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One game stands between Hong Kong and their Rugby World Cup dream

23/11/2018

As Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup, Societe Generale has teamed up with Hong Kong’s most capped player, Nick Hewson, who is in Marseille hoping to keep Hong Kong’s journey towards Japan alive - with just one game sitting between them and the Rugby World Cup.

Nick: Coming off a shock-loss to Germany in our opening game, it was ‘do or die’ against Kenya at the last-chance Rugby World Cup qualification tournament in France. We were in a must-win situation plus we needed a bonus point to have any chance of taking the last Rugby World Cup place. It was a daunting position to be in and was important we remained positive and maintained our self-belief.

We got off on the wrong foot as a physical Kenyan side took advantage of some quick offloads and punished us with three outstanding tries which saw us go down 12-7 in the first half. We needed to re-focus and come together as a team and as the most experienced player on the field, I knew I had to step up and lead from the front.

We started to work together and capitalise on our strengths as a team. We nailed six tries in the second half and I was lucky enough to contribute five points to the score board. Lewis Warner, a player very familiar to Societe Generale, who used to work in the Hong Kong office before joining the Elite Rugby programme touched down a try right on full time. Societe Generale Valley stalwart, Ben Rimene, converted all tries making the final score 42-17 which not only secured us a win but the needed bonus point to keep our Rugby World Cup journey alive.

With Kenya and Germany now out of the running, it all comes down to one last match between us and Canada. The odds are against us as we need to win by at least seven points, four tries and prevent them from scoring any more than three tries but I believe in this team and that anything is achievable with this group. While we have a challenging task in front of us, our last performance and three weeks of team bonding means the team spirit on and off the field is stronger than ever.

I can’t wait to take the field with this amazing group of guys against Canada in hopes of turning our Rugby World Cup dream into a reality!

Join the journey with Societe Generale and get behind Hong Kong as they face off against Canada in Marseille on Friday night in a match that will decide their Rugby World Cup fate.

Watch the finale

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India: @SocGen_India