Six months on from the draw and Guy Spanton is still pinching himself.
The 28-year-old Sydney schooled outside back is one of four Australians in the Hong Kong squad that will make their first Rugby World Cup appearance next year.
That would be special enough in its own right but in December Hong Kong drew the Wallabies, All Blacks and Chile in Pool A for the 2027 tournament in Australia.
Watch the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season with every match streaming live and on demand on the home of rugby, Stan Sport
Spanton was born and raised in Hong Kong but speaks with a strong Aussie twang thanks to his time at Shore School and Northern Suburbs.
There he rubbed shoulders with now Hong Kong captain Tom Hill, schoolboy prodigy Blaise Barnes and Waratahs-in-waiting Henry O’Donnell and Hugh Sinclair.
The Hong Kong squad also includes ex-Australia age-group lock Lachlan Doheny and young speedster Dylan McCann – a St Joseph’s College schoolmate of now Wallabies star Max Jorgensen.
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The squad gathered at Soho House in Hong Kong to watch the broadcast from Nine’s Sydney headquarters as Dan Carter announced a dream draw.
“To get Australia and New Zealand was just an unbelievable feeling, surreal,” a beaming Spanton told Wide World of Sports at the Hong Kong Sevens.
“It still hasn’t sunk in. I play out wide and watch a bit of league so to test myself against (Joseph-Aukuso) Suaalii and (Angus) Crichton would be unbelievable. Insane.”
Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan squad is also stacked with Kiwis, South Africans and British players – as well as some ‘local’ Cantonese speakers.
The programme went fully professional last year but still retains an amateur spirit and zest for the game. Hong Kong have not yet played a full 15-a-side Test match against a traditional top-tier nation.
“We each bring our own special brand of footy,” Spanton said.
“Australia play real expansive, rapid rugby, Kiwis as well, so we try and bring a bit of that. We’re not the biggest team in the world, we’re not going to beat anyone up in collisions.
“But skills-wise, speed-wise, fitness-wise we go alrighty and we’ve got a couple of young boys who have got a bit of toe.”
Funding from World Rugby is turning Hong Kong into a serious XVs player and rugby has gone beyond an annual party at the sevens.
“Mum played for Hong Kong Football Club as a hooker and I grew up going to the sevens each year,” Spanton said.
“Growing up that was my dream – to represent Hong Kong at the sevens. But to be going to a Rugby World Cup is just incredible.”
Hong Kong are coached by New Zealander Logan Asplin, who moved to the metropolis in 2022 and took the national reins in 2025.
The World Cup’s expansion from 20 to 24 teams meant Asplin always viewed qualification as a real possibility and it was sealed in style with a 70-22 belting of South Korea last year.
“We are, on a face value, expatriate heavy,” Asplin told WWOS.
“And with Hong Kong being part of the Commonwealth for so long, we have a lot of players that grew up here. Our captain Josh (Hrstic), he’s a Kiwi like myself, but he’s been here for seven years. His kids were born here. It is a transient place.
“We have to celebrate who we are as a country and where we sit geographically. We celebrate those that do have Cantonese blood and that is really important.”
Asplin worked with rugby factory Hamilton Boys’ High School and the Chiefs before making the move to Hong Kong.
There he shared knowledge with now All Blacks coach Dave Rennie and future Test stars Cortez Ratima, Josh Lord, Quinn Tupaea, Emoni Narawa, Ollie Norris, Samipeni Finau and Samisoni Taukei’aho.
Next October he will matching wits with Rennie in a World Cup clash in Melbourne.
“It’s storybook stuff really,” Asplin said.
“Rens is a top man and he’s helped us with our connections to Kobe in Japan. I’m stoked for him getting the job and the All Blacks and Wallabies will be a huge experience for all of the team.
“But for us we have to really target winning our game against Chile. We beat them in 2017 and they got us by five points in 2024. So a win is realistic and that gives us a shot at the round of 16.
“We want to play entertaining rugby, do things our way and be everyone’s second favourite team in Australia.”
Asplin speaks glowingly of vice-captain Hill, a burly inside centre who won two Shute Shield titles with Eastwood before moving to Japan.
The 36-year-old lawyer is hoping his body plays ball and he can cap a long career with a dream home World Cup.
“Tom is a great man who epitomises what Hong Kong rugby is all about, guys playing rugby with their best mates. We have such a diverse group. Tom is still working a law job on the side,” he said.
“I have never been around such an intellectual group of players. It’s a blessing and a curse because at times they may over-analyse and they’re really literal in terms of the way that they learn and understand. We’ve got teachers, personal trainers, lawyers, cryptocurrency. So we certainly don’t lack brains, which is awesome, and what you want when the chips are down.”
Sam Worthington travelled to the 2026 Hong Kong Sevens thanks to the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Cathay Pacific
