Should Hong Kong be disqualified from Rugby World Cup 2027? This question needs to be answered as Hong Kong had an unfair advantage in Rugby World Cup Qualifiers. N8 Luke van der Smit failed drug test for a banned substance following game vs South Korea.
The match in question was a 70-22 victory by Hong Kong over South Korea in Incheon. It was the result that saw Hong Kong officially qualify for the Australia hosted Rugby World Cup in 2027. In doing so, Hong Kong qualified for a first-ever Men’s Rugby World Cup tournament.
Hong Kong qualified in July. Four months later, reports out of Hong Kong note that Luke van der Smit, a South African player who qualifies via eligibility, failed a drug test for a performance-enhancing substance after the Asia Rugby Championship Match between South Korea and Kong Kong on July 05.
The player was a try scorer in the match. Having learned of the doping, Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) have terminated van der Smit’s contract, standing the player down from all rugby activities.
Prior doping cases include South African Rugby World Cup 2019 winner S’busiso Nkosi who was banned for three years in 2024 after testing positive for Boldenone, an anabolic androgenic steroid and Canadian Liam Murray who was banned for three years due to having metabolites of ligandrol and cardarine.
van der Smit’s case comes during the week of Rugby World Cup 2027 Final Qualification tournament. Dubai will host matches between all of Belgium, Brazil, Namibia and Samoa. The winner will qualify for Australia 2027 as the 24th, and final participant.
There are notable facts connected to both Brazil and Namibia. Brazil did not qualify for the repechage tournament by winning; to the contrary, Paraguay defeated Brazil both at home and away in Rugby World Cup Qualifiers. This saw Paraguay qualifying for repechage only to withdraw due to Ramiro Amarilla not having been eligible.
Namibia finished as Africa 2 behind Zimbabwe. This saw Zimbabwe qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027 and sent Namibia to play as Africa 2 vs Asia 2 in a play-off. Namibia faced and hammered the United Arab Emirates to book a spot in repechage.
Brazil replacing Paraguay is the latest example of punishment for breaching player eligibility laws. Some examples include World Rugby disqualifying Tahiti, Belgium and Spain from Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers. Romania were disqualified from Rugby World Cup 2019 and Spain from Rugby World Cup 2023.
World Rugby knew that Luke van der Smit failed the drug test but has not taken action. This suggests that rugby’s governing body is not taking any action against Hong Kong, enabling the team to freely play at Rugby World Cup 2027. In other words, the player will be punished but not the union. This is stark contrast to the case of Gavin van den Berg who falsified his passport in order to play for Spain and lied in his testimony.
As noted, a player who helped Kong Kong qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027 should not have been playing. This means Hong Kong had an unfair advantage and cheated. Moreover, teams have been disqualified from Rugby World Cup Qualifying and, indeed, from tournaments for breaching player eligibility.
