2027 RWC Qualifier: Hong Kong thrash South Korea to reach their first ever Rugby World Cup

With a spot at stake for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, Hong Kong China showed why an Asian team deserved finally deserved an automatic spot to take part in Rugby’s grand event outscoring the hosts by ten tries to three in a dominant display despite a first half red card to centre Ben Axten-Burrett.

On occasions where Hong Kong China looked favourites, they often managed to fall at the last hurdle, their 7s team missing out on the Olympics with back to back last minute tries so there was a sense ahead of kick off that anything could happen but they showed why they are the dominant team in Asia behind Japan after taking just two minutes to score the first try through their flying winger Matt Worley.

The tries were flying in the first half as Alex Post, Josh Hrstich, and Paul Altier added three tries in quick succession to give the visitors an early Bonus point.

The Hong Kong China’s driving maul was unstoppable, and Post went over for his second before Axten-Burrett saw red for a head clash with Chang Yong Heung. However, the visitors were still in complete control and James Sawyer got his sides sixth try just before half time.

South Korea’s poor defending carried on in the second half as winger Harry Sayers ran in for an easy try before Hrstich went over for his second. Max Denmark scored a brilliant solo try soon after coming off the bench to restore Hong Kong China’s dominance in between two tries scored by Korean winger Chang Yong Heung.

With ten minutes to go, Hwang In Bum scored Korea’s third try to add a bit of respect to the score but Hong Kong China had the last say as powerful ball carrier Luke Van der Smit powered over from a tap and go. Richmond Rugby’s latest signing Paul Altier (joining from French Nationale side Chambery) added the extras as Hong Kong China went 100% off the tee in a warm afternoon.

In the end, Hong Kong China were deserved winners, dominating the Asia Rugby Championship and have their spot for Australia 2027 all wrapped up.

TRIES: 3 (Chang Yong Heung 57’, 64’, Hwang In Bum 68’)

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Jang Hyun Goo 58’, 65’)

PENALTIES: 1 (Jang Hyun Goo 15’)

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Kim Nam Uk 20’)

15-Jang Hyun Goo 14-Jeong Yeon Sik 13-Park Geun Yu 12-Lee Jin Kyu 11-Chang Yong Heung 10-Kim Ki Min 9-Heo Jae Jun 1-Na Kwan Young 2-Kim Jeep 3-Lee Hyun Soo 4-Lee Hyeon Je 5-Jang Seok Hwan 6-Noh Ok Gi 7-Park Jun Young 8-Hwang Jeong Wook

Remplaçants: 16-Hwang In Bum 17-Choi Ho Young 18-Lee Jae Hwan 19-Yang Dae Young 20-Choi Seong Deok 21-Chae Min Seong 22-Kim Nam Uk 23-Kim Won Ju

TRIES: 10 (Worley 2’, Post 13’, 28’, Hrstich 21’, 54’, Altier 24’, Sawyer 40’, Sayers 45’, Denmark 61’, Van der Smit 78’)

CONVERSIONS: 10 (De Thierry (3', 14', 21', 25', 29', 40', 46', 55', 62', Altier 79’)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 1 (Axten-Burrett 37’)

15. Matt Worley, 14. Paul Altier, 13. Ben Axten-Burrett, 12. Tom Hill, 11. Harry Sayers, 10. Nathan De Thierry, 9. Jack Combes, 1. Sunia Fameitau, 2. Alex Post, 3. Keelan Chapman, 4. Mark Prior, 5. Patrick Jenkinson, 6. Callum McCullough, 7. James Sawyer, 8. Joshua Hrstich.

16. Calum Scott, 17. Rory Cinnamond, 18. Faizal Solomona Penesa, 19. Luke Van der Smit, 20, Pierce MacKinlay-West, 21. James Christie, 22. James Barker, 23. Max Denmark.

Five Talking Points: South Korea 22 - 70 Hong Kong

In 2017, Hong Kong China’s women’s team qualified for the World Cup, Hong Kongs first ever appearance at a World Cup. With Japan dominating men’s rugby in Asia, Hong Kongs men’s never had the opportunity but with the expansion to 24 teams, Hong Kong China’s dominating display at this years Asia Rugby Championship shows that they deserve their spot.

Hong Kong China scored 35 points with 15-men, and 35 points with 14-men. The red card didn’t have any impact as the game was pretty much done after 35 minutes but the staff will be pleased that Hong Kong China still managed to run in five tries with a man down.

After Covid, everything started looking promising for South Korean rugby. A new championship was set up, a last-minute defeat to Hong Kong in 2022 saw their ‘slim’ World Cup chances ended but the future looked promising. Fast forward a few years and things have gone downhill. Back to back defeats to the UAE, the discontinuation of their championship, lack of training and back to back heavy defeats to Hong Kong China have unfortunately shown their decline.

The UAE’s 29-21 victory away to Sri Lanka yesterday put the Emiratis in second place on the Asia Rugby Championship table. Today’s heavy defeat means that there are no changes in the table and the UAE will now face off against ‘Africa 2’ to determine who will take part in the final repechage tournament.

Japan left Asia’s Rugby Championship in 2017 after dominating the tournament for years, allowing new teams to get their hands on the trophy. Hong Kong China have shown why they are the second best team in Asia as they have dominated the cup ever since.