Belgium hosts Hong Kong China at the Edmond Machtens Stadium in Brussels on Saturday, 31 October, 2026, for a one-off test as the European Rugby World Cup hopefuls face Asia’s first-time RWC qualifiers in a match that promises plenty of intrigue and a bit of spice.
Photo Credit: HKCR
The Hong Kong China Men’s XV European tour sees them first take on Belgium in Brussels before the Nations Cup matches against the USA and Canada in France, ending off the year with a home Test against Tonga. These two sides have actually played 4 Tests, and the Asian side leads the head-to-head 3-1. The last time was in Brussels in 2019, when Hong Kong China won 36-17.
The selected touring HKCR squad has seen several changes to that which toured South America, where they lost twice and beat Uruguay in their final Test of the first half of the Nations Cup 2026.
Head Coach Andrew Douglas told us before they left Hong Kong, “We just have to make sure that we start this tour with a positive performance against Belgium, and that is an official Test match, even though it’s not part of the Nations Cup.”
A strong start is needed according to the stats too. Hong Kong China have yet to score a try in the opening quarter of their Nations Cup matches, scoring just six points, but have conceded seven tries and 43 points in that period.
Belgium are ranked one place higher than the Asian champions, at 23rd. The match will carry special interest as the naysayers have been critical of HKCR’s qualification to the RWC in Australia, with Belgium narrowly missing out on qualification from the Repechage tournament in which they drew their final game against Samoa, who qualified at their expense.
“I think they’ll be highly motivated and they’re a quality opposition. They’ve really developed their rugby really well over the last few years. It will have an extra spice to it, because obviously Belgium probably think they deserve to be there (RWC 2027), to be honest, especially after our Samoa result. They drew with Samoa at the end of that Repechage – so they’ll be highly motivated to prove they should be at a World Cup,” said Douglas.
“We’ve gotta use that in our favour as well, to say that we deserve to be there. We’re number two in Asia, and we went through a process that was put in front of us by World Rugby.”
Photo Credit: HKCR
Based on the three Nations Cup fixtures they played, they are the only team with a sub-80% tackle success rate (79.8%), and are ranked lowest for breakdown steals with just one.
Captain Josh Hstrich added, “Having missed out on Rugby World Cups before, we definitely understand as a playing group that Belgium, they’ll have us circled and they’ll be coming for us, and we’ve just got to be good enough to answer that and put another thing to bed.”
The matchday squad sees the return of flyhalf Nathan de Thierry, who last played in the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship in July 2025. Centre Benjamin Carter-Smith was one of two uncapped players announced in the touring team, and he will earn his first cap on Saturday, becoming the Union’s 388th capped representative since 1952.
For Belgium, known as the Black Devils, since that Samoan game, they have lost to Portugal and Romania, but beaten Germany, the Dutch and Switzerland in the 2026 Rugby Europe Men’s Championship in which they finished 5th.
Laurent Dossat has been the head coach of the Black Devils since August 2023, when he took over from Mike Ford.
Match Permutations
- Belgium must beat Hong Kong China by more than 15 points to improve on 23rd place; if they do, they will reach an equal all-time high of 21st.
- Hong Kong China cannot fall from 24th even in defeat.
- The sides will swap places if Hong Kong China win.
Hong Kong China Men’s XV Squad vs Belgium
More of the HKCR matchday squad will be made available here.
Starting XV
1. Sunia FAMEITAU 2. Harry BARON 3. Faizal SOLOMONA-PENESA 4. Maximilian MURPHY 5. James RIVERS 6. Jack BARTLETT 7. Pierce MACKINLAY-WEST 8. Josh HRSTICH (Captain) 9. Jack COMBES 10. Nathan De THIERRY 11. Seb BRIEN 12. Isaac CAMPBELL-WU 13. Benjamin CARTER-SMITH* 14. Charles HIGSON-SMITH 15. Paul ALTIER
Reserves
16. Alexander POST 17. Thomas CONCU 18. Keelan CHAPMAN 19. Lachlan DOHENY 20. Dana FOURIE 21. Brendon NELL 22. Dylan McCANN 23. Marcus RAMAGE.
Coach: Andrew DOUGLAS
Manager: Charles CHEUNG
Belgium Squad vs Hong Kong China
Match Officials
- Referee: Benoît Rousselet (FFR)
- Assistant Referee 1: Belgium appointment
- Assistant Referee 2: Belgium appointment
How To Watch the Hong Kong China vs Belgium Test
The match will be available on RugbypassTV in some regions.
Hong Kong China Rugby News 2026
- Hong Kong China Men’s XV’s Squad Final 2026 Tests – “I think it’s a great opportunity for us one year out from a World Cup”.
- Hong Kong China Men’s XV – “We’re Trending In the Right Direction”.
- 2026/27 Rugby For Good Hong Kong Premiership – Season Preview.
- Toby Booth Rejoins HKCR Men’s XV Coaching Setup.
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