Hong Kong China Rugby Men’s Representative XV Beat LeRIRO Fukuoka In Final Tour Game

The Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) men’s representative XV beat LeRIRO Fukuoka 42-19 in the final game of a two-match series in Japan.

Photo Credit – LeRIRO Fukuoka

The game brought an end to their week-long training camp in Japan, in which they played two Japan Rugby League One teams. The HKCR squad returns home to prepare for the first fifteen-a-side rugby match ever at Kai Tak Stadium against Japan ‘A’ on Friday, 24 October.

The HKCR XV side which won in Fukuoka, saw a dozen changes from the team which lost to Skyactivs Hiroshima 21-28. The visitors led 14-5 at half-time and finished as 42-19 winners against LeRIRO Fukuoka.

Andrew Douglas, Head of Technical Rugby and Elite Coach Development at HKCR, said: “We achieved a hell of a lot this week in Japan; we look to improve every match, and we certainly did that today, despite what was a pretty frustrating game.

We had a really good start, going up 14-0 after five minutes, but we didn’t respect the ball enough in the middle period and struggled with the referee’s interpretation. We’d do something positive, then make an error or concede a penalty.

There was some understandable frustration as we were down 12-3 in the penalty count at half-time, but that was a good experience as well. No excuses; that’s rugby, and we need to adapt to referees that don’t call the game the way we are used to in Hong Kong.”

Photo Credit – LeRIRO Fukuoka

All HKCR 36 squad tourists saw playing time on tour, and the stint in Japan, which included a training camp in Okinawa, provided the coaches with an opportunity to season players and establish team culture.

Douglas added, “We’re getting better and better and still growing. This camp was extremely valuable for the coaches, and it was extremely hard work for the players, but it was a great week. We achieved a lot, on and off the field.

The camp allowed us to focus on rugby in different ways than we can at home. It was good to get away from those distractions and spend significant time together as a team, fully immersed in rugby. We made real progress on our play and on our culture and our mix is spot on now.”

He added,  “We have the mix right now, where there is still that competitive desire to be better than the other guy at your position, but also a lot of respect amongst the players.”

HKCR Men’s XV Play Japan XV

The Japanese XV side lost heavily to a good Australia A team on the same day that HKCR played in Japan. The two sides will face each other for the second time in 2025, but it will be the first Men’s XVs game at Kai Tak Stadium.

“This week in Japan was always about giving guys opportunity and game time. Now we will start to get a bit narrower. It will obviously be a bit tougher in terms of selection as picking guys on form is tough after just two games.

We have the players that got us here in the first place, and other guys raising their hands, and I think we will be pretty close to picking what is our strongest squad. As long as everyone comes through well after today’s game, we will have some really interesting discussions for tomorrow and Monday.”

He added that the six-day turnaround is exactly what the Rugby World Cup 2027 will be. “There, you will have typically five to eight days between games, so we want to practice this sort of thing. In my books, this is ideal for us to understand that preparation,” added Douglas.

Japan and Hong Kong China Rugby News

• Japan XV Suffer Heavy Loss Against Australia A.
• Japan Brave Blossoms & Japan XV Training Squads for Remainder of 2025 Announced.
• Hong China Men’s XVs Representative Team Set For Debut at Kai Tak Stadium Against Japan XV in October 2025.
• HKCR Men’s XV Face LeRIRO Fukuoka on Japan Tour Ahead of XVs Match at Kai Tak Stadium.