2025 Asia Rugby Championship
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| Dates | 13 June – 5 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Countries | |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong |
| Relegated | File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The 2025 Asia Rugby Championship[a] is the ninth annual rugby union series for Asia Rugby. The tournament features Hong Kong, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, with Sri Lanka returning for the first time since 2014 following their Championship playoff victory against the fourth placed team from 2024, Malaysia. Malaysia joins the other Asian nations played in the lower-tier division tournaments.[1]
Background and format
[edit | edit source]The format of the series is a single play-off match, followed by a single round-robin where the four remaining teams play each other once. The team finishing on top of the standings at the end of the series is declared the winner. The team finishing at the bottom of the standing are relegated.[2] The competition will begin on 13 June 2025 and will conclude on 5 July 2025.[3]
Hong Kong enter the competition as reigning champions, having won the competition for the fifth time in 2024.[4]
The competition doubles as the final stage of the Asian continental qualifier for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup in Australia. The winner of the competition will qualify directly to the World Cup, where it will join Japan who qualified by placing in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, while the runner-up will enter a playoff against Africa 2, the runner-up from the 2025 Africa Cup for the chance to make the 2027 RWC Final Qualification Tournament.
Participants
[edit | edit source]| Team | Stadium | Head coach | Captain | World Rugby Ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home stadium | Capacity | Location | Start[b] | End[c] | |||
| File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong | Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground | 5,000 | Kai Tak, Kowloon | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg Andrew Douglas | Joshua Hrstich | 23rd | 22nd |
| File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea | Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field | 4,968 | Namdong, Incheon | File:Flag of South Korea.svg Lee Myung-geun | Lee Jin-kyu | 35th | 36th |
| File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka | Colombo Racecourse | 10,000 | Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo | File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sanath Martis | Nigel Ratwatte | 39th | 46th |
| File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates | The Sevens Stadium | 15,000 | Dubai, Emirate of Dubai | TBD | 50th | 40th | |
Warm-up matches
[edit | edit source]Division 1/Championship play-off
[edit | edit source]| 19 April 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg | 59–19 | File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia |
| Try: J. Madushanka 5' m, 63' c Ranjan 23' c A. Madushanka 32' c Ekanayake (3) 36' c, 49' c, 53' c Marasinghe 41' c Wickramarachichi 77' m Con: Zubair Dora (7/9) 24', 33', 36', 43', 50', 54', 64' Cards: Kekeorale Gadara yellow card 67' to 77' | Report | Try: Vaqa Saukuru (3) 11' c, 60' c, 72' m Con: Aqil Kamsol (1/1) 11' Bin Nasrudin (1/2) 62' Cards: Vaqa Saukuru yellow card 24' to 34' Tamanisau yellow card 42' to 52' |
| Colombo Racecourse, Colombo Referee: Jaco de Wit (United Arab Emirates) |
- Malaysia were relegated to the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1.
New Zealand U85kg tour of Sri Lanka
[edit | edit source]First test
| 4 May 2025 15:45 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg | 10–50 | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand U85kg |
| Try: Wickramarachchi 18' c Con: Ratwatte (1/1) 19' Pen: Ratwatte (1/1) 44' Cards: Chathuranga yellow card 35' to 45' | Report | Try: Asiata (2) 5' c, 72' m Petford 11' m Megson 25' m Laity 36' c Percival 57' c Morrison (2) 61' m, 75' c Con: Percival (4/6) 6', 26', 36', 57' Cordell-Hull (1/2) 76' Cards: Laity yellow card 17' to 27' Asiata yellow card 45' to 55' |
| Nittawela Rugby Stadium, Kandy Attendance: 10,000[5] Referee: JP Clements (United Arab Emirates) |
Second test
| 10 May 2025 18:30 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg | 6–32 | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand U85kg |
| Pen: Ratwatte (2/2) 22', 54' | Report | Try: Percival (2) 11' m, 20' m Swarts 27' c Gellert 60' c Morrison 70' m Con: Percival (1/3) 27' Reily (1/2) 60' Pen: Reily (1/1) 56' |
| Colombo Racecourse, Colombo Attendance: 25,000[6] Referee: Jaco de Wit (United Arab Emirates) |
Standings
[edit | edit source]| 2025 Asia Rugby Championship Champions |
| Relegation to 2026 Asia Rugby Division 1 |
| Pos. | Team | Matches | Points | Bonus points | Total
points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff. | ||||
| 1 | File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 191 | 39 | +152 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 77 | 100 | –23 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 96 | 142 | –46 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 145 | –83 | 2 | 2 |
| Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win — 4 points; Draw — 2 points; 4 or more tries — 1 point; Loss within 7 points — 1 point; Loss greater than 7 points — 0 points | ||||||||||
Fixtures
[edit | edit source]Round 1
[edit | edit source]| 13 June 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg | 34–38 | File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea |
| Try: Zubair 15' c Bandara 40' c Thilakaratne 41' c Jansen 45' m Ekanayake 76' m Con: Ratwatte (3/5) 16', 40', 41' Pen: Ratwatte (1/1) 20' Cards: Jansen Yellow card 70' | Report | Try: Jeong Min 5' c Ok Gi 37' c Nam Uk 47' c Seok Hwan 54' m Yeon Sik 61' m Penalty try 70' Con: Hyun Goo (3/5) 6', 38', 48' |
| Colombo Racecourse, Colombo[7] Attendance: 2,000 Referee: JP Clements (UAE) |
| 14 June 2025 19:30 UAEST (UTC+4) |
| United Arab Emirates File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg | 10–43 | File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong |
| Try: Janes 19' c Con: Johnson 20' Pen: Johnson 30' Cards: Guerin Yellow card 58' Botes Yellow card 68' | Report[8] | Try: Donnell 12' c Denmark 24' m Chapman 36' c Worley 46' c Penalty try 60' Scott 71' c Con: De Thierry 13' 38' 57' Altier 70' Pen: De Thierry 3' Cards: Hrstich Yellow card 63' Hrstich Yellow card 73' |
| The Sevens Stadium, Dubai Referee: Katsuki Furuse (Japan) |
Round 2
[edit | edit source]| 21 June 2025 15:00 KST (UTC+9) |
| South Korea File:Flag of South Korea.svg | 36–38 | File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates |
| Try: Penalty try 27' Jae Jun 32' c In Bum 35' c Jun Young 41' m Hyun Soo 45' c Con: Hyun Goo (3/4) 33', 36', 46' Pen: Hyun Goo (1/1) 64' | Report | Try: Sejean 10' c Volavola (3) 20' c, 69' c, 72' m Stapley 40' c Janes 58' m Con: Johnson (4/6) 11', 20', 40', 70' Pen: Barnard Yellow card 27' |
| Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field, Incheon Attendance: 500 Referee: Morgan White (Hong Kong China) |
| 22 June 2025 16:30 HKT (UTC+8) |
| Hong Kong File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg | 78–7 | File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka |
| Try: Scott 11' c van der Smith (3) 16' c, 63' c, 77' m Worley (3) 19' m, 55' c, 80' c Hrstich 23' c Altier (2) 30' c, 43' m MacKinlay-West 67' c Sayers 70' c Con: De Thierry (2/3) 11', 16' Altier (7/8) 14', 30', 56', 64', 67', 71', 80' | Report | Try: Bandara 38' c Con: Ratwatte (1/1) 39' |
| Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground, Kowloon Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Jaco De Wit (UAE) |
Round 3
[edit | edit source]| 4 July 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg | 21–29 | File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates |
| Try: Rifan 19' c Karunathilake 43' m Con: Ratwatte (1/2) 20' Pen: Ratwatte (3/3) 11', 23', 40' Cards: Gamage Yellow card 65' | Report | Try: Stapley (2) 6' c, 72' c Janes 13' m Naisau 38' c Con: Johnson (3/4) 7', 39', 72' Pen: Johnson (1/1) 30' Cards: Semple Yellow card 60' |
| Colombo Racecourse, Colombo Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Craig Chan (Hong Kong China) |
| 5 July 2025 15:00 KST (UTC+9) |
| South Korea File:Flag of South Korea.svg | 22–70 | File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong |
| Try: Yong Heung (2) 57' c, 64' c In Bum 68' m Con: Jeong Wook (2/3) 58', 65' Pen: Jeong Wook (1/1) 15' Cards: Nam Uk Yellow card 20' Yeon Sik Yellow card 77' | Report | Try: Worley 2' c Post (2) 13' c, 28' c Hrstich (2) 21' c, 54' c Altier 24' c Sawye 40' c Sayers 45' c Denmark 61' c van der Smith 78' c Con: De Thierry (9/9) 3', 14', 21', 25', 29', 40', 46', 55', 62' Altier (1/1) 79' Cards: Axten-Burrett Red card 37' |
| Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field, Incheon Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ibuki Tetsuka (Japan) |
Notes
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