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It is 1 October 2027. There are 61,000 fans inside Perth Stadium.<\/b><\/p>\n
There is a global TV audience in the millions as two teams go through their final warm-ups preparing to open the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n
For hosts Australia, twice world champions with a proud rugby history across the codes, it is familiar territory.<\/p>\n
For their opponents Hong Kong China, it is anything but.<\/p>\n
It will be their World Cup debut and for their players it will be biggest match of their lives.<\/p>\n
Among them, all being well, are Jack Combes and Alex Post. They are two players more used to the lower semi-professional tiers of the English league system than the global spotlight.<\/p>\n
It is David v Goliath – in football parlance it is Spain v Cape Verde. You get the idea.<\/p>\n
Twelve months earlier to the day, Jack and Alex are in Hong Kong. It is a national holiday and both have taken time out to tell BBC Sport about how their sporting and personal lives have been transformed.<\/p>\n
“I think the whole run-up to the whole qualification process was already a dream in itself. To qualify for a men’s first World Cup was huge,” said Combes, a scrum-half.<\/p>\n
There are glints in their eyes and smiles on their faces – why wouldn’t there be?<\/p>\n
Hong Kong China have been drawn in Pool A at the World Cup, where not just the hosts await, but also Chile – and the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
“People will say it’s daunting and it’s a huge challenge to have those two top nations in your pool, but if you’re going to do it, do it properly. Why not?” said Post.<\/p>\n
“People might question whether we deserve to be there. But for me, if you asked anyone as a kid, if you could open up the World Cup in that first game in a year’s time, it’s genuinely amazing. A dream come true.<\/p>\n
“And I’m sure anyone who does give us any criticism about us being there, there’s no way they wouldn’t be doing the same thing if they could, 100%.”<\/p>\n
Despite having made his international debut a decade ago, until recently Post was hooking for Richmond in The Champ.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, I’ve never played at The Prem level. But The Champ definitely doesn’t get the credit it deserves,” said the 31-year-old.<\/p>\n
“It’s a very tough league. And that was great preparation for the international games.”<\/p>\n
Post was a full-time rugby player with Hong Kong China, before the Covid pandemic brought that to an end and he began a Masters degree at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n
The Varsity match at Twickenham remains one of the larger crowds he has played in front of.<\/p>\n
“One of the unique selling points for Hong Kong is the players are contracted all year round and spend all their time together,” said Post.<\/p>\n
“So it wasn’t really feasible for players like myself to stay at Richmond.<\/p>\n
“Hong Kong was very much, ‘we need boots on the ground’.<\/p>\n
“I’ve moved my family and myself over the last couple of weeks and yeah, kind of chase the dream for the next year.”<\/p>\n
A full-time professional contract has enabled greater focus on the game away from being a financial analyst.<\/p>\n
“With Richmond, we’d train twice a week and then you would do your own gym sessions in your own time,” added Post.<\/p>\n
“But you can probably do twice as much as that with Hong Kong now.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n