Rugby World Cup: Hong Kong add fresh blood for South Korea clash as 2023 beckons for part-timers
- Head coach Lewis Evans hands debuts to Football Club pair Hrstich and McCormick-Houston, Tigers’ David Tang, and UK-based Jack Combes
- A win in final of Asia Rugby Championship would set up game against Tonga for spot at next year’s tournament in Paris
Hong Kong will head to South Korea next week for the final of the Asia Rugby Championship with a host of new faces in head coach Lewis Evans’ first squad.
Victory on July 9 would set up a 2023 World Cup qualifier against Tonga in Australia two weeks later, and while the winners get a ticket to Paris, the losers will have another shot in a four-team repechage tournament in November.
After two years of uncertainty and upheaval, Hong Kong’s 29-strong group who will attempt their first steps towards qualifying for next year’s showpiece have changed in comparison with the squad who narrowly missed out on reaching the 2019 tournament in Japan.
In come the likes of Josh Hrstich and John McCormick-Houston, from Dettol Premiership champions Hong Kong Football Club, along with David Tang Man-chun of USRC Tigers, and Jack Combes, who is one of a number of overseas players named in the squad.
Sevens trio Bryn Phillips, James Sawyer and Harry Laidler also make the cut, as does Matt Worley, who is plying his trade on the wing with Bedford Blues in the second tier of the professional game in England.
Among those missing is former joint captain Liam Slatem, who shared the duties with James Cunningham, and Evans expects to name the man he wants to lead on the field on Monday.
