Hong Kong China vs Canada Nations Cup 2026 Preview

rugbyasia247 Posted On November 13, 2026

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Hong Kong China vs Canada Nations Cup 2026 Preview

Hong Kong China will play their final Nations Cup 2026 fixture in Europe as they face Canada at Chambéry Savoie Stadium on Saturday, 14 November. Both sides suffered defeats last weekend and will square off for the 8th time this weekend.

Photo Credit: World Rugby

HKCR Head Coach Andrew Douglas told us before the tour, “Canada’s always been a team that I wanted to have a crack at. They’re ranked in a similar ranking to us, and they’ve been to several World Cups, and they’re on the rebuilding stage. They provide another different challenge to the USA. They probably play a lot more than the USA.”

Some of the impressive player stats for HKCR from the USA game saw hooker Alexander Post and Jack Bartlett each made 16 successful tackles; captain Joshua Hrstich had the joint-most carries (9) and 14 successful tackles.

Douglas has made two changes to their starting line-up. Dana Fourie starts at openside to join Jack Bartlett and captain Joshua Hrstich in the back row. Paul Altier replaces Seb Brien on the right wing after a niggle kept him out last week. Callum McCullough is on the bench as back-row cover while Matthew Worley comes into the reserves as cover for the backs.

The sides have played seven Tests, and Canada have won six of those, including the most recent of which 27-10, which was back in 2018 and was also played in France (Marseille). Hong Kong China’s only win was back in 1998 in Hong Kong.

Canada are now ranked 21st, and Hong Kong China are 24th coming into this weekend.

Since the Nations Cup fixtures in July, they also played the Pacific Nations Cup and a pre-tournament fixture against Japan. They came away with one win in three fixtures, which was defeating their neighbours and rivals, the USA, to 3rd place.

The Canadians lost to Georgia 14-59 last week in a heavy defeat in which they also had two yellow cards; a halftime score of 14-24 turned into a bigger defeat in which they were scoreless in the second half. The result means Canada have won just two of their last 13 matches.

It feels like we have written this all year, but discipline really is key. Canada have conceded just 29 penalties in the Nations Cup, the fewest of any side, while Hong Kong China have had 43, and also received the most yellow cards of any team (9). They picked up two again in the narrow loss to the USA.

Photo Credit: World Rugby – Canada vs Georgia

Head Coach Stephen Meehan said, “Hong Kong China are a side that thrives on broken play and loose balls. They’re very good at capitalising on kicks, grubbers and unpredictable bounces, so discipline will be crucial. We need to be smart in our approach and make sure we don’t give them the opportunities that other teams have allowed them to exploit.”

He has made 10 changes to his side, which appears stronger with the inclusion of players based in France who were unavailable against Georgia. Andrew Quattrin (US Carcassonne), Evan Olmstead (Nissa Rugby), Isaac Olson (Ampthill RUFC), Cole Keith (CAP Périgueux) and Matthew Oworu (Biarritz Olympique) are all included.

Ben LeSage will captain Canada for the first time.

Meehan said of their impact via Rugby Canada, “Our newest players have arrived with tremendous enthusiasm and energy. Tuesday afternoon, we had the best training session I’ve been part of since taking on this role. It was fantastic to see the players smiling, enjoying themselves and bringing that energy to the group. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum into the weekend.”

Josh Thiel will make his first appearance since 2022, and one report suggests his dad played for Hong Kong in 1988. Demetri Patterson is on debut on the right wing.

Canada have Women’s Head Coach, Kevin Rouet, as an advisor for this series but are without some regular players such as Brock Webster, Jack Reeves, Ross Braude, Luke McGrath or Nordli-Kelemeti.

You can see more about the Nations Cup fixtures and results here.

Hong Kong China vs Canada Nations Cup 2026

Match Permutations

Hong Kong China will become the higher-ranked of the two teams if they win by more than 15 points, with a two-place gain to 22nd possible if Romania also lose to USA.
Canada would drop to 24th if that was the case – equaling their all-time low with another place fall if Zimbabwe beat Uruguay by the same margin.
If Canada win, they could climb to 20th if Zimbabwe overcome Uruguay and at least one of the margins exceeds 15 points.
If Hong Kong China loses, they could fall from 24th if Zimbabwe beat Uruguay.

Hong Kong China Men’s XV Squad vs Canada

1. Sunia FAMEITAU; 2. Alex POST; 3. Faizal SOLOMONA-PENESA; 4. James RIVERS 5. Maximilian MURPHY; 6. Jack BARTLETT; 7. Dana FOURIE; 8. Josh HRSTICH (Captain); 9. Jack COMBES; 10. Nathan De THIERRY; 11. Harry SAYERS; 12. Isaac CAMPBELL-WU; 13. Marcus RAMAGE; 14. Paul ALTIER; 15. Dylan MCCANN; 16. Harry BARON; 17. Thomas CONCU; 18. Keelan CHAPMAN; 19. Lachlan DOHENY; 20. Callum MCCULLOUGH; 21. CHUI Wai Lap 22. Joe BARKER 23. Matthew WORLEY. Coach: Alexander DOUGLAS; Manager: Charles CHEUNG.