Hong Kong's back row Thomas Lamboley gestures prior to the 2019 Japan Rugby Union World Cup qualifying match between Hong Kong and Kenya at the Delort Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Marseille, southern France. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP)
Hong Kong rekindled hopes of joining the big guns of international rugby at next year's World Cup with a comprehensive 42-17 win over Kenya in the second round of repechage on Saturday.
Hong Kong, who lost their opening match of the campaign to Germany, came back from 14-0 down after 23 minutes to run in six tries in total, two of them from backrow forward Thomas Lamboley.
"That was good, we needed to bounce back after the loss to Germany," said Lamboley whose brother Gregory is a France international.
"We got the bonus point and now we can look forward to a 'final' against Canada, hoping that they beat Germany."
Four teams are involved in the round-robin repechage competition in Marseille with the winner going through to face New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia in the group stages of the World Cup.
Canada, who beat Kenya in their opener, meet Germany in Marseille later on Saturday.
Defeat means Keyna cannot now qualify for the tournament in Japan.
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