Asia Rugby: International Championships

There is a tremendous amount of rugby played throughout Asia at an international level. National senior teams (men and women), as well as age-grade rugby, XVs, and 7s all, compete throughout the year.

t’s not always easy to find the information for the fixtures and the timing is not as consistent as the more recognized Six Nations in Europe or the Rugby Championship in the southern hemisphere.  However, games are affordable to attend and there is a growing swell of national pride for the national rugby teams in the region.

There are also tournaments such as the SEA Games 7s rugby (every 2 years) and the Olympic qualifiers to watch out for.

*This information is based on the Asia Rugby website and Wikipedia which are the most reliable sources although they still tend to be not always up to date. We will update our information accordingly.

Asia Rugby Tournaments

Asia Rugby is the governing body of all rugby in Asia and has the responsibility of organizing national level and age-grade level tournaments in Asia.

Asia Rugby Championship (ARC)

The Asia Rugby Championship is split into multiple divisions and conferences. See more below about how they are structured, who plays and when.

Men’s ARC

The Men’s ARC in 2021 includes 3 national teams (Hong Kong, South Korea, and Malaysia ) with Japan no longer involved (as was the case in 2019 when Japan hosted the RWC 2019).

The division is determined by home and away fixtures by the three national teams.

In 2021 the ARC is a qualification pathway for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

• Countries: Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia
• Due Dates: See here
• Location/s: Namdong Asiad Stadium, Bukit Jalil National Stadium, HKFC

Asia Rugby Men’s Division 1

Games are played at one selected location over the course of a week.

The results from the Asia Rugby Men’s Division 1 2019 tournament are here.

• Countries: Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, (TBC)
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Asia Rugby Men’s Division 2

In 2020 and 2021 all ARMD2 rugby games are played at one selected location over the course of a week. The format appears to be semi-finals and finals-relegation playoff.

The venue is scheduled to be Lahore, Pakistan in 2021 and the tournament is due to take place in Q4, 2021.

The results from the 2019 ARMD 2 are here.

• Countries: China, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Pakistan
• Due Date: TBC Q4 2021
• Location: Lahore, Pakistan

Asia Rugby Men’s Division 3

Games are played at one selected location over the course of a week.

West

The 2019 Division 3 West was won by Qatar. Read more here.

• Countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Central

The 2019 Men’s Division 3 Central was won by Pakistan.

• Countries: Mongolia, Uzbekistan*
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

East

The 2019 Asia Rugby Men’s Division 3 East Games never took place between Laos and Brunei.

• Countries: Brunei, Laos
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

ES (East-South)

The results from the 2019 Asia Rugby Men’s East-South Division 3 games are here.

• Countries: India, Indonesia, (TBC)
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Asia Rugby Women’s Championship

Premier Division

Japan and Hong Kong have competed in the past for the ARC.

The format for 2021 will see three teams compete and it also acts as an RWC 2021 (delayed until 2022) Qualifier. Japan, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan are all in contention but the games have been delayed several times.

• Countries: Japan, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Asia Rugby Women’s Division 1

In 2018, Singapore, the Philippines and India competed for Division 1 of the ARWC.

The 2019 Division included Singapore, the Philippines, India and China and was contested in the Philippines. The winner of the Division will then have a playoff game against Kazakhstan in 2019 to determine who will be promoted to play in Asia Rugby Women’s Championship in 2020 and earn the right to try and qualify for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2021.

The results from the 2019 Division 1 Women’s tournament can be read here.

• Countries: TBC
• Due Date: TBC
• Venue: TBC

Asia Rugby Women’s Division 2

Information TBC.

Asia Rugby Under 19s XVs

Asia Rugby Under 19 Championship

The top division of Asia Rugby Under 19 rugby includes 4 teams.

The results from the 2019 tournament are here.

The Asia Rugby U19 Men’s Fifteens Tournament 2020 will be rescheduled to be played on 31 March 2021, featuring Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong

The 2021 tournament is due to be played in November 2021 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• Countries: Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Asia Rugby Under 19 Division 1

Four teams compete in Division 1 with the winners earning promotion to the U19 Championship and the bottom-placed team relegated to Division 2.

The results from the 2019 tournament are here. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines are set to challenge for the Asia Rugby U19 Men’s Division 1 in 2021 in Hat Yai, Thailand.

• Countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines
• Due Date: December 2021
• Location: Hat Yai, Thailand

Asia Rugby Under 19 Division 2

Only two teams competed in Division 2 in 2019, the UAE and Malaysia, with the latter hosting the two-game series.

The results from the 2019 tournament are here.

• Countries: Malaysia, UAE (TBC)
• Due Date: TBC
• Location: TBC

Asia Rugby 7s Series

Asia Rugby Sevens Series

The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is the premier sevens tournament for rugby in Asia and provides a pathway to qualification for World Rugby’s men and women’s series as well as the Olympic Games.

In the current format, the tournament features the top eight teams in Asia in both competitions (men’s and women’s) and takes place over 3 rounds.

The men and women will play their series at the same venues and dates in 2021

Leg 1

• Location: Namdong Asiad Stadium, Incheon, South Korea
• Date: 28-29 August 2021

Leg 2

• Location: Huizhou Olympic Stadium, China
• Date: 11-12 September 2021

Leg 3

• Location: Racecourse Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Date: 25-26 September 2021

Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy

The Women’s (ARSWT) and Men’s (ARSMT) Trophy is the second tier of national 7s rugby in Asia. The results from 2019 can be read here.

A date of 13-14 November 2021 has been set with the venue as Jakarta, Indonesia.

Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy 2021

• Location: Asiad Rugby Pitch, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Date: 13-14 November 2021

Asia Rugby U20s 7s Championship

The Asia Rugby Under 20 Men’s and Women’s Series are played over the same weekend at the same venue.

The results from the 2019 tournament are here. A tentative October 2021 date has been set for the Asia Rugby Under 20 Women’s & Men’s Sevens.

Asia Rugby U20s 7s Championship 2021

• Locations: TBC
• Date: TBC

Asia Rugby U18s 7s Championship

Boys

There were 5 national Under 18 Boys teams playing in 2019. Read here for the results.

A date of 21-22 August 2021 is scheduled for the Asia Rugby U18 Boys Sevens rugby, with more details to be confirmed

• Location: TBC
• Due Date: 21-22 August 2021

Girls

The Girls Under 18 7s tournament did not take place in 2019 but was scheduled to take place in Pakistan.

A date of 18-19 September 2021 is scheduled for the Asia Rugby U18 Girls Sevens rugby, with Tashkent, Uzbekistan the possible host.

• Location: Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Due Date: 18-19 September 2021

All 2019 Asia Rugby tournaments results can all be viewed on their website.

Asia Rugby Olympics Qualification Tournaments

The tournaments took place to determine qualification for the Olympic Games Of The XXXII In Tokyo in 2020.

The Tokyo Olympics 7s rugby for women and men was then delayed to 2021 due to coronavirus. The men’s rugby 7s teams will play across the first three days (25-27 July 2021) with the finals set for Wednesday, July 28 2021.

The women’s rugby sevens games will take place from the 29-30th July 2021 with the finals taking place on Saturday, July 31 2021.

The results of the Men’s and Women’s qualifications meant that Chinese women and Korean men qualified.

Women’s 7s Qualifiers

• Location: Guangzhou, China
• Date: 9th November 2019

Men’s 7s Qualifiers

• Location: Namdong Asiad Stadium, Incheon, South Korea
• Date: 23-24 November 2019

Tokyo 2020 Olympics Rugby 7s repechage tournament

There are still three places to be confirmed for the Olympics, one men’s and two women’s national 7s rugby teams. The repechage tournament will be held in 2021 to determine which teams will qualify.

From Asia, the teams heading to the repechage tournament are Hong Kong (men and women), China (men) and Kazakhstan (women).

SEA Games 7s rugby

The SEA Games 7s take place every two years in a different location in Southeast Asia. All SEA countries are eligible to compete under the Olympic rules rather than World Rugby regulations. Men’s and women’s 7s rugby takes place.

SEA Games 2019

The Games were held in the Philippines from 7-8 December 2019. For all of the results read more here.

SEA Games 2021

Rugby was not confirmed as one of the sports for the SEA Games 2021.

• Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
• Date: 21 November – 2 December 2021
• Countries: TBC

SEA Games 2023

• Location: Cambodia
• Date: TBC 2021
• Countries: TBC

Touch World Cup 2019 Malaysia

The Touch World Cup took place in Malaysia in 2019 and was organised by FIT (Federation of International Touch) and Touch Malaysia.

• Location: Taman Ekuestrian Putrajaya, Malaysia
• Date: Monday, April 29^th – Saturday, May 4^th, 2019
• Asian countries participating: Asia is represented by China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and UAE.
• Men’s: Open, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 (years old)
• Women’s: Open, 27, 35 (years old)
• Mixed: Open and 30 (years old)

Asian Touch Cup 2020

The inaugural Asian Touch Cup 2020 was due to be hosted in Shanghai, China but was postponed due to the global pandemic.

• Venue: Shanghai Tan Sports Public Park, China
• Date: TBC

ITF Tag Rugby World Cup 2021

Although not being hosted in Asia, Asian nations are expected to play at the Tag Rugby World cup and the 2020 Confederations Tag Cup in Ireland.

World Rugby U20 Championship

Japan was due to play in the U20 Championship in 2020 after winning the U20 Trophy tournament in 2019.

The tournament did not go ahead in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 situation.

• Location: TBC
• Due Date: TBC
• Asian representation: Japan

World Rugby U20 Trophy

The World Rugby Under 20 Trophy is the second tier tournament and in 2019 Hong Kong and Japan took part. HK won the right to play in the U20 Trophy tournament in 2020 but it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the global pandemic.

• Location: TBC
• Due Date: TBC
• Asian representation: Hong Kong