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Hong Kong national rugby league team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hong Kong
Badge of Hong Kong team
Team information
NicknameThunder
Governing bodyHong Kong Rugby League
RegionAsia Pacific
Head coachMatthew Jones
CaptainJason Chung Kan Yip
Most capsToby Lei (7)
Gus Spence (7)
Top try-scorerBen Ryan (5)
Top point-scorerRichard Lindsay (30)
IRL ranking50th
Uniforms
First colours
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
Appearances0
Hong Kong playing Poland in 2018

The Hong Kong national rugby league team represents Hong Kong in the sport of rugby league.

History

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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.

Current squad

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Squad selected for 2024 East Asia Cup

  • Andrew Welling
  • Au Chi Wai
  • Blake Atherton
  • Callum Man
  • Conan Freeman
  • Dan Chui
  • Gus Spence
  • Doug O’Donnell
  • Jason Yip
  • Kenta Brown
  • Matthew Jones
  • Nelson Chan
  • Tommy Lee
  • Toby Lei
  • Tommy Wong
  • Hogan Toomalatai

IRL Rankings

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Official rankings as of 30 June 2024
Rank Change Team Pts %
1 Steady  Australia 100
2 Steady  New Zealand 82
3 Steady  England 80
4 Steady  Samoa 67
5 Steady  Tonga 49
6 Increase 1  Fiji 49
7 Decrease 1  Papua New Guinea 47
8 Steady  France 28
9 Steady  Lebanon 22
10 Steady  Cook Islands 20
11 Steady  Serbia 19
12 Steady  Netherlands 17
13 Steady  Italy 15
14 Increase 1  Greece 15
15 Decrease 1  Malta 14
16 Steady  Ireland 14
17 Steady  Wales 13
18 Steady  Jamaica 10
19 Steady  Scotland 9
20 Steady  Ukraine 7
21 Steady  Czech Republic 7
22 Steady  Germany 6
23 Increase 3  Chile 6
24 Steady  Poland 6
25 Increase 3  Norway 6
26 Increase 1  Kenya 5
27 Decrease 4  Philippines 5
28 Decrease 3  South Africa 4
29 Steady  Nigeria 4
30 Steady  Ghana 4
31 Increase 2  United States 4
32 Increase 4  Montenegro 4
33 Decrease 2  Brazil 3
34 Decrease 2  Turkey 3
35 Increase 7  North Macedonia 3
36 Decrease 2  Bulgaria 3
37 Decrease 2  Cameroon 2
38 Decrease 1  Spain 2
39 Decrease 1  Japan 1
40 Decrease 1  Albania 1
41 Increase 5  Canada 1
42 Decrease 2  Colombia 1
43 Decrease 2  El Salvador 1
44 Decrease 1  Morocco 1
45 New entry  Russia 0
46 Decrease 2  Sweden 0
47 Decrease 2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
48 Increase 2  Hungary 0
49 Increase 3  Argentina 0
50 New entry  Hong Kong 0
51 Decrease 3  Solomon Islands 0
52 Decrease 5  Niue 0
53 Increase 1  Latvia 0
54 Decrease 1  Denmark 0
55 Decrease 6  Belgium 0
56 Decrease 1  Estonia 0
57 Decrease 6  Vanuatu 0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

References

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  1. ^ Hong Kong Rugby League launched
  2. ^ HKRL announce inaugural Super League competition
  3. ^ Brave Hong Kong lose narrowly against Japan in historic encounter
  4. ^ PNG climbs to 10th place in World Rugby League Ranking
  5. ^ "RLIF - Rugby League International Federation". www.rlif.com. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
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