Asia Rugby Women's Championship

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.

Asia Rugby Women's Championship
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2024 Asia Rugby Women's Championship
SportRugby union
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
CountriesChina
Hong Kong
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Uzbekistan
ConfederationAsia Rugby
Most recent
champion(s)
 Japan
(2024)
Most titles Japan (6 titles)

History

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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

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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

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All-time summary

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Up to and including the 2024 edition, the following women's teams' Championship division top-3 finishes in tournaments:

RankTeamChampionRunner‑upThird placeTotal
1  Japan63211
2  Kazakhstan5319
3  Hong Kong16411
4  China1102
5  Thailand0011
  Uzbekistan0011
Totals (6 entries)1313935

Asia Rugby Championship

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Year  Edn Host •
Teams
Final placings
Asian Rugby Championship Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
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 Nations Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
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 Championship Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
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 Kong 2   Hong Kong   Kazakhstan
2023 XII Almaty 3   Japan   Kazakhstan   Hong Kong
2024 XIII Hong Kong 3   Japan   Hong Kong   Kazakhstan

Division tournaments

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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
2024 1 TBC 3 TBC TBC TBC

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.

Asia Pacific Championship

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Year Host Teams Final placings
Winner Runner-up Third
2016 Hong Kong 3   Japan   Hong Kong   Fiji
2019 Lautoka, Fiji 3   Samoa   Hong Kong   Fiji

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "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 [permanent dead link]