Asia Rugby Championship

Asia Rugby Championship
Current season or competition:
2016 Asian Rugby Championship
Sport Rugby union
Formerly known as Asian Five Nations
Instituted

1969
2008

(as Asian Five Nations)


2015

(ARC)
Governing body Asia Rugby
Holders  Japan (2015)
Most titles  Japan (23 titles)

The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region.[1] The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was called the Asian Five Nations from 2008 to 2014.

The winner of the competition's top division is recognised as the rugby champion of Asia. The top division, sometimes referred to as the Tri Nations, includes the top three Asian teams each season. Division 1 includes the next four teams and Division 2 includes the next four. Division three is further divided geographically, with each of the West, East and South Central divisions including three teams.

As of 2015, Japan is the most successful team, securing 23 out of a possible 28 titles since 1969. Japan has won all Asian Rugby Championships from 2004 onwards.

History

The competition was formed as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament in 1969.[1] Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Thailand contested the inaugural Asian title. Japan were the champions on that occasion.

The tournament was only held biennially for the most of its first four decades. It wasn't until 1982 that South Korea became the second team to win the title. The number of teams participating varied from year to year, with as many as 12 teams competing as other Asian teams joined the competition. From 1969 to 1996, there was a single division split into two groups. But in 1998, a second Division was introduced as the game began to grow in Asia.

In 2003, a second Asian competition called the Asian Rugby Series was formed. The Asian Rugby Series ran alongside the Rugby Championship to help determine divisional allocations for the Asian Rugby Championship. With more teams competing, a third Division was added to the Rugby Championship in 2004. The dual competitions ran until 2007.

Asian Five Nations Logo

Asian Five Nations (2008–14)

In 2008, the ARFU merged the Rugby Championship and Rugby Series into the Asian Five Nations. The competition became an annual championship and a promotion-relegation format was introduced. The winner of Division 2 replaced the loser of Division 1, and the winner of Division 1 replaced the loser of the Five Nations. For its inaugural years, no Division 3 took place, though several regional divisions were implemented across Asia. During the time of this competition, the main Five Nations division was dominated by Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong; the only three teams never to have been relegated to a lower division.

Asia Rugby Championship (2015 onward)

The competition was revamped again for the 2015 season as the Asia Rugby Championship. Under the new format, the top three teams formed a Tri nations division. A promotion-relegation challenge was instituted whereby the Division 1 winner had to defeat the Tri nations third place-getter to gain promotion for the next season.

Format

The current format sees the competition separated into various divisions, with a promotion and relegation format operated into each division. However, this only applies to Division 1 through 3, as the loser of the Tri Nations Division will play a play-off match against the winner of Division 1 to determine the third Tri Nations team for the following year. Where as the winners of Division 2 will automatically replace the loser of Division 1, and the two bottom placed teams in Division 2 will both be relegated down to one of the three regions in Division 3; West, East or South Central. Each of the three regions are made up three teams, and as of 2015, only the winners of the South Central and East divisions can be promoted to Division 2. This is because, the teams competing in the West region, are not considered as full members by World Rugby.

In the main Tri Nations division, each team will play each other on a home and away basis, picking up 5 points for a win and 3 for a draw. 2 additional points are up for grabs through bonus points, but in order to earn them, teams need to score 4 or more tries in a match, or when losing, lose by 7 points or less. For all Divisions, 1 through to 3, nations will only play each other once, with one of the included teams hosting all matches at home. These teams will also aim to pick points up for a win or draw, and gain bonus points. For all divisions, the team with the most table points wins their respective divisions, and if possible, earns promotion to the next division.

Current divisions

As of 2016, the competition divisions are:

Tri Nations
 Hong Kong
 Japan
 South Korea
 
Division 1
 Malaysia
 Philippines
 Singapore a
 Sri Lanka
Division 2
 Guam
 Thailand b
 United Arab Emirates
 Uzbekistan
 
Division 3
East
 China
 Chinese Taipei 
 Indonesia
 
South East
 Brunei
 Laos
 Cambodia c
 
South Central
 Kyrgyzstan
 India
 Pakistan
 
West Central
 Iran
 Lebanon
 Qatar
 
West
 Jordan
 Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates UAE Shaheen d
 

Notes

^a Singapore was promoted to Division 1 prior to the scheduled start of competition to replace Kazakhstan, who withdrew from the tournament.

^b Thailand was promoted to Division 2 prior to the scheduled start of competition to replace the Singapore team promoted to Division 1.

^c Cambodia withdrew from Division 3 South-East prior to the scheduled start of competition and was not replaced.

^d Syria withdrew from Division 3 West prior to the scheduled start of competition and was replaced by the United Arab Emirates development side, the Shaheen.

Previous winners

Asia Rugby Championship

Year Host Teams Final placings
Asian Rugby Football Tournament Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
1969 Tokyo 5  Japan South Korea Hong Kong
1970 Bangkok 5  Japan South Korea
1972 Hong Kong 7  Japan Hong Kong Thailand Singapore
1974 Colombo 8  Japan Sri Lanka South Korea Malaysia
1976 Tokyo 8  Japan South Korea N/A N/A
1978 Kuala Lumpur 7  Japan South Korea Singapore Thailand
1980 Taipei 8  Japan South Korea Hong Kong Taiwan
1982 Singapore 8  South Korea Japan Hong Kong Malaysia
1984 Fukuoka 8  Japan South Korea Taiwan Thailand
1986 Bangkok 8  South Korea Japan Thailand
1988 Hong Kong 8  South Korea Japan Hong Kong Taiwan
1990 Colombo 8  South Korea Japan Hong Kong Thailand
1992 Hong Kong 8  Japan Hong Kong South Korea Thailand
1994 Kuala Lumpur 8  Japan South Korea Hong Kong Taiwan
1996 Taipei 7  Japan South Korea Hong Kong Taiwan
Asian Rugby Championship Division I Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
1998 Singapore 4  Japan South Korea Hong Kong Taiwan
2000 Aomori 4  Japan South Korea Taiwan Hong Kong
2002 Bangkok 4  South Korea Japan Hong Kong Taiwan
2004 Hong Kong 4  Japan South Korea Hong Kong Taiwan
2006 Hong Kong 3  Japan South Korea Hong Kong N/A
Asian Five Nations Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2008 single round-robin
played
home or away
5  Japan  South Korea  Hong Kong   Kazakhstan
2009 5  Japan  Kazakhstan  South Korea   Hong Kong
2010 5  Japan  Kazakhstan  Hong Kong  Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Arabian Gulf
2011 5  Japan  Hong Kong  United Arab Emirates   Kazakhstan
2012 5  Japan  South Korea  Hong Kong   United Arab Emirates
2013 5  Japan  South Korea  Hong Kong   Philippines
2014 5  Japan  Hong Kong  South Korea *  Philippines
 Asia Rugby Championship Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2015 home and away 3  Japan  Hong Kong  South Korea N/A
2016 3 Scheduled for 30 April to 4 June

Notes:

^* Relegated to the division below

^ Required to play-off against the winner of the division below in a promotion-relegation challenge.

Division tournaments

Year Div Host Teams Final placings
Asian Rugby Championship Divisions Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
1998 2 Singapore 6  Singapore Sri Lanka Thailand Malaysia
2000 2 Ōwani 4  Singapore China Sri Lanka Thailand
2002 2 Bangkok 7  ThailandCooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Arabian Gulf Singapore Kazakhstan
2004 2 Hong Kong 4  Singapore Thailand KazakhstanCooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Arabian Gulf
3 4  China Sri Lanka India Pakistan
2007 2 Colombo 6  Kazakhstan Sri Lanka China Chinese Taipei
3 3  Iran India Pakistan N/A
Asian Five Nations Divisions Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2008 1 Taiwan 4 §  Singapore  Chinese Taipei  Sri Lanka  China
2 Thailand 4 §  Thailand  Malaysia  India   Pakistan
P Guam 3 §  Philippines §  Guam  Brunei N/A
C Sri Lanka 3 §  Iran  Uzbekistan  Kyrgyzstan
SE Indonesia 3 §  Indonesia  Laos  Cambodia
2009 1 Dubai 4 § Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Arabian Gulf  Chinese Taipei  Sri Lanka  Thailand
2 Malaysia 4 §  Malaysia  China  India  Pakistan
3 Philippines 4 §  Philippines  Guam  Iran   Indonesia
C Uzbekistan 3 §  Uzbekistan  Kyrgyzstan  Mongolia N/A
SE Laos 3 §  Laos  Brunei  Cambodia
2010 1 Singapore 4 §  Sri Lanka  Singapore  Malaysia  Chinese Taipei
2 India 4 §  Philippines  India  Thailand  China
3 Indonesia 4 §  Iran  Pakistan  Guam   Indonesia
4 Kazakhstan 4 §  Jordan  Uzbekistan Kazakhstan Almaty Select XV   Mongolia
2011 1 South Korea 4 §  South Korea  Singapore  Philippines  Malaysia
2 Thailand 4 §  Chinese Taipei  Thailand  Iran  India
3 Indonesia 4 §  China  Guam  Indonesia   Pakistan
4 Dubai 4 §  Qatar  Lebanon  Jordan   Uzbekistan
5 Cambodia
Laos
2 §  Laos  Cambodia N/A N/A
2012 1 Philippines 4 §  Philippines  Sri Lanka  Chinese Taipei  Singapore
2 Malaysia 4 §  Thailand  Malaysia  Iran  China
3 Indonesia 4 §  India  Guam  Indonesia  Pakistan
4 Dubai 4 §  Qatar  Lebanon  Jordan   Uzbekistan
5 Cambodia 3 §  Laos  Brunei  Cambodia N/A
2013 1 Sri Lanka 4 §  Sri Lanka  Kazakhstan  Chinese Taipei  Thailand
2 Malaysia 4 §  Singapore  Malaysia  Iran  India
3 Malaysia 4 §  Qatar  Guam  Indonesia   China
4 Dubai 4 §  Lebanon  Pakistan  Uzbekistan   Laos
5 Cambodia 2 §  Cambodia  Brunei N/A N/A
2014 1 Dubai
Hong Kong
4   Kazakhstan
  Singapore
N/A  United Arab Emirates
 Chinese Taipei
2 Qatar 4   Malaysia  Qatar  Iran  Thailand
3E Laos 4   China  Guam  Indonesia  Laos
3W Pakistan 4   Lebanon  Uzbekistan  India  Pakistan
4 Brunei 3   Mongolia  Cambodia  Brunei N/A
 Asia Rugby Championship Divisions Winner Runner-up Third Fourth
2015 1 Philippines 4 §  Sri Lanka  Philippines  Kazakhstan  Singapore
2 Malaysia 4 §  Malaysia  United Arab Emirates  Chinese Taipei  Thailand
3E Indonesia 3 §  Guam  China  Indonesia N/A
3SC Uzbekistan 2 §  Uzbekistan  India N/A
3W Lebanon 3   Lebanon  Iran  Jordan
2016 1 Malaysia 4 8–14 May 2016
2 Uzbekistan 4 18–21 May 2016
3E Thailand 4 6–9 November 2016
3SE Thailand 2 6–9 November 2016 N/A
3SC India 3 October 2016
3WC Qatar 3   Qatar  Lebanon  Iran
3W Jordan 3   Jordan United Arab Emirates UAE Shaheen  Saudi Arabia

Notes:

^ Relegated to the division below.

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "History". Asia Rugby. 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.

External links

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