Once they were slayers of world champions. But last night giant-killers Hong Kong tasted the revenge of the fallen and it was hard to stomach as they tumbled to a 35-12 defeat at the hands of Wales in their opening pool game.
The defeat put to rest a grudge which had been an irritant for Wales the past year.
A year ago, Hong Kong savoured one of their finest moments in the tournament's 36-year history when they shocked Wales 21-19. But this time the proud Welsh dragon was breathing fire.
'Of course that defeat rankled for everybody involved in that game and it was at the back of our minds. It was something we wanted to put right,' said Welsh coach Paul John, happy his side had proved a point against the upstarts.
A brace of tries from Jevon Groves, and one each from Adam Thomas, Kristian Phillips and Alex Cuthbert powered Wales to a decisive victory. Hong Kong struck back through two lovely tries from Rowan Varty, but at no time did they ever look like pulling off another shock.
'I'm really pleased with that result.' John said. 'As far as the tournament goes, it was a difficult start coming up against the hosts and remembering what happened last year. The boys were on the top of their game, although it's the first game in the tournament and we have a lot to do.'