Hong Kong China Men Will Play Sri Lanka at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground For AREMC 2025
rugbyasia247
Posted On May 20, 2025
Hong Kong China Rugby have announced that the upcoming men’s 15s test match for the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship (AREMC) against Sri Lanka will be hosted at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground to be played on Sunday, 22 June (KO 4:30 PM).
The Hong Kong China representative men’s team will feature in the four-team round robin ARMC tournament as defending champions, and have won the last five consecutive Asia Rugby titles. This year’s tournament has added significance as the winner will earn a spot at Rugby World Cup 2027.
HKCR Fixtures – Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship 2025 – Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground
Photo Credit – SLR / NZR
The Hong Kong China men’s representative squad will play away fixtures against the United Arab Emirates (Friday 13 June) and Korea (Saturday 5 July), either side of the home match against Sri Lanka. The Tuskers qualified for the tournament after easily beating Malaysia 59-19 in the Asia Rugby Emirates April’s Championship Playoff in April.
Since then, Sri Lanka hosted the NZ U85KG team in a two-match series, which they lost, but it was historic and gained a lot of media attention. But things have started to unravel as Sri Lanka, as Head Coach Sanath Martis, has since stepped down. There are already financial issues raised by the players and staff.
HKCR CEO James Farndon stressed the importance of playing representative matches at Kai Tak Sports Park, “With Hong Kong boasting a new world-class sports facility, like many sports associations, we are excited about the quality and scale of future events we can deliver at Kai Tak Sports Park.
Farndon added, “Building on the success of the Hong Kong Sevens, we are delighted to be bringing our Asia Rugby Men’s Championship home match to the Youth Sports Ground. We know that the team at Kai Tak will support us in delivering a great event both on and off the field, and we look forward to working together in the lead-up to the event.”.
Photo Credit – HKCR
Rugby World Cup 2027 Ambitions- HKCR
Hong Kong China Men’s 15s Head Coach, Andrew Douglas said, “This year’s Asia Rugby Championship is hugely important for our men’s 15s programme, with the reward of an automatic qualification spot for the Rugby World Cup a real game changer for the winners.
Our coaching team has been preparing the squad for the best part of a year now to put us in the best possible position for the campaign. This includes last summer’s three-match tour to South America, our two-match autumn series against Brazil in Hong Kong, and supporting our players through a full season of domestic Premiership rugby.”
In terms of preparation for the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship 2025, the squad took 32 players to the ACT Brumbies Academy in April, and they head to Japan for a camp in Japan and will play a JAPAN XV warm-up match.
That Japan camp will include some additional overseas-based players also in contention for selection.
Hong Kong China Men’s 15s Captain Josh Hrstich explained why they are looking forward to playing at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground.
“The Youth Sports Ground is fantastic from a player perspective, considering the pitch, performance facilities and the atmosphere. It was great to get the chance to play there late last year, and the boys can’t wait to go again in June. We also know that our fans loved coming to watch us at the Youth Sports Ground, so hopefully we can draw a big crowd to really get behind us against Sri Lanka, said the HKCR Men’s 15s captain.
Tickets for this event will be on sale soon via hkrugby.com
The runner-up of the AREMC 2025 will be given a second chance to qualify via an Asia/Africa Play-off and Final Qualification Tournament.
Stay tuned as we will bring more tournament, squad and match previews.
Photo Credit – HKCR
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