![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753579808_157_logo-chile-thumbnail-2020.png\"){kind=logo}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/logo-hong-kong-thumbnail.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nRound two of the World Rugby Nations Cup will give fans an inside look into a Rugby World Cup 2027 fixture. Los C\u00f3ndores will have home advantage against Hong Kong in Vi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile on Saturday. The same match will next be played as a Pool A match in Townsville, Australia.<\/p>\n
Chile vs Hong Kong is more than an intercontinental showdown; it is a match between teams who regularly compete against very different opponents. Chile faced Italy A in March and Italy last November while Hong Kong has never faced Italy. Similarly, Hong Kong faced South Korea and Sri Lanka earlier but Chile and Sri Lanka have never crossed paths for full international fixtures.<\/p>\n
The match will officially be South America 3 vs Asia 2. This is true based on World Rankings and also Rugby World Cup 2027 Seedings from the qualifiers when factoring in Argentina and Japan\u2019s automatic qualifying status from Rugby World Cup 2023.<\/p>\n
Chile have been big climbers in the World Rankings to now be one spot behind Uruguay who hold 16th spot and ten behind Argentina who presently hold 7th spot. Hong Kong firmly retains the #2 spot in the Asian continental rugby standings. They serve as the highest-performing developing nation right behind Asia\u2019s undisputed powerhouse, Japan (World #12). Standing at World #23, Hong Kong\u00a0remains the dominant, multi-time reigning champion of the regional Asia Rugby Championship. They maintain a comfortable ranking cushion over traditional local chasers like South Korea and the UAE<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
FORM GUIDE \u00a0 <\/p>\n
Date March 6, 2026 July 4, 2026 July 11, 2026 July 18, 2026 \u00a0<\/p>\n Date May 30, 2026 June 7, 2026 July 4, 2026 July 11, 2026 July 18, 2026 \u00a0<\/p>\n 7 8 10 12 13 15 \u00a0 2 3 4 7 8 12 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pablo Lemoine has named the uncapped Marco Alvano as a replacement for Chile. \u00a0<\/p>\n Under Pablo Lemoine, Chile utilizes a high-tempo, expansive game plan focused on maximum width, dynamic athletic transition, and exhausting heavier opponents through superior cardiovascular fitness. Lemoine has built a tactical system designed to counter the raw physical size advantages of traditional Tier 1 and Tier 2 nations. Hong Kong operates on a game plan defined by squad cohesion, defensive patience, and a Sevens-influenced transition game. Conditions will be cold for the early evening kick-off on the Pacific Ocean city. Chile are favorites to win in Vi\u00f1a del Mar.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Emilio Shea, 18 Mat\u00edas Dittus, 19 Bruno S\u00e1ez, 20 Ernesto Tchimino, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Rodrigo Fern\u00e1ndez, 23 Marco Alvano<\/p>\n Replacements: 16 Callum Scott, 17 Sunia Fameitau, 18 Keelan Chapman, 19 James Rivers, 20 James Sawyer, 21 Brendon Nell, 22 Matteo Avatabile, 23 Matthew Worley<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Date: Saturday, July 11 \u00a0<\/p>\n REFEREE: Tom\u00e1s Ninci (Argentina) \u00a0<\/p>\n 2024-07-06 \u2013 Chile 22-17 Hong Kong<\/a> (Talca, CL) \u00a0<\/p>\n Current World Ranking: 17<\/a> (67.31 points)<\/p>\n
\nOpponent
\nScore
\nResult
\nLocation<\/p>\n
\nItaly A
\n33-26
\nLoss
\nL\u2019Aquila, Italy<\/p>\n
\nRomania
\n48\u201331
\nWin
\nSantiago, Chile<\/p>\n
\nHong Kong China
\nUpcoming
\nPending
\nVi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile<\/p>\n
\nGeorgia
\nUpcoming
\nPending
\nLa Serena, Chile<\/p>\n Current World Ranking: 24<\/a> (59.14 points)<\/p>\n
\nOpponent
\nScore
\nResult
\nLocation<\/p>\n
\nSri Lanka
\n15\u201314
\nWin
\nColombo, Sri Lanka<\/p>\n
\nSouth Korea
\n45\u20139
\nWin
\nHong Kong, HK<\/p>\n
\nSamoa
\n19\u201366
\nLoss
\nSantiago, Chile<\/p>\n
\nChile
\nUpcoming
\nPending
\nVi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile<\/p>\n
\nUruguay
\nUpcoming
\nPending
\nMontevideo, Uruguay<\/p>\n
\nIN
\nOUT<\/p>\n
\nClemente Saavedra
\nRaimundo Mart\u00ednez<\/p>\n
\nRaimundo Mart\u00ednez
\nErnesto Tchimino<\/p>\n
\nMat\u00edas Garafulic
\nRodrigo Fern\u00e1ndez<\/p>\n
\nSantiago Videla
\nDomingo Saavedra<\/p>\n
\nDomingo Saavedra
\nMat\u00edas Garafulic<\/p>\n
\nI\u00f1aki Ayarza
\nCritobal Game<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nIN
\nOUT<\/p>\n
\nAlexander Post
\nHarry Baron<\/p>\n
\nZac Cinnamond
\nKeelan Chapman<\/p>\n
\nLachlan Doheny
\nMax Murphy<\/p>\n
\nMatthew Tweddle
\nCristi Boboc<\/p>\n
\nJosh Hrstich
\nJames Sawyer<\/p>\n
\nIsaac Campbell-Wu
\nMatteo Avatabile<\/p>\n+ ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/logo-romania-thumbnail.png\"){kind=logo}
DEBUTANTS<\/p>\n \u2013 Marco Alvano<\/p>\n \u2013 James Rivers<\/p>\n \u2013 S Videla (44), M Dittus (40), C Saavedra (40), R Mart\u00ednez (39), M Sigren (39), J Carrasco (38), J Eissmann (38), D Saavedra (38), R Fern\u00e1ndez (35), S Lues (33)<\/p>\n \u2013 K Sullivan (30), A Post (21), J Hrstich (20), Z Cinnamond (19), J Sawyer (17), M Worley (17), P Altier (16).<\/p>\n \u2013 M Bustamante (1), E Shea (1), N Saab (10), L Berti (11), B S\u00e1ez (11), E Tchimino (12), D Escobar (20)<\/p>\n \u2013 L Doheny (1), I Campbell-Wu (1), C Scott (2), B Nell (2), M Avatabible (3), M Threlkeld (4), J Barker (5), J Combes (6)<\/p>\n+ \u00a0NOTABLE ABSENTEES<\/p>\n \u2013 Augusto B\u00f6hme (HK), Joaqu\u00edn Milesi (No. 8), Benjam\u00edn Videla (SH), Tom\u00e1s Salas (FH), Clemente Armstrong (CE), Nicol\u00e1s Garafulic (WI), Cristobal Game (FB).<\/p>\n \u2013 Callum McFeat-Smith (TH), Patrick Jenkinson (LO), Mark Prior (LO), Callum McCullough (FL), Luke van der Smit (FL), Nathan DeThierry (FH), Ben Axten-Burrett (CE), Guy Spanton (WI).<\/p>\n
\nMat\u00edas Garafulic moves from center to fly half from Chile. He has previously played for Los C\u00f3ndores in both center positions, at fullback and on the wing.
\nCenter Isaac Campbell-Wu earns his first start for Hong Kong.
\nJames Rivers, who will make his debut for Hong Kong, has played Major League Rugby (MLR) for Anthem and San Diego.
\nFour of the Chilean players have played in MLR past or present: Mart\u00edn Sigren, Domingo Saavedra, Marcelo Torrealba and Santiago Videla.
\nFour C\u00f3ndores in the 23 play in France: Diego Escobar (Racing 92), I\u00f1aki Ayarza (Oyonnax), Javier Eissmann (Agen) and Mat\u00edas Dittus (Annonay).
\nThe match is a preview of a Rugby World Cup 2027 Pool A match.
\nHong Kong will be the only competitor debuting at Rugby World Cup 2027.
\nChile debuted in France 2023, becoming the first country to do so since Russia in 2011.
\nSaturday\u2019s battle is to be just the third meeting between Chile and Hong Kong. Both teams have 1 win each meaning that the winner in Vi\u00f1a del Mar will take a 2-1 winning record with them to the World Cup.
\nChile faced Japan at Rugby World Cup 2027 and faced South Korea in 2016.
\nChile and Uruguay are the only two countries that face played test match rugby against three Asian opponents this century. Uruguay faced South Korea in 2005, Hong Kong in 2014 and Japan in 2005, 2015, 2022 and 2024. Los Teros also faced Kazakhstan in 2010.
\nChile is ranked 17th in the World Rankings. This is notably above regular Rugby World Cup teams including Canada, Romania, Samoa and Tonga.
\nHong Kong is ranked 24th in the World Rankings, making it the second lowest ranked team that will play at Rugby World Cup 2027. The lowest is Zimbabwe with a ranking of 25. Belgium is 21st but did not qualify.
\nThe fit-again Josh Hrstich returns to lead Hong Kong. Pierce MacKinley-West captained against Samoa.
\nThe players representing the two teams are vastly different. Chile will field a 100% homegrown line-up.
\nHong Kong is 21.74% homegrown. Five of the 23 players are homegrown. Five of the 23 players Rory Cinnamond and Zac Cinnamond moved from England to Hong Kong as children while Paul Altier move there from Thailand. Matthew Worley went through the Hong Kong youth academy before playing professionally in the UK. Matteo Avatabile is a homegrown player developed in Hong Kong.
\n78.26% (18\/23) are not homegrown. The players are from a range of regular competitors at Rugby World Cups. For example, captain Josh Hrstich is from New Zealand. Lachlan Doheny is from Australia, Joe Barker is from England, Pierce MacKinlay-West is from Ireland, Brendon Nell is from South Africa and Sunia Fameitau is from Tonga.
\nAn Argentine trio will officiate the contest with Tom\u00e1s Ninci as referee and Federico Longobardi and Esteban Filipanics his assistants. The contest will be refereed in English.<\/p>\n
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 I\u00f1aki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Mart\u00edn Sigren (capt.), 7 Clemente Saavedra, 8 Raimundo Mart\u00ednez, 9 Lucas Berti, 10 Mat\u00edas Garafulic, 11 Nicol\u00e1s Saab, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Manuel Bustamante, 15 I\u00f1aki Ayarza<\/p>\n
HONG KONG
1 Rory Cinnamond, 2 Alexander Post, 3 Zac Cinnamond, 4 Lachlan Doheny, 5 Kyle Sullivan, 6 Tyler McNutt, 7 Pierce MacKinlay-West, 8 Josh Hrstich (capt.), 9 Jack Combes, 10 Joe Barker, 11 Harry Sayer, 12 Isaac Campbell-Wu, 13 Max Threlkeld, 14 Marcus Ramage, 15 Paul Altier<\/p>\n
Venue: Estadio Sausalito, Vi\u00f1a del Mar, Chile
Kickoff: 6pm Saturday (Chile); 6am Sunday (Hong Kong)
Weather Forecast: Cloudy, 15\u00b0C (59\u00b0F). Wind SW 4 mph
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo-world-rugby-simple-thumbnail.png\"){kind=logo}
MATCH OFFICIALS<\/p>\n
ASSISTANTS: Federico Longobardi (Argentina); Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)<\/p>\n
2017-11-14 \u2013 Hong Kong 13-06 Chile<\/a> (Hong Kong, HK)<\/p>\n 1 WIN 1 WIN<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/hong-kong-chile-scrum-2017.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Round two of the World Rugby Nations Cup will give fans an inside look into a Rugby World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,224900,43118,145827,760,85],"class_list":["post-791419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-july-internationals","tag-major-league-rugby","tag-nations-cup","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}