Asia Rugby (AR) working with its Competitions Committee, Player Welfare and Medical Committee, relevant stakeholders and in line with the Return to Play Guidelines provided by World Rugby, has announced the decision to adjust the tournament scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.

The Competitions Committee under former Thomian, CR & FC, former SLRFU, President Asanga Seneviratne was informed of the recommendations of the Asia Rugby COVID-19 Working Group.

The Asia Rugby Division 2 scheduled to be held in Lahore Pakistan between China, Taipei, Thailand and host Pakistan. This has been moved to the fourth Quarter. Further Asia Rugby Women’s championship 2021 between Hong Kong, Japan and Kazakhstan which stands as the direct qualification for the RWC Women’s event in 2021 also postponed due to COVID travel restrictions at present. 

These encounters were scheduled to take place in Hong Kong on 5, 9 and 13 will be pushed back to 2 Quarter. The Asia Rugby Under-19 Top 4 event featuring Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Taipei and South Korea which is scheduled to take place in early April 2021 in Taipei is likely to go ahead as scheduled.

Asia Competitions Committee (including High Performance) Chairperson Asanga Seneviratne, said, “Rugby is slowly returning and quite a few unions have begun training.  Domestic competitions are scheduled to begin shortly. The pathway to return to normality in the international calendar is still uncertain with concerns over travel restrictions and the possibility of teams being quarantined.” (SJ)

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