2025 Asia Rugby Championship
| Dates | 13 June – 5 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Countries | |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Hong Kong |
| Relegated | 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
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
| Team | Stadium | Head coach | Captain | World Rugby Ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home stadium | Capacity | Location | Start[b] | End[c] | |||
| Hong Kong | Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground | 5,000 | Kai Tak, Kowloon | Andrew Douglas | Joshua Hrstich | 23rd | 22nd |
| South Korea | Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field | 4,968 | Namdong, Incheon | Lee Myung-geun | Lee Jin-kyu | 35th | 36th |
| Sri Lanka | Colombo Racecourse | 10,000 | Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo | Sanath Martis | Nigel Ratwatte | 39th | 46th |
| United Arab Emirates | The Sevens Stadium | 15,000 | Dubai, Emirate of Dubai | TBD | 50th | 40th | |
Warm-up matches
Division 1/Championship play-off
| 19 April 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka | 59–19 | 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 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 24' to 34' Tamanisau 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
First test
| 4 May 2025 15:45 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka | 10–50 | New Zealand U85kg |
| Try: Wickramarachchi 18' c Con: Ratwatte (1/1) 19' Pen: Ratwatte (1/1) 44' Cards: Chathuranga 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 17' to 27' Asiata 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 | 6–32 | 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
| 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 | Hong Kong | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 191 | 39 | +152 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 77 | 100 | –23 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 96 | 142 | –46 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 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
Round 1
| 13 June 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka | 34–38 | 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 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 | 10–43 | Hong Kong |
| Try: Janes 19' c Con: Johnson 20' Pen: Johnson 30' Cards: Guerin 58' Botes 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 63' Hrstich 73' |
| The Sevens Stadium, Dubai Referee: Katsuki Furuse (Japan) |
Round 2
| 21 June 2025 15:00 KST (UTC+9) |
| South Korea | 36–38 | 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 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 | 78–7 | 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
| 4 July 2025 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30) |
| Sri Lanka | 21–29 | United Arab Emirates |
| Try: Rifan 19' c Karunathilake 43' m Con: Ratwatte (1/2) 20' Pen: Ratwatte (3/3) 11', 23', 40' Cards: Gamage 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 60' |
| Colombo Racecourse, Colombo Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Craig Chan (Hong Kong China) |
| 5 July 2025 15:00 KST (UTC+9) |
| South Korea | 22–70 | 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 20' Yeon Sik 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 37' |
| Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field, Incheon Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ibuki Tetsuka (Japan) |
Notes
References
- ^ "Guide To The Asia Rugby 2025 International Tournaments". RugbyAsia247. 24 March 2025.
- ^ "Asia Rugby: Le calendrier 2025 connu!". Asierugby (in French). 23 February 2025.
- ^ "Asia Rugby Unveils Exciting 2025 Calendar". Asia Rugby. 24 February 2025. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ Ishak, Fadhli (3 January 2025). "ARC top flight expanded, UAE get the nod". New Straits Times. New Straits Times Press.
- ^ Wall, Jamie (5 May 2025). "NZ Under 85kg rugby side makes history with debut victory". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ Wall, Jamie (11 May 2025). "NZ U85kg side complete historic clean sweep". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ "Asia Rugby Unveils Exciting 2025 Calendar". Asia Rugby. 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Asia Rugby Championship: Douglas frustrated by Hong Kong's winning start to World Cup bid". SCMP. 15 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.