The Hong Kong China men lost to a stronger Portugal side at Estadio Nacional in Lisbon after being in the game at halftime and trailing 21-12, before falling to a 58-12 defeat. The result means the hosts ended their four-match losing streak, but the poor second half from the visitors shows it's still a long road to RWC 2027.
Begic L. (9'), Broeiro Bento S. (12'), Rodrigo M. (24', 49'), Storti R. (60'), Bello M. (65'), Baptista V. (68'), Vareiro M. (70'), Martins N. (77')
Tries
Fameitau S. (28'), Spanton G. (37')
Guedes N. (13', 25', 69', 71', 78')
Conversions
McNeish G. (29')
Guedes N. (40')
Penalties
The Hong Kong China men lost to a stronger Portugal side at Estadio Nacional in Lisbon after being in the game at halftime and trailing 21-12, before falling to a 58-12 defeat. The result means the hosts ended their four-match losing streak, but the poor second half from the visitors shows it's still a long road to RWC 2027.
Os Lobos were the higher-ranked side at 20th compared to 23rd for Hong Kong China, and victory in front of noisy home support means they now lead the head-to-head 2-1 over the Asian side. Portugal were desperate for a win, with their last Test victory coming in February against Romania.
Hong Kong China Rugby Men’s XVs head coach Logan Asplin said after the loss, “It was a tough game. I was impressed by how we fought back from a 19-nil deficit in the first half, but we let them off the hook too easily, with our lineout and our discipline letting us down. When we turned the heat up on them, we scored tries, but we conceded points too easily after that.”
The visitors started the match as the better of the two teams. Captain Josh Hrstich had another big shift from number 8 - this was his 13th consecutive test start. But for all of their intent to start, they were met by stern defence. Despite early good ball retention, Hong Kong China struggled to break the Portuguese defensive line. Then the Portuguese backs showed their class, and the HKCR lineout misfired all game, giving away the ball and not allowing them to establish a platform.
Asplin added, “There were many positives, though: we had a good week, and we need this exposure to close the gaps with teams at this level. I think to get into a 19-point hole off of our own errors and fight back to be one try off it at halftime shows we can front up against these teams.”
Portugal In their loss to Uruguay last week, secured 14/17 lineouts, and they scored their first try from a lineout maul in the 10th minute. They also won the aerial battle. Unfortunately for HKCR, Matt Worley was a late drop-out from the starting fullback position after picking up a niggle.
Portugal had scored three tries to lead 19-0 and were cruising. The Portuguese are also rebuilding as they only had 8 players in the matchday 23 who played RWC 2023. The average Portuguese caps of 20 per player were double that of HKCR, with 10 per player.
The one positive period of play the HKCr mentioned came when fly-half Gregor McNeish placed a good kick for a lineout, which they did win, and Sunia Fameitau scored from short range after for his first test try in what was his 5th consecutive match. With the momentum, HKCR did put the hosts under real pressure.
Hrstich had a run down the flank showing a clean pair of heels and McNeish threw a fantastic pass to wing Guy Spanton for a really well-worked try in the 38th minute. Portugal scored a late penalty to make it 22-12 at the break.
The second half was all Portugal as they ran in nine tries in the game and HKCR were kept scoreless in the second period and had two wings sin-binned with yellow cards - Marcus Ramage was punished for repeated team infringements and Guy Spanton for a tip tackle.
Portugal deserved their win and their centre and all-time leading try-scorer Roderigo Mata was among those who scored, grabbing a brace and taking his tally to 35.
For the Asian champions, they gave debuts to six players as they try to build towards Rugby World Cup 2027 (RWC 2027).
Asplin said, “Three new caps in the starters and three off the bench; Max Murphy was impressive and Jack Bartlett is a really good find. Dylan McCann, as a young 22-year-old, making his debut and starting at fullback in a position that Matt Worley has really made his own, was very brave. Brendon Nell (scrumhalf) has massive potential, and Eric Chui (scrumhalf) - who was in hospital with pneumonia this week - still rolled on to get his debut, which was awesome to see for him. We just need to be more consistent and learn how to play at an international level as the game goes on.”
He admitted the team's conditioning, discipline and set-piece standards were not good enough. “The players know that by no means was that our best performance. It would be lovely to have another test, but we have had some good exposure in this window, and I think it shows that we need to play at this level all of the time.
We have made some really important growth and are now setting challenges for our contracted players to go back into Club rugby and excel. We also need to ensure that our club rugby is pushing them as well. We want our players to be making significant dents in the club game with our performances across the league now,” added Asplin.
