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The USA take-on Hong Kong in a Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualifier on Saturday. Played at the neutral venue of Dubai, the North Americans go in with a big win over Kenya while Hong Kong must win after dropping their RWC 2023 qualifier against Portugal.
Click here to access the RWC 2023 Qualifiers – Repechage Tournament ARN Guide.
The prize for the winner of the four-team competition is the final place at RWC 2023. There is heavy expectation on the Eagles; the USA will be the host country of RWC 2031. In short, it is absolutely paramount for World Rugby that the Eagles qualify for RWC 2023 and 2027.
Hong Kong is looking to make history. Ever since the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 Japan has been the loan Asian competitor. By contrast, the USA has competed in every tournament bar 1995.
Hong Kong need a win and more. The Asian side fell 42-14 to Portugal in their first match. Portugal are expected to add a second win when they face Kenya, also on Saturday.
Joshua Hrstich will lead Hong Kong into the uphill battle. He again starts in the Hong Kong back-row. He is the only retained back-rower though as James Cunningham, and James Sawyer make way for Gregor Rampage, and Luke van der Smit.
Cunningham moves to the second-row. He will partner Mark Prior who is retained with Patrick Jenkinson missing out. The front-row is unchanged from the match against Portugal. In the backs there is one change with Bryn Phillips replacing Jamie Lauder.
Hong Kong ran in two tries against Portugal. Try scorers were hooker Alexander Post and center Jack Neville. Both start against the Eagles as will fly half Gregor McNeish who converted both tries for Hong Kong.
The USA has apprached the tournament carefully. The team named to face Hong Kong is stronger than that which faced Kenya. The starting line-up is boosted by loose head David Ainu’u, hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, second-rower Greg Peterson, scrum-half Ruben de Haas, and fly half AJ MacGinty.
MacGinty will captain the Eagles. He will reform the tremendous partnership with center Paul Lasike. They have previously been a strong combination for the USA, including in the 2018 win over Scotland. Ruben de Haas will provide additional play-making inside MacGinty.
The Eagles have a blend of hard workers and flair. This can be seen within certain areas such as the combination of Greg Peterson, and Cam Dolan in the second-row and Paul Lasike and Marcel Brache in the centers.
There is plenty of gas to add from the bench. Gary Gold has hat-trick star Dylan Fawsitt to call-upon. He also has RWC veteran Bryce Campbell and another play-making option in Luke Carty. They provide reason to suggest that the Eagles can out do Portugal’s 42-14 result. That is the target before attention turns to the decider.
TEAMS
HONG KONG
1 Ben Higgins, 2 Alexander Post, 3 Zac Cinnamond, 4 Mark Prior, 5 James Cunningham, 6 Joshua Hrstich (capt.), 7 Gregor Rampage, 8 Luke van der Smit, 9 Bryn Phillips, 10 Gregor McNeish, 11 Sean Taylor, 12 Tom Hill, 13 Jack Neville, 14 Matthew Worley, 15 Nathan de Thierry
Replacements: 16 John McCormick-Houston, 17 Ashton Hyde, 18 Faizal Solomona, 19 Jamie Pincott, 20 Kyle Sullivan, 21 Jamie Lauder, 22 Nikolas Cumming, 23 Guy Spanton
USA
1 David Ainu’u, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 3 Paul Mullen, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Cam Dolan, 6 Viliami Helu, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Ruben de Haas, 10 AJ MacGinty (capt.), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Paul Lasike, 13 Marcel Brache, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Mitch Wilson
Replacements: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Nate Sylvia, 19 CC Mahoni, 20 Tesimoni Tonga’uiha, 21 Ryan Rees, 22 Luke Carty, 23 Bryce Campbell
Date: Saturday, November 12
Kick-Off: 6:30pm (AE); 9:30am (Eastern)
Venue: Sevens Stadium (Dubai, AE)
Referee: Matthew Carley (UK)
Assistant Referees: Damian Schneider (AR); AJ Jacobs (ZA)
TMO: Olly Hodges (UK)
