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 (7) Gus Spence (7) | |||||
Top try-scorer | Ben Ryan (5) | |||||
Top point-scorer | Richard Lindsay (30) | |||||
IRL ranking | 50th | |||||
Uniforms | ||||||
| ||||||
Team results | ||||||
First international | ||||||
Hong Kong 22-24 Japan (Kowloon, Hong Kong; 4 November 2017) | ||||||
Biggest win | ||||||
Japan 20-32 Hong Kong (Inagi, Tokyo; 16 June 2018) | ||||||
Biggest defeat | ||||||
Hong Kong 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.
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 45th 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.
Squad selected for 2024 East Asia Cup
Official rankings as of 30 June 2024 | |||
Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
1 | Australia | 100 | |
2 | New Zealand | 82 | |
3 | England | 80 | |
4 | Samoa | 67 | |
5 | Tonga | 49 | |
6 | 1 | Fiji | 47 |
7 | 1 | Papua New Guinea | 46 |
8 | France | 28 | |
9 | Lebanon | 22 | |
10 | Cook Islands | 20 | |
11 | Serbia | 19 | |
12 | Netherlands | 17 | |
13 | Italy | 15 | |
14 | 1 | Greece | 15 |
15 | 1 | Malta | 14 |
16 | Ireland | 14 | |
17 | Wales | 13 | |
18 | Jamaica | 10 | |
19 | Scotland | 9 | |
20 | Ukraine | 7 | |
21 | Czech Republic | 7 | |
22 | Germany | 6 | |
23 | 3 | Chile | 6 |
24 | Poland | 6 | |
25 | 3 | Norway | 6 |
26 | 1 | Kenya | 5 |
27 | 4 | Philippines | 5 |
28 | 3 | South Africa | 4 |
29 | Nigeria | 4 | |
30 | Ghana | 4 | |
31 | 2 | United States | 4 |
32 | 4 | Montenegro | 4 |
33 | 2 | Brazil | 3 |
34 | 2 | Turkey | 3 |
35 | 7 | North Macedonia | 3 |
36 | 2 | Bulgaria | 3 |
37 | 2 | Cameroon | 2 |
38 | 1 | Spain | 2 |
39 | 1 | Japan | 1 |
40 | 1 | Albania | 1 |
41 | 5 | Canada | 1 |
42 | 2 | Colombia | 1 |
43 | 2 | El Salvador | 1 |
44 | 1 | Morocco | 1 |
45 | Russia | 0 | |
46 | 2 | Sweden | 0 |
47 | 2 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 |
48 | 2 | Hungary | 0 |
49 | 3 | Argentina | 0 |
50 | Hong Kong | 0 | |
51 | 3 | Solomon Islands | 0 |
52 | 5 | Niue | 0 |
53 | 1 | Latvia | 0 |
54 | 1 | Denmark | 0 |
55 | 6 | Belgium | 0 |
56 | 1 | Estonia | 0 |
57 | 6 | Vanuatu | 0 |
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT |
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.
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.
The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's and Wheelchair equivalent.
The Tonga national rugby league team represents Tonga in rugby league football. They are currently the fifth ranked team in the world. The team was formed to compete in the 1986 Pacific Cup, and have competed at six Rugby League World Cups, starting in 1995 and continuing consecutively until the most recent tournament. Their best result was at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were semi-finalists.
The Greece national rugby league team represents Greece in rugby league. The team has been participating in international competition since 2003.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Asia-Pacific Rugby League (APRL) is an umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football in Oceania, East and South East Asia, and South America. The Confederation aims to act as a counterpart to the European Rugby League.
The Argentina national rugby league team represent Argentina in the sport of rugby league football.
The Rugby League Asian Cup was a rugby league football tournament for Asian nations that was held in 2012 and 2013. Both editions of the tournament featured the Philippines and Thailand playing each other once. It is run by the Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation and the Trophy itself was donated by the RLIF.
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.
A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2019 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the RLIF World Rankings.