Guam To Join Expanded Unions Cup from 2026

On Wednesday, 9th July at the Kaohsiung National Stadium, Guam Rugby Football Union signed on to join the expanded Unions Cup Men’s 15s rugby tournament from 2026, which will be hosted by the Thailand Rugby Union next year.

Photo Credit – Mr Wu

In attendance were Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) President Sunny Seah, President of the Thailand Rugby Union (TRU) Kulthon Prachuabmoh, the President of the Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union Jeffry Chang, and Guam Rugby Football Union, Joshua Walsh, as well as Hou Tsun Yao – Director General, Sports Development Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government to sign the MoU, while the Philippines Rugby Football Union President (PRFU) Ada Milby could not attend due to official duties elsewhere.

The President of Guam Rugby Football Union, Joshua Walsh, thanked the other Unions for their collaboration at the official MoU signing and allowing Guam to join the new tournament, telling the dignitaries and media, “You are allowing developing unions like ours to elevate our game in the greatest tradition of rugby, so I would like to convey my appreciation to you all.”

The Guam national team played two matches in Chinese Taipei before the Unions Cup 2025 took place, and he said that their team were flying home to Guam, knowing what was at stake and in appreciation of the growing media coverage, to prepare when they come to Thailand next year, they will be competitive.

President of the Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union, Jeffry Chang, told us, “This is the second year the Unions Cup is taking place, and we have kept our promise of hosting. In Taiwan, the domestic league consists of corporate-backed teams (four of them), and they have elected good players, but it is a young team that is eager to play and compete well at this stage. It is a good opportunity for them to experience this level of rugby and play together on the regional stage.

Hosting the tournament, or even if we don’t host and travel abroad to compete, the Unions Cup means we have regular Test rugby and it means the players have an opportunity to play and that is most important”, added the Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union President.

Photo Credit – Mr Wu

The TRU President, Kulthon Prachuabmoh, who is also the chair of the SEARF for this first term, said at the media conference, “We have a good relationship between the participating unions and we are very keen to grow the development of the 15s game in the region and we are open to other nations coming to us and wanting to join us.”

Guam Addition Might Not Be The Last For Expanding Unions Cup 2026

With Guam signing on to join the Unions Cup in 2026, it means five national men’s teams will be involved next year (which makes for an awkward tournament format), but there were hints that potentially another union could sign on before the end of the year. Indonesia was one of those rumoured to be looking to join the tournament.

Mr Sunny Seah, the president of the Singapore Rugby Union, told Rugby Asia 247, “For Asia, particularly through this collaboration, we hope to raise the standard of rugby and also be more inclusive in our development and include women and youth in the future. This is the first step of many.”

The annual tournament is a very good thing for rugby’s development, especially for the 15s game, but expansion means the need for more investors and resources to fund the Unions Cup – not an attribute the Asian competitions have a great track record of securing, but all of the Unions are confident.

Mr Seah said, “We have already started to look for sponsors, but of course, we have also established the SEARF recently and we hope to find more partners in the future.”

Photo Credit – Mr Wu

Walsh, who recently took over from Stephen Grantham, who served as president of Guam Rugby for several years, told Rugby Asia 247, “I think by being involved, it means we can lock in a competition calendar, and now we know what we have for adult representative 15-a-side in terms of games, and we can plan around that. 

We like what we have in our school programs and the development side, but it’s always been tough to give them something to shoot and aim for. Rather than giving them a one-off game to prepare for (this year they played the Chinese Taipei side in the build-up, and last year, they played the Philippines), that’s an ad-hoc way of doing things. 

This gives us something to prepare and plan for every year, and we can approach sponsors and our players who may be at universities elsewhere, and we can arrange for time off. Even for some of our boys, and we are in the amateur world, but they can now set more goals to get fit and ready,” added the President of Guam Rugby Football Union, Joshua Walsh.

Guam has produced players who have gone on to the US Collegiate rugby programs, some on scholarships, so we asked if this would help entice them back to play for Guam?

The Guam Rugby President told us, “We have had situations where students have gone to American universities, and that’s where most end up at the college level, and sure, some have ended up in the US Eagles camps or identified for their pathways, and that is fine. For the kids coming back to Guam, it’s not just about the rugby, like any small island or community, it’s about making sure they have livelihoods and jobs to come back to.”

Photo Credit – Mr Wu – Chinese Taipei in action against Thailand – Unions Cup 2025

He continued by saying, “The team we have brought over that played the friendlies against the Chinese Taipei national side and the Taipei Baboons, includes some university kids in the squad, as it’s their Summer break and they have come back.

Some of our athletes who were in the USA Eagles mix, and some have represented them at some stage and might switch back to play for us. When we have the certainty of these competitions, these kids will know it, and when kids see things like that, it keeps building pathway opportunities, and they know they will be treated like real international athletes in rugby.”

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