The Asia Pacific Seniors Touch Cup is due to take place from 8-10 October 2026 at the Tochigi Sports Park in Utsunomiya, an hour north of Tokyo, Japan.
Originally announced in August 2025, Expressions of Interest were opened up at the end of 2025 for teams to participate in what would be the inaugural edition of the tournament.
Federation of International Touch (FIT) said, “The event will feature a range of senior and masters age categories in single gender and mixed format. The event is open to all FIT Member NTOs, but priority will be given to those based in the Asia and Oceania regions.”
It’s been more than two decades since FIT last hosted an event in Japan, which was the World Cup in 2003. At that tournament, 27 teams from nine nations competed across five categories of competition.
FIT said it expects the Asia Pacific Seniors Touch Cup 2026 event to be somewhat bigger, featuring more divisions and more nations. In August 2025, FIT Chief Operations Officer, Chris Simon, said, “The game of Touch has changed a fair bit since 2003, hasn’t it? Last year’s World Cup had 187 teams from 39 nations in it, and our most recent youth event in Ireland had 45 teams from 12 nations.
We think there’s demand for more regular international competition, something we have seen develop in Europe in particular. We’re hopeful to have most categories from the last World Cup represented and could get as many as 40 to 50 teams participating.”
Japan Touch Association
Japan Touch Association (JTA), Board Director, Shigeru Mizukami, said, “JTA is delighted to be able to work with the Federation of International Touch to bring an international touch event back to Japan. We have waited a long time for this opportunity and are excited to be able to welcome international teams from across the Asia-Pacific region to our country.
Our aspiration is to make this the best touch event in Asia, but we know we have a lot of work to do to make this possible.”
Asian Rugby Tournament News 2026
- Get Excited For The HKFC Youth 10s 2026.
- HKFC 10s Announces Title Sponsor Extension with Tradition Until 2028 – Three-Day Format in 2026 Kicks Off With 8 Women’s Matches.
- Melrose Claymores Teams for Cathay / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2026 Confirmed.
- Brave Blossoms 2026 Home Tests and Venues Confirmed.
Trending Now
The Best Social 2026 Rugby Tournaments In Asia
