No easy choices for Hong Kong coach Lewis Evans as squad named for Rugby World Cup repechage tournament in Dubai

The likes of lock James Cunningham and hooker Alex Post will be expected to form the spine of a solid pack, while Mark Prior also comes back into the forwards

A notable absence will be Benjamin Axten-Burrett, the Football Club centre who suffered a knee injury in the opening game of the league season against Tigers

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HKFC’s Josh Hrstic offloads under pressure from Valley’s James Cunningham who will start for Hong Kong in Dubai. Photo: Ike Li

Published: 7:45am, 12 Oct 2022Updated: 8:18am, 12 Oct 2022

In an ideal situation, Lewis Evans would not have named his Hong Kong squad for the Rugby World Cup repechage tournament in Dubai next month for at least another week.

But the October 10th deadline meant the 30-strong group tasked with qualifying for next year’s Rugby World Cup in Paris had to be selected on the basis of two games in the Nan Fung/Sewit Men’s Premiership, a handful of training sessions and in some instances, previous performances.

And while there are few surprises, Evans said he and his coaches were forced to make “some tough decisions and some 50-50 calls” when it came to who made the trip and who is on the standby list.

As with the group that beat South Korea to win the Asia Rugby Championship, and then lost to Tonga 44-22 in the World Cup qualifier in July, there is a healthy mix of youth and experience, with Hong Kong Football Club captain Josh Hrstich again leading the side that will take on Kenya, Portugal and the USA.

Tonga’s David Loloheai runs to score a try during the Rugby World Cup Pacific Play-Off match between Tonga and Hong Kong in July. Photo: Getty Images

The likes of lock James Cunningham and hooker Alex Post will be expected to form the spine of a solid pack, while Mark Prior, who Evans previously said was “outstanding” against Korea, but missed the Tonga game through injury, also comes back into the forwards.