Asia Rugby Women's Championship
SportRugby union
Founded2006 (2006)
CountriesChina
Hong Kong
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Uzbekistan
ConfederationAsia Rugby
Most recent
champion(s)
 Japan (2023)

The Asia Rugby Championship for women's national fifteen-a-side teams is a rugby union tournament that has been contested since 2006. Organised by Asia Rugby, there are currently two competition divisions — the Championship, and Division 1. The championship is also the continental qualifying tournament for Asian women's teams in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup, and the WXV.

History

The Asia Rugby Women’s Championship began in 2006, the first tournament was hosted by China in Kunming.[1] Hosts, China, won the inaugural tournament and since then, Kazakhstan has gone on to win five times, Japan four times, and China and Hong Kong has won one each.[1]

Format

The international test calendar was restructured to accommodate the upcoming WXV tournament.[2][3] Asia Rugby announced that the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship would now be played in two tiers as a pathway to the WXV tournament.[4]

The top team in the Championship division will compete in WXV 2 as Asia 1, and the runner-up in WXV 3.[4]

Previous winners

All-time summary

Up to and including the 2023 edition, the following women's teams' Championship division top-3 finishes in tournaments:

RankTeamChampionRunnerupThird placeTotal
1 Japan53210
2 Kazakhstan5308
3 Hong Kong15410
4 China1102
5 Thailand0011
 Uzbekistan0011
Totals (6 entries)1212832

Asia Rugby Championship

Year  Edn Host 
Teams
Final placings
Asian Rugby ChampionshipWinnerRunner-upThirdFourth
2006 I Kunming 4 China Hong Kong Thailand Singapore
2007 II Kunming 4 Kazakhstan China Japan Singapore
2008 III Taraz 6 Kazakhstan Japan Uzbekistan Singapore
2010* IV Tokyo 2 Japan Hong Kong
Asian 4 NationsWinnerRunner-upThirdFourth
2012 V Kunshan 4 Kazakhstan Japan Hong Kong China
2013 VI Almaty 4 Kazakhstan Japan Hong Kong China
2014 VII Hong Kong 4 Kazakhstan Hong Kong Japan Singapore
Asia Rugby ChampionshipWinnerRunner-upThirdFourth
2015 VIII round-robin
home
or
away
3 Japan Kazakhstan Hong Kong
2016 IX 3 Japan Hong Kong
2017 X 2 Japan Hong Kong
2021 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia[5]
2022 XI Hong Kong2 Hong Kong Kazakhstan
2023 XII Almaty3 Japan Kazakhstan Hong Kong

Division tournaments

Year Div Host 
Teams
Final placings
ARC Divisions Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2010a 2 Sikuet 3   Laos  Philippines  Thailand
2011 2 Vientiane 4 § China  Thailand  Philippines  Laos
2012 2 Manila 4 § Singapore  Thailand  Philippines  Laos
ARC Div 1 Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2018 1 Singapore 3 § Singapore  Philippines  India
2019 1 Calamba 4 § China  Philippines  India  Singapore
2023 1TBC3TBCTBCTBC

Notes:

^* Some sources suggest that the match in Tokyo was for the 2010 ARFU Division 1 XV Championship.[6]

^ Relegated to the division below.

^ Able to be challenged by the winner of the division below to play in a promotion-relegation play-off.

^§ Won promotion, or the right to a challenge play-off for promotion, to the division above.

^a Development tournament organised by ARFU in 2010. The games were 40 minutes long and were not test matches.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Asia Rugby Women's Championship kicks off in Almaty". Asia Rugby. 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  2. "Rugby World Cup 2025 set to break new ground as tournament expands to 16 teams". www.rugbyworldcup.com. 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  3. "Women's Rugby World Cup to be expanded to 16 teams from 2025". Sky Sports. 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  4. 1 2 "Asia Rugby Releases Partial 2023 Tournament Calendar". RugbyAsia247. 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  5. "Statement regarding Rugby World Cup 2021 Final Qualification Tournament". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  6. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3671&p=39686#p39686
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