PUBLISHED ON 13 NOV 2025
Hong Kong Men's 7s won the Gold Medal at the National Games at Kai Tak Stadium (12-14 November).
Results and match reaction from each day are shown below, and fans can also check out event photo gallery here.
Pools (Men)
- A1 Shandong, A2 Tianjin, A3 Inner Mongolia, A4 Hong Kong
- B1 Jiangsu, B2 Beijing, B3 Hebei, B4 Chongqing
Wednesday 12 November
- 4:30PM, Match 8, Shandong 12-24 Hong Kong Men, Pool A
- 8PM, Match 15, Tianjin 0-50 Hong Kong Men, Pool A
Thursday 13 November
- 4PM, Match 23, Inner Mongolia 5-43 Hong Kong Men, Pool A
- 8:30PM, Hong Kong Men 33-19 Jiangsu, Gold Medal Semi-Final
Friday 14 November 2025
- 9PM, Hong Kong Men 26-19 Shandong, Gold Medal Final
- 9:40PM, Presentation Ceremony
Results and Reaction - Day Three
Gold Medal Final - Hong Kong Men 26-19 Shandong
Hong Kong Men played the final game of the tournament in front of a noisy crowd and kicked off, winning the ball back from a Shandong knock on. A scrappy couple of opening minutes saw both teams make mistakes.
The team kept the ball well and momentum going to unleash Fong Kit Fung for the opening try, with the conversion missed by a whisker from a tight angle.
A Liam Herbert one-on-one tackle prevented a Shandong score, but they won a penalty and then coughed up possession. The man who started it all, Herbert, ended up scoring under the posts after some good interplay. Bryn Phillips converted, and the boys led 12-0 after six minutes.
Shandong then punished some poor discipline and dotted down their first converted try with less than a minute left in the half, and that's how the scores stayed at the half-time whistle, with Hong Kong ahead 12-7.
The opposition kicked it out on the full to start the half. However Hong Kong couldn't convert the opportunity into points, and a few discipline issues relieved the pressure on Shandong’s as they were stuck in their own half.
Herbert was having a Gold Medal Final to remember and made a crucial steal as our men had to absorb the pressure with less than half the period to go and still a one-score game.
A rare defensive lapse out wide allowed Shandong to score their second try, which they converted to lead for the first time, 14-12, with four minutes on the clock.
Harry Sayers busted out from our own 22m and Hong Kong won a penalty. The quick-thinking Julian Bourron raced away to score a converted try, which he slotted himself, for a 19-14 lead.
A nerve-wracking final few minutes saw Cado Lee pounce on a mistake and touch the ball down for the winning try with less than 60 seconds to go, and Bourron calmly waited for the clock to run down and converted to extend the lead to 26-14.
Even with the game won..Liam Herbert chased down what looked like a guaranteed Shandong try. They did however get a consolation score late for a final 26-19 win - and the boys securing the National Games title.
A beaming Max Denmark reflected after the whistle, “It felt almost like a full house out there. Playing in front of a home crowd is always beautiful. You can see how much Hong Kong supporters get behind us when we play, and there is no better feeling than that.
"This means everything to us as we have not been involved in these Games for a long time and we have never won a Gold Medal in it before. We tried to make history every time we played, and we have continued to do that.
"Shandong were so physical over the ball and disrupted our breakdown. At half-time, we said we were playing well, but we knew we had a few opportunities that we missed, and we needed to keep creating those opportunities. Then in those last few minutes, all I was thinking was that I believe in this team, I knew the team would prevail and we all had each other's backs.”
Results and Reaction - Day Two
Hong Kong Men 33-19 Jiangsu (Gold Medal Semi-Final)
Hong Kong Men kicked off against Jiangsu knowing the winner would guarantee a medal and progress to Friday night's Gold Medal Final. As Callum McCullough tried to slap the ball back, Jiangsu gained possession and attempted an early kick and run, but knocked on as they tried to gather possession.
From the resulting scrum around the midfield mark, Bryn Phillips passed to Harry Sawyers who found a gap and ran in under the post, with Phillips converting for a 7-0 lead.
McCullough caught a short kick-off but Jiangsu turned possession over and attempted another kick and run, Fong Kit Fung sprinting back well to recover the ball under pressure. Hong Kong then worked through the phases in midfield, with a clever out the back door pass from McCullough freeing up Phillips into a 2v1 with Fong able to run it from the wing right under the posts for Phillips to easily convert.
From the kick-off Liam Herbert knocked the ball back to disrupt play enough for Hong Kong to eventually win the ball, allowing Herbert to probe the backline and find a gap to score under the posts, with the conversion taking the score to a commanding 21-0.
From the kick-off Hong Kong again gathered the ball back. A few good offloads puts the boys just 5 metres away from the tryline where they win a penalty and opt for a scrum. The boys put on a rehearsed move through the backs but knock on just at the line.
As Jiangsu try to build possession from their own 22, Seb Brien picked up a yellow card for a deliberate knock on while trying to intercept a pass. Jiangsu kicked to touch, winning a penalty for offside at the line out and moving play upfield. This allowed Jiangsu to tap and go, scoring with the last play of the half - but missing the conversion to leave the score 21-5.
Jiangsu took the second half kick-off which Sayers gathered, before Hong Kong knock the ball on. Jiangsu opt for the scrum and some quick passing and footwork lead to their second try of the match.
As Hong Kong started to feel a bit of scoreboard pressure, Jiangsu gathered the ball off the kick off, choosing to chip and chase but the boys held firm, gained possession and put the ball through hands to Max Denmark. The winger who had just come off the bench made his run around the outside to score, with Phillips converting.
From the long kick-off Sayers tackled the receiver and won the penalty as the Jingsu player failed to release the ball. Phillips took a quick tap, played in Sayers who in turn put Denmark in the clear for his second try in two minutes.
With just 2 minutes left on the clock, Jiangsu opted to kick and chase again but Hong Kong ground the ball on their try zone. As the clock wound down, Hong Kong took the 22-metre dropout and kicked long, but Jiangsu were able to put the ball through hands and get their winger on the ball with space out wide to score. The try was converted to make it a two score game, but time ran out shortly after the restart allowing Denmark to kick into the stands and secure the space in the Gold Medal Final.
Liam Herbert, reflected on the performances so far in the competition: "We don't think we have actually got to our best yet. We've shown glimpses of it here and there in our performances, but there is still a lot that we can show, and I think if we come out tomorrow and give it 100%, we'll really put on a show for Hong Kong."
Looking ahead to the Final, which is a re-match of the team's opening game, he added: “We didn't necessarily play our best even when we played Shandong the first time, and they'll analyse us as well now and see what we need to work on on the pitch. It'll be a huge game, and I guess we'll just see who's best in the day and then who takes home the gold.”
Pool Match 3 - Inner Mongolia 5-43 Hong Kong Men
Fong Kit Fung scored the opening converted try for Hong Kong Men to lead 7-0, as they looked to cement top spot in the pool.
Inner Mongolia struck back through the outside pace that Head Coach Jevon Groves had talked about in last night's media mixed zone, but they failed to convert the extra two points.
An excellent sniping pass off a ruck and a fantastic line by Alessandro Nardoni restored a slight 12-5 cushion - the conversion missed off the posts.
Great ball retention and passing allowed Fong to grab his second unconverted try. We were denied a 4th try after the hooter to go into the break 17-5 ahead.
Fong sealed his hat-trick two minutes into the second half as Julian Bourron ran things from the middle and pulled the opposition apart - giving the boys a 24-5 lead.
Matt Rickard scored another shortly after, and he added the two from his own try before Denmark joined the party and powered through to score two quick tries in succession and a healthy 43-5 win and ensure a spot in the Gold Medal Semi-Final.
Following the win, Co-captain Seb Brien was pleased and said that the squad as a whole, with a strong bench, was making a big difference. “Our bench is so powerful, and they bring so much firepower, and the guys are so eager.
"It is that balancing act of playing the brand of rugby to excite the fans here, but also considering the tactical elements. We have been building this whole season, and we have not lost a game yet, and we want to keep that going all the way through and win the final.”
Max Denmark, who was one of those who brought a big impact, spoke of the opposition, “They have all performed very well, especially physically. But we have a goal to win the gold medal and to win every game here. The coaches have put the right plans together and prepared us to do well.”
Results and Reaction - Day One
Pool Match 1 - Shandong 12-24 Hong Kong Men
Hong Kong Men opened up against a Shandong side raring to go and looking to inflict a loss on the home side. The boys kicked off and regathered the ball before we moved it from coast to coast with great interplay for Bryn Phillips to score within 90 seconds.
The boys nearly scored down the left flank again from the restart, but for the smallest of knock-ons. On the first real defensive set, the team won a turnover and called for a scrum and again nearly scored down the right but were denied.
Co-captain Seb Brien did get the team's second score with an interception with four minutes left to halftime and an excellent conversion for a 12-0 lead.
We were winning the restarts, and the team's composure ensured a third try scored by Callum McCullough with a great cross-field kick and hands shown by his teammates. Shandong did strike back late in the half with a scoreline of 19-7 at the break.
Hong Kong won the collisions and breakdown to start the half and kicked downfield looking to extend the lead, but another small error stopped the momentum.
Although the boys had less of the ball, Shandong were kept pinned in their 22m and forced to make mistakes. A Shandong full field break took a real team effort, with half a dozen tackles just denying the opposition a certain try inches short.
The boys then had to defend our line, and a TMO check had to be called to see if Shandong were denied on our try line, and it was initially deemed so, thanks to a double tackle, but then it was awarded in a confusing minute. This meant Hong Kong led by just 19-12 with two and a half minutes remaining.
Superb interplay in the midfield created an opportunity, and cynical play from the Shandong defender saw him yellow-carded. A wide ball from the ensuing scrum saw Fong Kit-Fung score to seal the win 24-12.
Bryn Phillips said after the result, “They were good and kept on coming and had good linespeed and were very passionate, and it was hard to play around them and they were well up for it. We need to focus on ourselves and recover, and do what we do well. We have threats out wide and threats all over, so we need to recycle quickly and play the game we know we can play."
Head Coach Jevon Groves commented after the win, “We need to work on our management of that middle part of the game. We started really well, but we dropped off in the middle part. We want to inspire people and put in performances Hong Kong can be proud of and sit up and take notice of.
"We can achieve that physically and creatively. With nine-minute halves, it is physically demanding with this number of games over three days, and we hope people can support us and get behind us. We need to be at the top of our game to compete with these teams, and we want to give it our all to help promote the game in Hong Kong, China and Asia.”
Pool Match 2 - Tianjin 0-50 Hong Kong Men
Hong Kong Men finished the day with a big win. The scoring started when Bryn Phillips executed a great chip and chase which let Harry Sayers break free and he offloaded to Max Denmark who powered down the touch line before cutting inside the last man to bag his first try of the tournament.
Tianjin looked to bounce back with a score of their own but for a try-saving tackle and turnover from Michael Coverdale, 5 metres from our tryline. Moments later Denmark was on the score sheet again after another strong line break from Sayers before the ball moved left to Alessandro Nardoni and the final offload to Denmark who scored and Phillips converted.
We had to defend before winning a penalty and opted for a scrum. Cado Lee and Phillips showed good interplay, with the latter kicking to the corner, and who else but Max Denmark collected and scored for his hat trick and a 19-0 lead.
In the final seconds of the half, Sayers scored a try - the team’s fourth. The conversion hit the upright and missed but we had a healthy 24-0 advantage and Tianjin were down to six with a yellow card.
The second half saw both sides reduced to six players as Michael Coverdale went to the bin for Hong Kong. Our boys had to defend well and secured a vital penalty to relieve pressure. A smart penalty tap saw Fong Kit Fung score on the edge and extend the lead to 29-0.
We were attacking from the kick and co-captain Seb Brien ducked under the arms of a tackler and ran it in from 40 metres out with Matthew Rickard converting.
Tianjin found it tough to handle our restarts and we again regained possession. Matthew Rickard beat the defender with quick feet to dot it down and convert his own try. Another good restart meant Seb Brien caught the Tianjin defenders off guard and he ran in his second which Rickard slotted for the 50-0 win.
Max Denmark said after the team topped the pool with a big win, "It was pretty tough playing this longer format, it really put a stress on your fitness so I am happy our coaches concentrated on that over recent weeks. I think we are the fittest we have ever been preparing for this tournament.
"For tomorrow, I hope we win our final pool game and move into the playoffs in a good position.”
The men’s final pool A game on Thursday is against Inner Mongolia.
