McNutt, who plays his club rugby for Hautapu Sports in New Zealand, epitomised his team’s drive, overcoming the disappointment of a one-sided defeat by the eventual champions.

The skipper was making his international debut at a tournament which has traditionally proved fertile breeding ground for Hong Kong senior performers.

“With another little nudge in the right direction and a couple more years of the boys giving everything, it won’t be long until you see Hong Kong create what would be an upset,” McNutt said. “But it wouldn’t be a shock when you see what is happening behind the scenes in Hong Kong rugby.

“We had such a short period of time before the tournament and didn’t initially perform how we wanted. Every minute together we were getting better, we gained a lot of experience against Spain and grew more comfortable in our boots. By the time we hit the second game, we were ready to go.

“The boys hit back with a vengeance, we played with our hearts. We got so close against Samoa and Kenya, which shows the steps we are making. We are right there and not off the pace. We are improving every year.”

The rawness of the Hong Kong squad in Africa belied the group’s prevailing maturity, said McNutt, who insisted the task of captaining the team qualified as a “breeze”.

“I had a simple role, the boys looked after themselves,” McNutt added. “There were minimal speeches or motivational talks, we all shared a desire to get the job done. I wanted to let the boys breathe and for their attributes to come to the surface.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to play for Hong Kong. I had the chance to play international rugby and was part of an amazing culture.

“I enjoyed every minute, the boys and management were amazing and so was the host country. It is such a special memory. There can be a lot of pressure captaining a team but the boys made it a breeze and I want to do it all over again.”

Hong Kong lost a high-scoring seventh-place play-off against USA, meaning Asplin’s side fell short of their immediate goal of adding to the city’s two wins across six previous editions of the competition.

The senior Hong Kong team claimed the 2023 Asian Rugby Championship title with victory over Korea in June. But head coach Lewis Evans’ side lost matches against Portugal and USA in the final qualifying competition for this year’s Rugby World Cup in France last November.

Hong Kong’s World Cup hopes ended at the same stage four years earlier. And the governing body – which last year launched an extensive review of the city’s domestic competition – is keen to change the falling-at-the-final-fence World Cup narrative.

There is an acceptance that the 2027 tournament in Australia might come to soon. But the 2031 USA competition, when players from the recent U20 Trophy will be reaching their peak years, is viewed as a realistic target.

“It is important for Hong Kong to create a strong foundation for the future, in terms of our ambitions for the Asia Rugby Championships and future Rugby World Cup campaigns,” Chris Brooke, the Hong Kong Rugby chairman, said.

“In light of these efforts [at U20 Trophy], we have a great basis from which to build. It was great to see such credible performances, given the age of the group and the limited preparation time they had to play together.

“I was particularly proud of the competitive performances against Samoa and Kenya, with encouraging elements from the other two games.”