Hong Kong insist complacency will not be an issue in Saturday's Rugby World Cup playoff second leg against the Cook Islands.
The territory scored four unanswered tries in winning the first leg 26-3 in Rarotonga at the weekend, to take a big step towards advancing to the final qualifying round.
Hong Kong drew first blood against the Cook Islands with a four-try win in Rarotonga. Photo: World Rugby
Assistant coach Andrew Hall said the Hong Kong squad has a strong leadership group that will ensure the players remain grounded and focused on the task at hand.
"That group will perhaps get a bit of direction from the coaches but it is very much the discipline within the group that will drive that," he said.
"These guys have been working over three and a half years towards this goal of qualifying (for the Rugby World Cup) so they will be mindful of taking the foot off the gas.
"And they won't want careless mental lapses and complacency to come in and be the deciding factor whether we continue with this process."
Hong Kong are back on home soil for the return leg against the Cook Islands. Photo: Hong Kong Rugby Union / Ike Images
The Cook Islands coach Stan Wright said a lack of execution proved costly for the home side at the weekend and Andrew Hall said Hong Kong will have to be switched on for the expected onslaught in the return leg.
"Early on we started strong but, as was always going to happen at some point, they came into the game with big heavy runners and a lot of speed out the back," he said.
"They did leave a few points out their but, from our side, our defence was fairly resolute and we're certainly pleased about that. It's something we want to bring forward into the home leg, particularly as we all know now that the Cook Islands have to come and score and win and win very very well with the current deficit.
"We're grounded - we enjoyed the win with the Cook Islanders but now we're feet right on the ground knowing that the job is just half done."
The winner of the home and away playoff will advance to the global repechage tournament in November, from which the winning team will qualify for next year's World Cup in Japan.
