It is 1 October 2027. There are 61,000 fans inside Perth Stadium.

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.

For hosts Australia, twice world champions with a proud rugby history across the codes, it is familiar territory.

For their opponents Hong Kong China, it is anything but.

It will be their World Cup debut and for their players it will be biggest match of their lives.

Among them, all being well, are Jack Combes and Alex Post. Two players more used to the lower semi-professional tiers of the English league system than the global spotlight.

It is David v Goliath – in football parlance it is Spain v Cape Verde.

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.

“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.

There are glints in their eyes and smiles on their faces – why wouldn’t there be?

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.

“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 Combes.

“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.

“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%.”

Despite having made his international debut a decade ago, until recently Post was hooking for Richmond in The Champ.

“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.

“It’s a very tough league. And that was great preparation for the international games.”

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.

The Varsity match at Twickenham remains one of the larger crowds he has played in front of.

“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.

“So it wasn’t really feasible for players like myself to stay at Richmond.

“Hong Kong was very much, ‘we need boots on the ground’.

“I’ve moved my family and myself over the last couple of weeks and yeah, kind of chase the dream for the next year.”

A full-time professional contract has enabled greater focus on the game away from being a financial analyst.

“With Richmond, we’d train twice a week and then you would do your own gym sessions in your own time,” added Post.

“But you can probably do twice as much as that with Hong Kong now.”