Hooker Alex Post scored a hat-trick by “sitting at the back as the forwards did all the work” from catch and drives, but by his own admission “could not hit a dart” on a day when Hong Kong’s line-out regularly misfired.

“Like I said, I just sit at the back and hold onto the ball, I don’t have to do anything special,” Post said of his hat-trick. “The only thing I have to do is fight off the nines. Bryn Phillips is always trying to nick it off me.

“The scrums and line-outs were not as strong as we’d like them to be. A great win, but if we want to make it and take that next step, as ambitious as we are, we’ve really got to be more clinical.”

The scrum was a constant source of frustration, with South Korea regularly winning free-kicks as the home side were penalised for being unstable, but Hong Kong won against the head at two vital moments with their opponents metres from the goal line.

Evans took particular pride in his side’s defending – and the speed out of the line, and at the breakdown, did much to throw South Korea off. The visitors’ try, when it came, was courtesy of a nice chip kick behind the defence that wing Chang Yong-heung gathered before scampering clear to touch down.

“Even though there is a longer-term goal here, to do that [win] was outstanding,” Evans said. “It’s been 10 weeks of really hard work. The boys performed well in two games, and we knew that was going to be a more difficult test, and I’m glad [we had that].

“And every time we really got tested – scrum, try-line defence – we stood up. So as coaches, so proud of the boys.”

Postman rings thrice as Hong Kong retain Asia Rugby Championship crown

Despite blowing three golden opportunities, Hong Kong still scored five times on a rainy day, where the slick artificial pitch did much to contribute to Gregor McNeish missing all the conversions and a very simple penalty.

Aside from Post’s treble, captain Tom Hill scored at his third attempt, while Hong Kong were awarded a penalty try three minutes from time after South Korea full-back Jeong Yeon-sik pushed the ball dead with Will Panday poised to score.

Errors, forced and unforced, blighted both teams, and South Korea’s greatest transgression was the poor kicking out of hand, which too often gave the ball back to Hong Kong instead of relieving the pressure as intended.

South Korea coach Lee Myung-geun, like his counterpart, has his eyes on a run to the World Cup and unseating Hong Kong from their position as ARC champions.

“We have a goal to become the top team in Asia and to qualify for the World Cup,” Lee said. “We don’t have the chance to play strong opposition in Korea, and this was a good step for our team.”

Leading 13-3 at the break, Hong Kong’s replacements helped make a difference in a tight second half, and the addition of Zac Cinnamond into the front row gave the scrum more stability in the closing stages.

With Josh Hrstich back to full fitness and Pierce MacKinlay-West proving his worth, Evans was also able to hand debuts to David Tang, Matt Keay and Dylan White, meaning there is more strength in depth than previously.

Still, Evans must now wait at least six months before Hong Kong get to play again, and even that is not certain in a World Cup year.

“Hopefully we’ll get some November tests,” Evans said. “But these guys need to play more international rugby – they deserve to play more international rugby – and that’s the next thing, to see what the plan is in six months’ time.”