Hong Kong national rugby league team
| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Thunder | |||||
| Governing body | Hong Kong Rugby League | |||||
| Region | Asia Pacific | |||||
| Head coach | Matthew Jones | |||||
| Captain | Jason Chung Kan Yip | |||||
| Most caps | Toby Lei (8) | |||||
| Top try-scorer | Ben Ryan (5) | |||||
| Top point-scorer | Richard Lindsay (30) | |||||
| IRL ranking | 47th | |||||
| Uniforms | ||||||
| ||||||
| Team results | ||||||
| First international | ||||||
| 22-24 Japan (Kowloon, Hong Kong; 4 November 2017) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
| Japan 20-32 (Inagi, Tokyo; 16 June 2018) | ||||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||||
| 6-62 Poland (St Mary's Stadium, Australia; 4 October 2018) | ||||||
| World Cup | ||||||
| Appearances | 0 | |||||
The Hong Kong national rugby league team represents Hong Kong in the sport of rugby league.
History
The Hong Kong Rugby League (HKRL) was formed in December 2014, with the first official rugby league matches in Hong Kong being played in 2015[1] and the inaugural Hong Kong Super League being contested in 2017.[2]
Hong Kong made its Test debut in November 2017, losing to Japan in Kowloon.[3] Hong Kong plays Japan for a trophy called the East Asia Cup.
Hong Kong was included in the RLIF world rankings for the first time in December 2017.[4] Hong Kong is currently ranked 47th in the world.[5]
Ben Ryan scored the first try for Hong Kong during their debut international against Japan. He also told fellow international Rugby League player Latrel Mitchell about it in Port Macquarie.
After a 6 year hiatus due to COVID - HKRL will be returning to the International scene with an East Asia Cup game vs Japan in October 2024.
In December 2024, Hong Kong travelled to Manila to take on the Philippines to compete for the President's Cup. Hong Kong won the game 34 - 20.
Current squad
Squad selected for 2024 East Asia Cup
- Andrew Welling[6][7]
- Au Chi Wai
- Blake Atherton
- Callum Man [8] [9] [10]
- Conan Freeman
- Dan Chui
- Gus Spence
- Doug O’Donnell
- Jason Yip
- Kenta Brown
- Matthew Jones
- Nelson Chan
- Tommy Lee
- Toby Lei
- Tommy Wong
- Hogan Toomalatai
IRL Rankings
| Official rankings as of December 2024 | |||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 1 | Australia | 100 | |
| 2 | New Zealand | 86 | |
| 3 | England | 84 | |
| 4 | 1 | Tonga | 63 |
| 5 | 1 | Samoa | 54 |
| 6 | 1 | Papua New Guinea | 53 |
| 7 | 1 | Fiji | 44 |
| 8 | France | 30 | |
| 9 | 2 | Serbia | 23 |
| 10 | Cook Islands | 22 | |
| 11 | 1 | Netherlands | 22 |
| 12 | 5 | Wales | 18 |
| 13 | 2 | Malta | 17 |
| 14 | 6 | Ukraine | 13 |
| 15 | 1 | Greece | 12 |
| 16 | 7 | Lebanon | 12 |
| 17 | 4 | Italy | 11 |
| 18 | 2 | Ireland | 9 |
| 19 | 1 | Jamaica | 8 |
| 20 | 1 | Czech Republic | 8 |
| 21 | 2 | Chile | 8 |
| 22 | 3 | Scotland | 7 |
| 23 | 4 | Philippines | 7 |
| 24 | 7 | United States | 7 |
| 25 | 1 | Poland | 5 |
| 26 | 2 | South Africa | 5 |
| 27 | 5 | Germany | 5 |
| 28 | 3 | Norway | 5 |
| 29 | 4 | Brazil | 4 |
| 30 | 4 | Kenya | 4 |
| 31 | 10 | Canada | 4 |
| 32 | Montenegro | 4 | |
| 33 | 2 | North Macedonia | 3 |
| 34 | 15 | Argentina | 3 |
| 35 | 5 | Albania | 2 |
| 36 | Bulgaria | 2 | |
| 37 | 7 | Ghana | 2 |
| 38 | 9 | Nigeria | 2 |
| 39 | 5 | Turkey | 1 |
| 40 | 3 | Cameroon | 1 |
| 41 | 2 | Japan | 1 |
| 42 | 4 | Spain | 1 |
| 43 | 1 | Colombia | 1 |
| 44 | 1 | El Salvador | 0 |
| 45 | Russia | 0 | |
| 46 | 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 |
| 47 | 3 | 0 | |
| 48 | 3 | Solomon Islands | 0 |
| 49 | 8 | Vanuatu | 0 |
| 50 | Niue | 0 | |
| 51 | 1 | Latvia | 0 |
| 52 | 2 | Denmark | 0 |
| 53 | 2 | Belgium | 0 |
| 54 | 4 | Estonia | 0 |
| 55 | 9 | Sweden | 0 |
| 56 | 12 | Morocco | 0 |
| 57 | 9 | Hungary | 0 |
| Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT | |||
References
- ^ Hong Kong Rugby League launched
- ^ HKRL announce inaugural Super League competition
- ^ Brave Hong Kong lose narrowly against Japan in historic encounter
- ^ PNG climbs to 10th place in World Rugby League Ranking
- ^ "IRL - World Rankings". International Rugby League. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ "Andrew Welling - Playing Career - RLP". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ "HK Residents XIII 2017 Squad announced – Hong Kong Rugby League". Retrieved 23 January 2025.
- ^ "Alumnus makes international rugby league debut for Hong Kong". 17 December 2024.
- ^ "Callum Man: From Kennet School to Hong Kong Rugby League". 25 October 2024.
- ^ https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/callum-man/summary.html.
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