One year out from the opening match of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, two part-time turned full-time players are sharing their excitement and unshakable ambition as Hong Kong China prepares to make history at the global tournament.
On 1 October 2027, 61,000 fans will pack Perth Stadium, with millions more tuning in across the globe, to watch two-time world champions Australia kick off the tournament against their unlikely opponents: Hong Kong China. For the two-time title holders, this opening-stage spotlight is nothing new. But for Hong Kong China, this fixture will mark their first ever men’s Rugby World Cup appearance — the biggest match any player in the squad will have ever played.
Among the athletes set to take the historic pitch, barring last-minute setbacks, are Alex Post and Jack Combes, two players who cut their teeth in the lower semi-pro leagues of English rugby, far from the glare of global sports media. Their journey to the world stage fits the classic David-and-Goliath narrative: an unranked underdog facing three of the sport’s most dominant teams in Pool A, alongside Australia, the All Blacks of New Zealand, and Chile. Yet far from being daunted by the challenge, both players say they are ready to embrace every minute of the experience.
Twelve months to the day before that historic opening kickoff, the pair sat down with BBC Sport senior journalist Kieran Fox during a Hong Kong public holiday to reflect on how their lives and rugby careers have been transformed by qualifying for the tournament. “I think the whole run-up to the whole qualification process was already a dream in itself. To qualify for a men’s first World Cup was huge,” said Combes, the team’s scrum-half. The excitement was visible in their animated expressions — a far cry from the grim resignation many would expect of a massive underdog.
While critics have already questioned whether Hong Kong China deserves their spot in the tournament, Post says the opportunity itself is a once-in-a-lifetime dream no athlete would turn down. “People will say it’s daunting and it’s a huge challenge to have those two top nations in your pool, but if you’re going to do it, do it properly. Why not?” Post said. “People might question whether we deserve to be there. But for me, if you asked anyone as a kid, if you could open up the World Cup in that first game in a year’s time, it’s genuinely amazing. A dream come true. And I’m sure anyone who does give us any criticism about us being there, there’s no way they wouldn’t be doing the same thing if they could, 100%.”
Post, 31, made his international debut a full decade ago, but until recently he plied his trade as a hooker for Richmond in England’s RFU Championship, the country’s second tier. He never got the chance to play in the top-flight Premiership, but he argues the Championship — a league that often flies under the radar — gave him some of the toughest preparation possible for international rugby. Before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global rugby, Post was a full-time contracted player for Hong Kong China. When play halted, he moved to the UK to complete a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford, and even played in the famed Varsity Match at Twickenham, one of the largest crowds he has ever performed in front of.
Now, just one year out from the World Cup, Post has put his academic and professional career on hold to chase the global dream. He recently relocated his entire family back to Hong Kong to take up a full-time professional contract with the national squad, leaving behind his work as a financial analyst and part-time semi-pro rugby. “With Richmond, we’d train twice a week and then you would do your own gym sessions in your own time,” Post explained. “But you can probably do twice as much as that with Hong Kong now.” The full-time setup, he added, has allowed the entire squad to build far stronger cohesion than most part-time international sides, as all players are based in Hong Kong year-round and train together constantly.
For 29-year-old Combes, the journey to full-time international rugby has been even more circuitous. A former student and teacher at England’s Hartpury College, he spent time playing third-tier rugby for Birmingham Moseley before switching to full-time play, and even suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury that forced him to step away from the game to teach. Only at 25 did he make the jump to full-time professional sevens rugby, a path he calls a “reverse career” — but one he would not change for anything. “I wouldn’t change it for the world, but going into a full-time environment where you have the resources, you have the training time, physical development, it’s necessary for what we’re facing,” Combes said.
Rugby has deep roots in Hong Kong, stretching back more than 70 years, anchored by the world-famous annual Hong Kong Sevens tournament that draws global teams and fans every year. The squad has dominated Asian rugby for the past seven consecutive years, and secured their World Cup spot with a dominant 70-22 win over Korea in the final round of the Asia Rugby Championship last year. A dramatic late 42-40 win over Uruguay — another 2027 World Cup qualifier — in July proved the side can compete with higher-ranked international opposition, and shifted the squad’s mindset from simply competing to going for broke. “The mindset’s changed from years gone by where you compete in Asia and you play against teams that you know you probably should be beating,” Combes said. “Now we’re completely on the other side of the spectrum where we’ve got nothing to lose. I think just be ambitious, be fearless, and go for it. ‘Be memorable’ is the phrase that coaches have been talking about.”
Both Post and Combes were born in Hong Kong and rose through the local age-grade rugby system, so they have seen firsthand how the sport has grown in the region. They are also no strangers to the most common criticism the team faces: questions over the international makeup of the squad. But the pair say the best response is to put in a performance that makes Hong Kong proud. Post added that the team’s goal is to inspire the next generation of local rugby players in Hong Kong, where youth rugby has rebounded and grown again in local primary and secondary schools after the pandemic. Combes, who was born in Hong Kong in 1997 to a half-Chinese mother, highlighted the deep local roots many squad members have, saying he hopes the team’s historic debut will encourage more young local players to pursue the sport.
Under new head of coaching Toby Booth, formerly of London Irish and Ospreys, the team will get a critical chance to test their progress next month at the Nations Cup, where they will face three seasoned World Cup veterans: the USA, Canada, and Tonga. As for the historic opening match in Perth, Post says he already has plenty of pressure from loved ones to secure his spot in the starting lineup, and expects a large contingent of Hong Kong fans to make the trip to Australia. “We want to be everyone’s second team,” Post said.
Combes embraces the underdog label, arguing it gives the team the freedom to play without fear. Nicknamed “Maradona” by his teammates for his habit of kicking stray footballs that wander onto the training pitch, Combes notes the side will continue to be overlooked in all their warm-up matches leading up to the World Cup — but that underdog status works to their advantage. “You know, we are always going to be the underdogs. I think our whole string of games leading into the World Cup with Nations Cup, warm-up games we’re always going to be sort of looked over. But I think that works in our favour – we’re just a bit fearless,” he said. And if any fans need a reminder that underdogs can pull off surprising results, they only need to look back to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where Cape Verde held heavyweight Spain to a shock draw.