15] He was subsequently replaced by Armor as interim coach ahead of the 2021 Asian Rugby Championship, which was later cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, leading to Armor's abrupt departure.^[16][17]

• Rugby union in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Sevens
• Hong Kong national rugby sevens team
• Hong Kong national under-20 rugby union team
• Hong Kong women's national rugby union team
• Hong Kong women's national rugby sevens team
• List of Hong Kong national rugby union players

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