HSBC SVNS DIVISION 3 – RESULTS AND REACTION

[17 Jan 2026] Hong Kong China Men’s 7s team are in Dubai for the crucial HSBC SVNS Division 3 tournament, which has replaced the former Challenger event. Eight men’s teams are competing, but only the top two sides who reach the Final will progress and qualify for Division 2.

Fans in Hong Kong can watch the action live via beIN Sports. For all other regions check World Rugby's listings at: svns.com/en/where-to-watch 

Results & Upcoming Schedule (Hong Kong China Men's Matches)

Pool A Matches - Saturday 17 January

Tonga 14-33 Hong Kong China

Samoa 31-17 Hong Kong China

Hong Kong China 38-10 Colombia

Knockout Rounds - Sunday 18 January

Canada 24-19 Hong Kong China - Semifinal (Canada's victory means they will qualify for SVNC Division 2)

Samoa vs Hong Kong China - 3rd Place Playoff (15:06 local / 19:06 HKT)

To view the full results and schedule head to the World Rugby SVNS page.

3rd Place Playoff: Samoa 26-5 Hong Kong China

Hong Kong China were looking to earn a first-ever win over Samoa in the 3rd place playoff, with both sides just missing out on qualification to SVNS Division 2 after semifinal defeats.

Hong Kong China kicked off and retained possession, but Samoa scored first with a pass that looked marginally forward but was ruled in fair by the officials to lead 7-0. Samoa then kicked long from the restart, forcing Hong Kong China to play a lineout deep in their own half. From this passage of play Liam Herbert nearly broke free thanks to a huge handoff, but eventually Samoa were able to intercept a pass and score again against the run of play to lead 12-0.

The Pacific Islanders then a added a third to lead 19-0, before an excellent solo try by Matthew Rickard, evading tackles, brought Hong Kong China back into the contest. The score was 19-5 at the half.

Hong Kong China continued to play with an up-tempo game after the break, and Samoa were repeatedly infringing through the second period. Max Denmark nearly broke free to score, but was isolated as Samoa counter-rucked before running in a 4th try to take the score to 26-5.

There was certainly no lack of effort from Hong Kong China, but tired bodies did make some errors against a strong Samoa side leaving Hong Kong China finishing 4th overall in Division 3 - and narrowly missing out on a chance to progress to Division 2 in February and March.

Hong Kong China Scores:

TRY Matt Rickard 7’

(Conversion missed)

Semifinal: Canada 24-19 Hong Kong China

Hong Kong China last faced the Canadians in the first leg of the Cape Town Challenger 2025, losing 21-12 in the pool stages. Prior to this second semifinal, Belgium had upset Samoa to earn a place in the final and in doing so qualify for SVNS Division 2.

Hong Kong China had to defend the opening period as Canada controlled the ball. When in possession, it was hard to create chances in a tight, high-pressure game, and the Canadians opened the score with a converted try in the 5th minute.

Patient build-up play from Hong Kong China against a disciplined Canadian defence meant the boys went through countless phases before Max Denmark got the essential score before the break. This followed outstanding team play to keep calm through multiple phases, meaning Hong Kong China trailed by just 7-5.

Hong Kong China claimed the second-half kick, but Canada scored to take their lead to 14-5 after the officials awarded a penalty which was taken as a quick tap. Canada kicked it out on the full from the restart, and Hong Kong China could play a set move from halfway. Shortly after, the North Americans had a yellow card, which gave the boys a real chance to pile on pressure with under 5 minutes to go, and they took it.

First Callum McCullough, with a huge dummy in open play, coasted through the defence and scored under the sticks for a converted score to bring the deficit down to just 2 points (12-14). Then youngster Julien Bourron scored, following great team play as Liam Herbert unlocked the defence and offloaded smartly giving Hong Kong China la first lead of the match at 19-14.

Canada scored a try with 90 seconds to go, but the try was unconverted leaving scores level at 19-19. With only 50 seconds on the clock at the restart Hong Kong China were awarded a penalty for an illegal contest in the air.

The boys called a scrum and then every player touched the ball as Hong Kong China went 65 metres down the field. As the clock expired Alessandro Nardoni went over at the corner, but it was called correctly in touch by the assistant referee with a last ditch Canadian tackle forcing one foot into touch before the ball was grounded. This meant the game went to golden point to determine the winner, the first match of the SVNS Division 3 weekend to do so.

Canada won a penalty from the restart and called a scrum well back in their own territory. They put a huge kick in and the boys had to play out from behind our own try line, before Canada awarded another penalty. Thomas Isherwood, who prevented the Nardoni score, went over from a quick tap to win the game in the cruellest manner. The boys put in everything across all four games, and eventually were denied a place at SVNS Division 2 by the smallest of margins.

Hong Kong China Scores:

TRY Max Denmark 7'

(Conversion missed)

TRY Callum McCullough 10'

CONVERSION Matthew Rickard 10'

TRY Julien Bourron 12'

CONVERSION Bryn Philips 12'

3rd Pool Match: Hong Kong China 38-10 Columbia

Hong Kong China kicked off the final pool match knowing a win was essential to lock in a semifinal spot. The boys secured the kick, and Max Denmark scored under the posts within 30 seconds with Jack Combes converting.

Colombia struck back after a couple of missed grasping tackles to trail by 5-7, but Hong Kong China bounced right back with Harry Sayers scoring an absolute world-class try, which the commentary team quickly called the try of the weekend, as the boys extended the lead 12-5.

Julien Bourron and then a second Denmark try made it a comfortable 26-5 lead before the break.

Denmark then secured his hat trick in the opening minute, before Colombia scored their second try to double their score halfway through the period after Hong Kong China gave away successive penalties.

From the restarts a terrific period of scrambling defence and pressure pushed Colombia back 60m. The pressure paid off with a scrum set-piece move, and Matthew Rickard scored under the poles and converted his own try, clinching an excellent win and great team performance.

With two wins from three matches, Hong Kong China finish runners-up to Samoa (who won all three matches) in Pool A. This means the boys will face Pool B winners Canada in Sunday afternoon's semifinal, with the winner of that match qualifying for SVNS Division 2 - to be held in February and March 2026.

Hong Kong China Scores:

TRY Max Denmark 1’

CONVERSION Jack Combes 1’

TRY Harry Sayers 3’

(Conversion missed)

TRY Julien Bourron 5’

CONVERSION Jack Combes 5’

TRY Max Denmark 6’

CONVERSION Jack Combes 6’

TRY Max Denmark 8'

(Conversion missed)

TRY Matthew Rickard 14’

CONVERSION Matthew Rickard 15’

2nd Pool Match: Samoa 31-17 Hong Kong China

Hong Kong China Men have met Samoa 12 times previously, but have yet to record a win over the Pacific Islanders. Samoa showed in their opening pool match that they have plenty of pace and moved the point of attack superbly as they beat Colombia 26-7.

Samoa kicked off and retained the ball, but were forced to play from within their 22m, yet still created an opportunity to open the scoring 7-0. They successfully won the restart again and added a second converted try. Harry Sayers then did well to prevent a 3rd try in an identical scenario from the next restart.

Hong Kong China struggled to get hands on the ball and out of their own half as Samoa extended the lead 19-0. Allesandro Nardoni had a big carry upfield, and Liam Herbert got the first points on the board just before the break, converted by Bryn Phillips. But then in the final play of the half Samoa scored after the hooter to take a commanding 24-7 lead at halftime.

Hong Kong China did force pressure to start the second half and had a scrum 5m from the opposition try line. From there a slightly scrappy set of phases saw Bryn Phillips score a smart poacher's try.

The boys created several chances to score and narrow the lead thereafter, but the chances didn't stick. A forward pass by Samoa on their try line allowed Hong Kong China another bite, but their defence held and Samoa went on to score from their own 22m.

The boys did put in a solid shift to close out the match, and did manage a third try scored by co-captain James Christie to leave a final score of 31-17.

Hong Kong China Scores:

TRY Liam Herbert 7’

CONVERSION Bryn Phillips conversion 7’

TRY Bryn Phillips 9’

(Conversion missed)

TRY James Christie 16’

(Conversion missed)

 1st Pool Match: Tonga 14-33 Hong Kong China

The temperature was in the mid-twenties in Dubai, but it was thankfully not humid, as Hong Kong China kicked off and claimed the ball from Callum McCullough, who was a menace at all of the restarts during the match.

Hong Kong China showed some patient play as they looked to open the scoring, and Max Denmark touched down in the 3rd minute for a converted try, with Liam Herbert adding the second after the restart as McCullough claimed another kick-off for a good 12-0 start and lead after 4 minutes.

Another reclaimed ball gave Hong Kong China good territory, but a sloppy pass allowed Tonga in to score a length of the field try and under the posts. The Pacific islanders tied it up after the hooter with a second score – with the conversion putting them ahead 14-12 at the break.

Tonga started the second half but kicked too long, giving Hong Kong China a restart at the halfway mark. The boys controlled the ball and were again patient, as they looked to retake the lead. A scrum set move saw all seven players touch the ball, with passes sent coast to coast for Callum McCullough to score, and Phillips converted.

Another scrum after good pressure in the Tonga half saw several phases of play before Herbert created the space to allow Seb Brien to score on the left. The co-captain added a second a minute later to give the boys a 33-14 win, in doing so keeping the opposition scoreless in the half.

Keeping an eye on other results, Samoa beat Colombia in the other Pool A match but were made to work really hard throughout for the 26-7 win. In the other pool Belgium played a clinical and smart game to beat Madagascar 24-0, while Canada defeated Italy 33-7.

Hong Kong China Scores:

TRY Max Denmark 3’

CONVERSION Bryn Phillips 4’

TRY Liam Herbert 4’

(Conversion missed)

TRY Callum McCullough 10’

CONVERSION Bryn Phillips 10’

TRY Seb Brien 12’

CONVERSION Bryn Phillips 13’

TRY Seb Brien 14’

CONVERSION Matthew Rickard 15’

Team Management

Jevon GROVES – Head Coach

Peter JERICEVICH – Coach

Robbie FERGUSSON – Coach

Stephen MUTCH – Head of Athletic Performance

Olivia WITHERS – Physiotherapist

Paul JOHN – Team Manager

Men’s Players (Club)

Sebastian BRIEN © (HKU Sandy Bay)

James CHRISTIE © (HK Scottish)

Jack COMBES (USRC Tigers)

Julien BOURRON (HKFC)

Liam HERBERT (USRC Tigers)

Max DENMARK (HKFC)

Callum McCULLOUGH (HKFC)

Harry SAYERS (Valley)

FONG Kit Fung (Kowloon)

Matthew RICKARD (HKU Sandy Bay)

Bryn PHILLIPS (Kowloon)

Alessandro NARDONI (HK Scottish)

Preview

The squad gave the coaches one of the toughest selection headaches yet, as the depth of the talent pool has grown and competition is fierce, but there remains a healthy bond among the wider group.

Co-captain James Christie said, “It’s a super tight-knit group, and the competition among the guys has improved, which makes us better as a whole. Last year, we had a few strong words with each other after the Challenger in South Africa, which led to the dynamics changing. Instead of having a go at each other, we give better constructive criticism, and we take that into account, and that has made us better as a team and as individuals.”

Fellow co-captain, Seb Brien, added, “We have drawn lessons from Cape Town last year as it wasn't our best tournament, but we try to draw lessons from the good, bad and mediocre tournaments. All of the boys have been working really hard in the off-season and over Christmas.”

Pool A Opponents

On Saturday (17 January) Pitch 2 at The Sevens Stadium will see the three pool games played, and a top-two finish is required to make the Semi-Finals and keep the dream alive of moving on to the next division.

Hong Kong China are in a competitive Pool A alongside HSBC SVNS regulars Samoa, as well as Tonga and Colombia.

Brien said of the pool, “In the group, Tonga and Samoa are always going to be tough. You never know what team Tonga will be bringing, while Samoa have been World Series regulars. We watched Colombia knock off Chile, which was a big surprise and shows you can't take them lightly either, as they have got a lot of handy players.”

Hong Kong China open the tournament and face Tonga first, who we last played in the Cape Town Challenger first leg in 2025, and who the boys narrowly beat 21-19 in the 9th Place Final, although Tonga came back strongly in the second half and nearly snatched the win. Hong Kong China had also faced Tonga in the second leg of the 2024 Challenger in Montevideo and were victorious 26-7, and in the third and final leg of the 2024 Challenger in Munich, where the boys recorded their biggest win of the last three encounters, 42-14.

Christie said, “Of course, the goal is to make those tournaments in the future, but we are focused on Tonga in the first game, looking at the process more than the outcome and play-by-play. You can't play the final in the first game, and you need to take it game by game.”

One of the more surprising teams to qualify for Dubai is Colombia, who narrowly defeated Chile 12-10 in their 2025 South American Sevens (Sudamérica Rugby Sevens) played at Villa María del Triunfo in Lima, Peru. Known as Las Tucanes, they had close wins over Paraguay (10-7), beat Guatemala 77-0 and Honduras 71-7 before upsetting Chile in the Men’s Final.

Chile had previously been the South American qualifier for Challenger over recent years and competed in the World Rugby Challenger Series in Los Angeles.

Hong Kong China’s final pool game is likely to be the toughest. Like Canada, who are in Pool B, Samoa were relegated from the top-tier HSBC SVNS Series in the 2024 Grand Final weekend. They will come into Dubai as one of the favourites, a team the boys have not played for some time.

Manu Samoa 7s Head Coach, Matamua Junior Salima, has selected veterans and newcomers in his squad. Experienced players include Uaina Sione and Owen Niue as co-captains and Malakesi Masefau, while Faamanu Pone, Eletise Ese and Kyan Alo will all make their debuts for Samoa.

Samoa finished third overall across the three Challenger legs in 2025, but in the HSBC SVNS 2025 Play-Off in Los Angeles, they were beaten by Germany 31-0, who claimed the last remaining men’s spot for HSBC Division 2 in the process.

A player who has established himself in the Hong Kong China squad over the last year is Julien Bourron, who explained, “Selection now is much harder for the SVNS 3, and playing on that big stage for me personally would be a really big step up compared to what I have previously done and will be the hardest challenge yet, and I am extremely excited.”

Possible Knockout Opponents (from Pool B)

If successful in reaching the Semi-Finals by being in the top two in the pool, Sunday will see the knockout games played. Pool B favourites should be HSBC SVNS World Series regulars Canada, with the other teams being Madagascar, Belgium, and Italy. The most likely Semi-Finalists of the four are Canada are Madagascar.

Canada, since losing its place in the World Series in 2024, has dominated the RAN (Rugby Americas North) 7s in 2024 and 2025 to qualify for the Challenger last year and the SVNS 3 event in Dubai in 2026. They have not lost a match in both years of the RAN 7s and in 2025 won all six matches, concluding with a 31-0 win over Barbados in the final.

Hong Kong China last faced the Canadians in the first leg of the Cape Town Challenger 2025, when the boys lost 12-21 in the pool stages. Canada went on to qualify for the third leg in Poland and made the top four to compete at the HSBC SVNS 2025 Play-Off in Los Angeles, where they lost out on a top-four finish to qualify for SVNS Division 2, defeated by Kenya.

Madagascar were a surprise package at the Challenger legs in Cape Town last year and beat Hong Kong China twice across the two legs. We were defeated 19-21 in the first leg pool stage and 10-24 in the 9th Place Final in the second leg. Madagascar also defeated Japan and qualified for the third leg of the Challenger hosted in Krakow, but they didn't qualify for the HSBC SVNS 2025 Play-Off in Los Angeles.

They have made it to Dubai on the back of another great showing in the Africa 7s 2025, where they finished runner-up to South Africa, losing 12-26 in the final and finished ahead of Kenya.

Experienced campaigner Liam Herbert said the players have put in a real shift over the past year and changed their conditioning and preparedness.

“After all of the training we have done, and the backing we have had from the coaches and enduring the hot boxes in conditioning, which we have not done before, it's changed us a lot since last time.

“We are training in 37 degrees and conditions we will expect in Dubai for SVNS 3, so I am confident we will be ready to go from the first game. The guys are hissing to play. We know it could also be our last tournament of the year if we don't play well, so the lads are really ready to give it their best shot.”

Qualification to SVNS Division 2 and Beyond)

The two men’s teams that qualify from Division 3 will join Kenya, Uruguay, Germany and the USA for the three legs in Division 2, which will be played in Nairobi, Montevideo and Sao Paulo in February and March 2026.

A top-four finish among the six teams in Division 3 across the three legs will earn a spot in the three-event HSBC SVNS World Championship in April, May and June, and a chance to get into the core 7s HSBC SVNS Series for the 2026-27 season.

Information and photo source : Hong Kong China Rugby