Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 Preview

rugbyasia247 Posted On October 24, 2025

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Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 Preview

The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 is now set to take place only in Oman after the initially planned split event saw the Mongolian leg cancelled due to insufficient participants. In total, the event will feature 18 teams, with 13 men’s and 5 women’s sides involved.

Feature Photo Credit – Asia Rugby

Updated October 24, 2025 (It’s the day before the tournament, still no pools, confirmed squads, fixtures, etc from Oman Rugby nor Asia Rugby – we tried but will update if anything is released).

The tournament was initially annunced to feature 21 national teams from 17 nations (14 Men’s and 7 Women’s). The teams are set to compete in Muscat, Oman, from 25–26 October at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. Initially, it had been planned for teams from the Central and West Asia region to be competing in this event, but was made open to all eligible teams.

In 2024, the 7s events were also changed late, as a newly proposed Asia Rugby Sevens Emirates Challenge event was scrapped, and in the end, 15 men’s and 8 women’s teams played the 2024 Tropy event in Nepal.

Nabil Al Busaidi, Chairman of Oman Rugby, said of hosting, “We are thrilled to learn that Oman Rugby has been awarded the hosting rights for the prestigious Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy. This marks a monumental milestone for rugby in the Sultanate and the wider region.”

Qais Al Dhalai, President of Asia Rugby, said in a post online, “Asia Rugby Sevens has grown from 36 teams in 2019 to a record 45 in 2025, with women’s participation rising from 12 to 19 teams, showcasing sustained post-pandemic growth and greater gender balance across the continent.”

Asia Rugby says that the Mongolia tournament had to be cancelled due to a “sudden and unexpected surge in airfares and travel-related costs, and only three men’s and three women’s teams were able to confirm participation by the deadline.”

We have said previously that we heard from a number of unions that, from the time the venue was announced, the costs were deemed to be too high.

We will update this as more information is released close to the competition date – so bookmark it now! There is still a lot to clarify, as the recent communications include FIT (touch rugby).

Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex will host the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy 2025

Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 Format, Teams & Pools

Asanga Seneviratne, Chairperson of Asia Rugby’s Competitions Committee, said, “We are excited about the Trophy being held for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman. The competitiveness across Asia is especially encouraging, with teams ready to showcase their progress. The Oman edition promises to be a true celebration of rugby sevens.”

As we mentioned when Asia Rugby first announced the 7s calendar, it hasn’t been made clear how the new ARESS and Trophy 7s pathways will be defined for 2026.

The latest statement from Asia Rugby simply states, “Importantly, the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 will serve as a pathway tournament to Asia Rugby’s premier competition, the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2026.”

We will assume the winners of each Trophy event will be promoted and the bottom-ranked ARSS 2025 will be relegated, but there is no confirmation yet of this.

Women’s 7s Trophy Teams 2025

Women's Teams - Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025

Photo Credit – Asia Rugby – Women’s Team Captains- Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025

Iran
Jordan
Korea*
Lebanon
Uzbekistan

Nepal and Syria were both originally listed but don’t appear in the final tournament information (released one day before it starts). The Women’s pools, fixtures and results should be on the Asia Rugby website, but 24 hours before the tournament, the information was not available.

*The inclusion of a Korean women’s team is very surprising, as in all the years we have covered the region, they have had no age-grade or national team representation for any female team. The Korea Rugby Union confirmed its their first tournament in six years.

Men’s 7s Trophy Teams & Pools 2025

Men's Teams - Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025

Photo Credit – Asia Rugby – Men’s Team Captains – Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025

Pool A

Bahrain
Iran
Iraq
BYE

Pool B

Kazakhstan
Saudi Arabia
Kyrgyzstan
BYE

Pool C

Afghanistan
India
Lebanon
BYE

Pool D

Jordan
Qatar
Palestine
Oman*

*The Oman National 7s Team will make their debut at the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy 2025 tournament.

Syria was originally listed to compete as well. The Men’s pools, fixtures and results should be on the Asia Rugby website, but 24 hours before the tournament, the information was not available.