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Patrick Blennerhassett



There is no denying the weighty nature of the repechage that pits Hong Kong’s men’s rugby team against Germany, Kenya and Canada for the final spot at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Winning the tournament would be one of the great achievements for the Hong Kong Rugby Union, alongside the women booking their ticket to the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland, and the men’s sevens squad winning gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta in September.
Hong Kong’s rugby scene is at a pivotal moment in its history. A ticket to the World Cup would mean an exponential increase in exposure, plus more funding down the line to further various programmes.
Can they do it ? Follow the action from 11pm (Hong Kong time).
World Rugby eligibility should be staggered so players who want to give all their best rugby to an adopted country can
Where do these games take place?
Hong Kong’s first game is this Sunday, November 11 at 4pm (local time) against Germany. The match will take place in Marseilles, France, so this means it will air at 11pm here in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s second game, against Kenya, will take place on Saturday, November 17 at 11am (local time), which will be 6pm in Hong Kong.
The final game is on Friday, November 23 at 9pm against Canada, which will be Saturday, November 24 at 4am (Hong Kong time).
Who are the bookies’ favourites?
While Hong Kong are the highest-ranked team at 21, with Oddschecker the shortest odds are Canada (ranked 23) for potential winners of the 2019 Rugby World Cup at $500. Kenya (ranked 28) are at $1,000 and Germany (29) are also $1,000. That’s also the shortest odds available for Hong Kong.
How are the teams faring lately?
Hong Kong, under head coach Leigh Jones, won their final lead-up game, beating a Crawshays RFC invitational XV team in Wales 35-24 on November 3. Prior to that, Hong Kong lost to the Newport Gwent Dragons Development squad 28-24.
Canada beat Coventry 35-12 on November 5, after a 26-20 victory over Oxford University.
Kenya lost 36-5 against Romania’s ‘A’ squad on November 3, and Germany have played three training session games against Portugal’s national team, but the scores were not made available.
What are the pundits saying?
Most rugby reporters around the world think it will come down to Hong Kong against Canada in a winner-takes-all game on November 23 with the Canadian side as slight favourites to go to Japan.
Global rugby calendar proposal would devalue the World Cup, cause more early retirements and is unnecessary


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Rugby World Cup 2019

Watch live coverage of Hong Kong at the 2019 Rugby World Cup repechage in Marseille

Sport

Rugby


Hong Kong kick off their three-game repechage tournament in France on Sunday



Hong Kong kick off their three-game repechage tournament in France this weekend. Here’s everything you need to know


Hong Kong China Rugby

Watch live coverage of Hong Kong at the 2019 Rugby World Cup repechage in Marseille

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Hong Kong kick off their three-game repechage tournament in France on Sunday

Where do these games take place?

Hong Kong kick off their three-game repechage tournament in France on Sunday