Hong Kong national rugby league team

Last updated

Hong Kong
Hong Kong RL.png
Team information
NicknameThunder
Governing body Hong Kong Rugby League
RegionAsia Pacific
Head coachMatthew Jones
CaptainJason Chung Kan Yip
Most caps Toby Lei (7)
Gus Spence (7)
Top try-scorerBen Ryan (5)
Top point-scorerRichard Lindsay (30)
IRL ranking 47th
Uniforms
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body Vwidered.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
First colours
Team results
First international
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 22-24 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg
(Kowloon, Hong Kong; 4 November 2017)
Biggest win
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 20-32 Hong Kong  Flag of Hong Kong.svg
(Inagi, Tokyo; 16 June 2018)
Biggest defeat
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 6-62 Poland  Flag of Poland.svg
(St Mary's Stadium, Australia; 4 October 2018)
World Cup
Appearances0
Hong Kong playing Poland in 2018 Poland v Hong Kong ENWC 2018 (2).jpg
Hong Kong playing Poland in 2018

The Hong Kong national rugby league team represents Hong Kong in the sport of rugby league.

Contents

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 a East Asia Cup game vs Japan in October 2024.

Current squad

Squad selected for 2024 East Asia Cup

IRL Rankings

Official rankings as of December 2024
RankChangeTeamPts %
1Steady2.svgFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 100
2Steady2.svgFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 86
3Steady2.svgFlag of England.svg  England 84
4Increase2.svg 1Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 63
5Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 54
6Increase2.svg 1Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 53
7Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 44
8Steady2.svgFlag of France.svg  France 30
9Increase2.svg 2Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 23
10Steady2.svgFlag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 22
11Increase2.svg 1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 22
12Increase2.svg 5Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 18
13Increase2.svg 2Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 17
14Increase2.svg 6Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 13
15Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 12
16Decrease2.svg 7Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 12
17Decrease2.svg 4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11
18Decrease2.svg 2Four Provinces Flag.svg  Ireland 9
19Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 8
20Increase2.svg 1Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 8
21Increase2.svg 2Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 8
22Decrease2.svg 3Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 7
23Increase2.svg 4Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 7
24Increase2.svg 7Flag of the United States.svg  United States 7
25Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 5
26Increase2.svg 2Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 5
27Decrease2.svg 5Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 5
28Decrease2.svg 3Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 5
29Increase2.svg 4Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 4
30Decrease2.svg 4Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 4
31Increase2.svg 10Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 4
32Steady2.svgFlag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 4
33Increase2.svg 2Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 3
34Increase2.svg 15Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 3
35Increase2.svg 5Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 2
36Steady2.svgFlag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 2
37Decrease2.svg 7Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 2
38Decrease2.svg 9Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 2
39Decrease2.svg 5Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1
40Decrease2.svg 3Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 1
41Decrease2.svg 2Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1
42Decrease2.svg 4Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1
43Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1
44Decrease2.svg 1Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 0
45Steady2.svgFlag of Russia.svg  Russia 0
46Increase2.svg 1Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
47Increase2.svg 3Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 0
48Increase2.svg 3Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands 0
49Increase2.svg 8Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu 0
50Steady2.svgFlag of Niue.svg  Niue 0
51Decrease2.svg 1Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 0
52Increase2.svg 2Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 0
53Increase2.svg 2Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0
54Decrease2.svg 4Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 0
55Decrease2.svg 9Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 0
56Decrease2.svg 12Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 0
57Decrease2.svg 9Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

Related Research Articles

The Guam national football team represents Guam, an overseas territory of the United States, in international football and is controlled by the Guam Football Association. They are affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation's East Asian Football Federation region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong Stadium</span> Main sports venue of Hong Kong

Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the original Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at executive level, 18,510 upper-level seats and 57 seats for wheelchair users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong national cricket team</span> National cricket team in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong men's national cricket team is the team that represents Hong Kong in international competitions. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan national rugby league team</span> International rugby league team

The Japan national rugby league team, nicknamed the Samurais, represents Japan in rugby league football. Japan have played some international competition since 1994. The Japanese National Cup, the JRL domestic club competition, was founded in 1998. In 2021 the season was restarted after a break for COVID with five teams in two divisions, three clubs in East Japan, the Abiko Ducks, Mitaka Spartans and South Ikebukuro Rabbitohs; and two clubs in West Japan, the Kamisenryu Sea Turtles and The Kansai Kaminari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan national cricket team</span>

The Japan national cricket team is the men's team that represents the country of Japan in international cricket. The team is organised by the Japan Cricket Association (JCA), which has been a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1989. Japan made its international cricketing debut at the 1996 ACC Trophy in Malaysia. Most of the team's matches are played in regional competitions, generally against other teams in the ICC East Asia-Pacific development region. Between 2008 and 2012, Japan participated in the World Cricket League (WCL), reaching WCL Division Five at one point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong national rugby union team</span>

The Hong Kong national rugby union team, nicknamed the Dragons, has made the qualifying rounds of the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Hong Kong is administered by the Hong Kong Rugby Union since 1952, and successfully competes annually in the Asia Rugby Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Japan</span>

Rugby union in Japan is a moderately popular sport. Japan has the fourth largest population of rugby union players in the world and the sport has been played there for over a century. There are 125,000 Japanese rugby players, 3,631 official rugby clubs, and the Japan national team is ranked 12th in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China national rugby union team</span>

The China national rugby union team represents the People's Republic of China in international rugby union. China have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, but attempted to qualify in both 2003 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Asia</span>

Rugby union in Asia is governed by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU). As of December 2009 there are 28 ARFU member unions, of whom 15 are full members of World Rugby, and six further associate members of World Rugby in Asia. The flagship tournament for promoting the sport in Asia is the Asian Five Nations, which launched in 2008, and which most recently in 2011 saw the national teams of Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and the UAE, compete in the main tournament.

The Hong Kong women's national rugby union team represents Hong Kong in women's rugby union. They played their first international match in 1998 against Japan. They made their Rugby World Cup debut in 2017 in Ireland.

The Fiji women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Fiji, representing them at rugby union. They played their first test against Samoa in 2006, and compete annually in the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship. In 2022, they created history when they scored the third-highest points in both Men's and Women's Rugby at the Oceania Championship when they trounced Papua New Guinea 152–0. They made their first Rugby World Cup appearance at the delayed tournament in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia Rugby Championship</span> Annual rugby union competition

The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was called the Asian Five Nations from 2008 to 2014.

Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Sri Lanka</span>

Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 160,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Singapore</span> Rugby in Singapore

Rugby union is not a major sport in Singapore. Singapore is currently ranked 58th in the world and 6th in Asia. As of February 2015, there over 12,000 registered players, with more than 2,000 women playing the sport. There are also 15 formally organised clubs with 4 registered Women's sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series</span>

The Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Asia. Initially contested as a single tournament, the championship was expanded into a two-tournament series in 2014. The competition is sanctioned and sponsored by Asia Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentina national rugby league team</span>

The Argentina national rugby league team represent Argentina in the sport of rugby league football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asia Super League</span> International basketball league in the Far East

The East Asia Super League (EASL) is an international basketball league featuring clubs from Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cado Lee</span> Hong Kong rugby player

Cado Lee Ka ToMH is a Hong Kong rugby union and rugby sevens player. He plays for USRC Tigers RFC, the Hong Kong national sevens team and the Hong Kong national rugby union team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merevesi Ofakimalino</span> Rugby player

Merevesi Fuga Ofakimalino is a Fijian rugby union player. She plays for Suva in the ANZ Marama Championship and for Fiji at an international level.

References

  1. Hong Kong Rugby League launched
  2. HKRL announce inaugural Super League competition
  3. Brave Hong Kong lose narrowly against Japan in historic encounter
  4. PNG climbs to 10th place in World Rugby League Ranking
  5. "IRL - World Rankings". International Rugby League. Retrieved 29 December 2024.