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Round two of the World Rugby Nations Cup will give fans an inside look into a Rugby World Cup 2027 fixture. Los Cóndores will have home advantage against Hong Kong in Viña del Mar, Chile on Saturday. The same match will next be played as a Pool A match in Townsville, Australia.
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.
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’s automatic qualifying status from Rugby World Cup 2023.
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’s undisputed powerhouse, Japan (World #12). Standing at World #23, Hong Kong remains 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
FORM GUIDE   |
Current World Ranking: 17 (67.31 points)
| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 6, 2026 | Italy A | 33-26 | Loss | L’Aquila, Italy |
| July 4, 2026 | Romania | 48–31 | Win | Santiago, Chile |
| July 11, 2026 | Hong Kong China | Upcoming | Pending | Viña del Mar, Chile |
| July 18, 2026 | Georgia | Upcoming | Pending | La Serena, Chile |
Current World Ranking: 24 (59.14 points)
| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2026 | Sri Lanka | 15–14 | Win | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| June 7, 2026 | South Korea | 45–9 | Win | Hong Kong, HK |
| July 4, 2026 | Samoa | 19–66 | Loss | Santiago, Chile |
| July 11, 2026 | Chile | Upcoming | Pending | Viña del Mar, Chile |
| July 18, 2026 | Uruguay | Upcoming | Pending | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| LINE-UP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 7 | Clemente Saavedra | Raimundo Martínez |
| 8 | Raimundo Martínez | Ernesto Tchimino |
| 10 | Matías Garafulic | Rodrigo Fernández |
| 12 | Santiago Videla | Domingo Saavedra |
| 13 | Domingo Saavedra | Matías Garafulic |
| 15 | Iñaki Ayarza | Critobal Game |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Alexander Post | Harry Baron |
| 3 | Zac Cinnamond | Keelan Chapman |
| 4 | Lachlan Doheny | Max Murphy |
| 7 | Matthew Tweddle | Cristi Boboc |
| 8 | Josh Hrstich | James Sawyer |
| 12 | Isaac Campbell-Wu | Matteo Avatabile |
+  DEBUTANTS |
– Marco Alvano
– James Rivers
| MOST CAPS |
– S Videla (44), M Dittus (40), C Saavedra (40), R Martínez (39), M Sigren (39), J Carrasco (38), J Eissmann (38), D Saavedra (38), R Fernández (35), S Lues (33)
– K Sullivan (30), A Post (21), J Hrstich (20), Z Cinnamond (19), J Sawyer (17), M Worley (17), P Altier (16).
| LEAST CAPS |
– M Bustamante (1), E Shea (1), N Saab (10), L Berti (11), B Sáez (11), E Tchimino (12), D Escobar (20)
– 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)
| + NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Augusto Böhme (HK), Joaquín Milesi (No. 8), Benjamín Videla (SH), Tomás Salas (FH), Clemente Armstrong (CE), Nicolás Garafulic (WI), Cristobal Game (FB).
– 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).
| NOTES |
- Pablo Lemoine has named the uncapped Marco Alvano as a replacement for Chile.
- Matías Garafulic moves from center to fly half from Chile. He has previously played for Los Cóndores in both center positions, at fullback and on the wing.
- Center Isaac Campbell-Wu earns his first start for Hong Kong.
- James Rivers, who will make his debut for Hong Kong, has played Major League Rugby (MLR) for Anthem and San Diego.
- Four of the Chilean players have played in MLR past or present: Martín Sigren, Domingo Saavedra, Marcelo Torrealba and Santiago Videla.
- Four Cóndores in the 23 play in France: Diego Escobar (Racing 92), Iñaki Ayarza (Oyonnax), Javier Eissmann (Agen) and Matías Dittus (Annonay).
- The match is a preview of a Rugby World Cup 2027 Pool A match.
- Hong Kong will be the only competitor debuting at Rugby World Cup 2027.
- Chile debuted in France 2023, becoming the first country to do so since Russia in 2011.
- Saturday’s battle is to be just the third meeting between Chile and Hong Kong. Both teams have 1 win each meaning that the winner in Viña del Mar will take a 2-1 winning record with them to the World Cup.
- Chile faced Japan at Rugby World Cup 2027 and faced South Korea in 2016.
- Chile 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.
- Chile is ranked 17th in the World Rankings. This is notably above regular Rugby World Cup teams including Canada, Romania, Samoa and Tonga.
- Hong 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.
- The fit-again Josh Hrstich returns to lead Hong Kong. Pierce MacKinley-West captained against Samoa.
- The players representing the two teams are vastly different. Chile will field a 100% homegrown line-up.
- Hong 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.
- 78.26% (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.
- An Argentine trio will officiate the contest with Tomás Ninci as referee and Federico Longobardi and Esteban Filipanics his assistants. The contest will be refereed in English.
| PREDICTION |
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 Viña del Mar.
| LINE-UPS |
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Clemente Saavedra, 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Lucas Berti, 10 Matías Garafulic, 11 Nicolás Saab, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Manuel Bustamante, 15 Iñaki Ayarza
Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Emilio Shea, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Bruno Sáez, 20 Ernesto Tchimino, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Rodrigo Fernández, 23 Marco Alvano
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
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
| MATCH DETAILS |
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile
Kickoff: 6pm Saturday (Chile); 6am Sunday (Hong Kong)
Weather Forecast: Cloudy, 15°C (59°F). Wind SW 4 mph
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +
 MATCH OFFICIALS |
REFEREE: Tomás Ninci (Argentina)
ASSISTANTS: Federico Longobardi (Argentina); Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
| HISTORIC RESULTS |
2024-07-06 – Chile 22-17 Hong Kong (Talca, CL)
2017-11-14 – Hong Kong 13-06 Chile (Hong Kong, HK)
| OVERALL RESULTS |
1 WIN
1 WIN
