Hong Kong coach eyes complete performance as he tweaks squad for Rugby World Cup decider
Andrew Douglas wants players to ‘enjoy the week’ as they prepare to face South Korea on Saturday, when a win will place them among the elite
It is hard to ignore the prize that awaits the winner of Saturday’s final game of this year’s Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship, but that is just what Hong Kong head coach Andrew Douglas would like his team to do.
Victory for either Hong Kong or South Korea on Saturday would most likely mean a place in the 2027 World Cup, and Douglas, who has tweaked his squad again for the most important game in the city’s history, wants his players to enjoy the moment.
With families, friends and a healthy contingent of supporters all making the trip to Incheon, Douglas is expecting it to be a “pretty special” week.
“It’s like a final, and finals week you’ve got to really enjoy because they don’t come around that often, and when they do, you can overthink things and get too fizzed up,” Douglas said.
“I think it’s really important that players enjoy the week, enjoy working with each other and what is about to unfold. We haven’t brought any emotion into it yet, or the outside implications – it’s purely about what we need to do to beat Korea.”
That focus has led Douglas to return to the front five that started the 43-10 win over the United Arab Emirates, move captain Josh Hrstich back to No 8 and switch Luke van der Smit, who scored a hat-trick of tries in the 78-7 win over Sri Lanka last weekend, to the bench.