Bangkok International Rugby Tens 2026 Celebrates 20th Anniversary

The Bangkok International Rugby Tens 2026 is coming up this weekend from 14-15 February, and the regional popular social rugby tournament is celebrating a milestone tournament as it’s the 20th anniversary.

We heard from the tournament Senior co-organisers, Darryn Mathee, about his role in putting the event together and what to expect for this special edition, which sees teams from around Asia and the globe fly in for youth, Women’s, Men’s and Vets contact rugby as well as touch rugby.

Photo Credit – Bangkok International Rugby Tens CEO Eddie Evans (Left) and Darryn Mathee (Right)

The South African-born Mathee, who plays with the Bangkok Bangers Club and has represented the Thai national Men’s 15s team, told us, “This will be my 10th year involved in the Bangkok 10s, so I am celebrating my own anniversary. I’m one of the senior organisers. I’m in charge of sponsorship, the schedule, and helping Eddie Evans, the CEO (as well as Canada Rugby Hall of Famer and a Rugby World Cup veteran), with organising teams for the tournament. 

We have 42 adult teams coming, 24 Men’s, 10 Vets and 8 Women’s. We have a Touch section now, which is handled by someone else, which takes a little load off us. This year is one of our biggest yet, and we have people coming back just to watch but have previously played in a tournament.”

Photo Credit – Mr Wu – Darryn Mathee playing for Thailand Men’s 15s at the Unions Cup 2025

Asia has some of the world’s greatest social rugby tournaments, in our opinion. It’s very sociable, and Thailand is known for its hospitality, and it’s a good place to go out. We have also seen tournaments come and go in the region, so what is it about this Bangkok International Rugby 10s tournament that gives it such staying power and makes it special?

“I think we try to avoid the serious teams. We’re the biggest social tournament. We do a lot of research on the teams that do apply to see if they actually can be social. We have had teams in the past that aren’t really social and don’t really benefit the tournament in any way. Our profit is made from socialising,” said Darryn Mathee.

He added, “We host events on both evenings, Saturday and Sunday, with live bands, DJs, and there is a Friday night welcome event. That social aspect of it, where we try to keep everyone engaged all the time, is important. It’s not just ‘come play rugby and disappear into Bangkok and go do your own thing’. We try to keep the teams entertained for three days. I’ll say it again, it’s the biggest social tournament in Asia.”

The tournament has been held at the Bangkok Patana Sports Complex every year, and the facilities they offer are fantastic to cater for such a large event.

“The tournament has been held at Bangkok Patana Sports Complex since we started. We’re now pushing five full fields, and we have made a small field for the juniors because we’re up to about 60 kids’ teams now, ranging from U8 all the way up to U19s. This is the first time we’re going to have girls U18 playing too. In total, we have over 120 teams playing across the whole tournament, so we need the big facility.”

Photo Credit – Bangkok International Rugby Tens – Nak Suu Rugby Academy benefits from the tournament

The demand annually is huge, and the tournament attracts several former capped players, rugby dignitaries and ambassadors. The tournament is fully booked in 2026, and the schedule of pools can be seen here.

Of the demand, Mathee said, “Our Facebook goes crazy from August-September, with teams asking for invitations. We go through everyone’s requests and send individual invitations to each team after we’ve done our research on every team. We don’t just take the first 24 men’s teams that sign up, for example.

It is a very high-demand tournament, and I would say we’ve never struggled to get teams. We always save two spots for Thai teams, but we try to keep it International.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is also officially supporting the Bangkok International Rugby Tens 2026 with its efforts in promoting sport tourism, international travel, and community rugby in Thailand.

Format – Bangkok International Rugby Tens

• All pool games will be 13 minutes one way. No Half Time.
• Knockout games will be 7 minutes a half with 1 minute break 
• Men’s and Women’s Cup finals on Sunday will be 10 minutes a half (2 minutes break)

Nak Suu Rugby Academy – Charitable Initiative of Bangkok Rugby Tens

The Nak Suu Rugby Academy is the charity organisation of the Bangkok International Tens. 

Mathee explained, “A majority of the Nak Suu kids, we have about 18 now that play rugby, are part of the program. Dillon Weimar is one of the managers for Nak Suu, and he trains them on a Saturday morning with all the volunteers. Throughout the year, we do programs for them, take them on outings, and we do Christmas parties. 

They stay at a full boys home, and there are about 220 kids in total that live there. We offer the rugby program, and if they take part in the Mak Suu rugby program on the weekends, we will look after them with the funds that we raise at the Bangkok Tens.”

He added that a lot of the visiting teams like to donate to the Academy when they come to the tournament, such as the Hamilton Club from New Zealand. 

You can also see a special selection of auction items here, which is operating under a silent bid – items include signed rugby jerseys. All proceeds benefit the Nak Suu Rugby Academy Charity.

Photo Credit – Bangkok International Rugby Tens

Special Guests Attending the Bangkok 10s 2026

Although social, the calibre of teams comes finals time for the Men’s and Vets tends to be pretty high, with regulars such as the Jam Boys (associated with Springbok Bobby Skinstad), the Nak Suu Warriors, the New Zealand Legends, Pig Athletic Club and some top NZ clubs all having featured over the years.

So who can you expect to see at the tournament in 2026?

“We’ve got Glenn Ennis coming. He also played for Canada in 32 Tests and 3 times as captain. He played in the mid to late 1990s in Japan for Suntory. Springbok RWC winner Bob Skinstad is coming back, and his brother’s coming with him. Ross Filipo is coming (among others, he played for the Chiefs and Crusaders in Super Rugby, and Bayonne in the Top 14 in France, as well as earning 4 All Blacks caps) he is touring with the Hamilton team, which is always a solid team. They played in the final last year.”

Bangkok International Rugby Tens 2026 Playing Fields

There is also a special guest in the form of an international referee with RWC experience. Mathee told us, “This year, we have Karl Dickinson coming. He’s a famous and well-respected referee from the UK who has officiated at the Rugby World Cup, the Six Nations, in the Top 14, and the URC.

So he’s quite a big name, which is quite exciting for us. Karl will be refereeing the final and the opening game, and some games in between. He’ll be handing over some trophies for the kids. So he’s going to have a busy weekend.

We have referees from the UK, Hong Kong China, Thailand, and Singapore involved.”

Karl Dickson will be attending the Bangkok International Rugby Tens 2026

There is also a VIP Area which offers viewing from the upstairs area, food and drinks and the “opportunity to mingle with the sponsors, partners and potentially, the special guests.”

Why Attend the Bangkok Rugby 10s 2026?

The tournament is for all players, fans and families. Darryn Mathee said, “It starts at seven o’clock in the morning with the kids, and the parents can sit and have drinks, and the kids can hang out on jumping castles. We’ve rugby passing games for kids to win prizes, so the kids will be entertained and the parents can enjoy themselves at the bars.

And then all day rugby, from 7am all the way up to 5:30PM. From 6pm we have music in the beer garden and a DJ from about 7:30pm, and a live band playing music playing until 11pm. There are eight vendors selling food, and we have three full bars set up so people can get drinks and have a good time. 

For fans wishing to attend the tournament, entry is free, but all players and spectators attending the Bangkok International Rugby 10s at Bangkok Patana School must have a QR code ready for entry (available from the tournament Facebook).

How To Watch The Bangkok International 10s 2026

Like so many other tournaments, they have also now incorporated live streaming and commentary. 

“We will have live streaming again this year. We’ve got Gareth Rees from Canada doing the punditry – he played number 10 for Canada, and it’s exciting to have him as our announcer. I think we had about 4,000 people watching the final on the live stream last year, and that’s from all over the world, which is quite exciting.”

Rees played for Canada 55 times, representing them at the first four Men’s RWC from 1987-1999 (the only person to do so) and has also played at Newport, Mérignac, Wasps, and Harlequins. He was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2011.

Asian Rugby News 2026

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• Asian International Rugby Tournaments 2026.
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