2019 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for Asia Rugby will begin in May 2016 and end in April 2018, where the winner of the qualification process will advance to an inter-continental play-off series against the winner of Oceania qualification - round 3 in June 2018.

Format

The Asia Rugby Championship, governed by Asia Rugby, will be the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2019, with Divisions 2, 1 and the Top 3 being involved in the process. The teams competing in the 2016 Divisions 1 and 2 will act as Round 1, with the winner of Division 2 being promoted to Division 1, for the second regional qualification round in 2017. While the teams competing in Division 1, will be contesting against each other to earn the right to remain in Division 1 for the second regional qualification round, with the team placed bottom being eliminated from Rugby World Cup contention.

2017 saw Divisions 1 and the top 3 act as Round 2, with the winner of Division 1 advancing to the Top 3 Challenge play-off against the loser of Top 3 tournament. The winner of that play-off will progress to the third and final round of Asian qualification.

In 2018, the winner of the 2018 Asian Rugby Championship (excluding Japan - not listed in qualification process), will advance to the Asia/Oceania play-off for repechage berth.

Entrants

Ten teams will compete for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification. Shown in parentheses are the teams world rankings prior to the first Asian qualification match on 18 May 2016 (currently set as of 28 March 2016).

•  Guam (73)
•  Hong Kong (25)
•  Kazakhstan (43)
•  Malaysia (58)
•  Philippines (53)
•  Singapore (60)
•  South Korea (26)
•  Sri Lanka (39)
•  United Arab Emirates (84)
•  Uzbekistan (90)

Qualified nations

•  Japan (Automatic qualifier)

Round 1

The first round will consist of ten matches between 8 teams. The winner of the Asian Rugby Championship Division 2 (Round 1A), will advance to the second round and will be promoted to division 1 for 2017, while the top three teams in division 1 (Round 1B), will also advance into the second round.

Round 1A: 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 2

The 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 2 tournament will be contested by four teams in a knockout format. The tournament will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 May 2016 – Tashkent
	United Arab Emirates
	Guam
					21 May 2016 – Tashkent
					TBD
					TBD
					Third place play-off
	18 May 2016 – Tashkent			21 May 2016 – Tashkent
	Uzbekistan			TBD
	Singapore				TBD

Matches
18 May 2016 United Arab Emirates  v  Guam Dustlik, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 18 May 2016 Uzbekistan  v  Singapore Dustlik, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 21 May 2016 TBD v TBD Dustlik, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 21 May 2016 TBD v TBD Dustlik, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Round 1B: 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1

Eliminated from RWC qualification

Pos	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Total points
		Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Difference
1	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Philippines	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Malaysia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 5 points Draw - 3 points 4 or more tries - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

8 May 2016 Philippines  v  Kazakhstan Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 8 May 2016 Sri Lanka  v  Malaysia Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 11 May 2016 Sri Lanka  v  Kazakhstan Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 11 May 2016 Philippines  v  Malaysia Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 14 May 2016 Sri Lanka  v  Philippines Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 14 May 2016 Malaysia  v  Kazakhstan Petaling Jaya Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Round 2

Round 2A: 2017 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1

Teams and fixtures to be decided.

Round 2B: 2017 Asian Rugby Championship

Teams and fixtures to be decided.

Round 3

Teams and fixtures to be decided.