‘We aim to be the fastest, fittest and most physical team in Asia’: Hong Kong look to dominate ARC without Japan
- Hong Kong’s 15-a-side squad will kick off their 2019 Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday in Incheon against South Korea
- Captain James Cunningham said preparations for 2023 in Paris have begun as they are forced to watch the 2019 Rugby World Cup from the sidelines
Firm favourites again in the absence of Japan for the second straight year, Saturday’s first game against South Korea in Incheon is one they are expected to win, even if their opponents began the championship with two convincing victories over Malaysia, the third team in the tournament.
However, this is not just four matches where victory against beatable opposition is expected rather than hoped for, it is the start of another four-year World Cup cycle with a trip to Paris the prize at the end.
“This is our building phase of trying to get our game to where we need to be, to be able to make Paris in 2023 happen,” said Hong Kong co-captain James Cunningham.
The 29-year-old is now sharing leadership duties with scrum-half Liam Slatem, 30, and disagrees with the suggestion his side have little to gain, especially when there is the added pressure of repeating last year’s feat when they cruised to the title.
“It [the championship] is still as important as last year, it’s still a huge challenge to play these two teams,” he said.