ASIA RUGBY EMIRATES WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP 2026

Hong Kong China Women's XVs battled back to secure a draw in their Asia Rugby Emirates Women's Rugby Championship clash against Kazakhstan in Almaty on Sunday evening, in a match played in torrential rains.

Japan beat both teams last week to lift the Championship trophy, with the match between Hong Kong China and Kazakhstan then becoming a battle for second place in the three-team round-robin tournament.

The draw means Kazakhstan finish as runners-up in this year's Championship, thanks to their stronger points differential (having lost 12-64 to Japan with Hong Kong China losing 12-71).

Read more: https://hkrugby.com/news/details/hong-kong-china-womens-xvs-26-26-kazakhstan

The Hong Kong China Rugby Women’s XVs representative team is preparing to take on hosts Kazakhstan in the final round of the Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Rugby Championships (AREWC) on Sunday 10 May in Kazakhstan.

A new look team featuring eight players on debut lost 71-12 to eventual champions Japan mid-week and will now face off against Kazakhstan in a battle for second place. The HKCR Women’s XV finished as runners-up to Japan in last year’s competition.

Read more: https://hkrugby.com/news/details/hong-kong-china-rugby-womens-xv-battle-for-2nd-at-asia-rugby-championships

A new look Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) Women’s XVs squad featuring eight players on debut lost to defending champions Japan, 71-12, in their opening match of the Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Rugby Championship (AREWC) last night in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The HKCR representative squad will face hosts Kazakhstan in the finale on Saturday, 9 May.

With the women already qualified for the prestigious World Rugby global competition, the WXV Global Series Challenger, which is being hosted in Hong Kong this Autumn, the selectors had the opportunity to blood a crop of new players for the regional championships.

Read more: https://hkrugby.com/news/details/hong-kong-china-rugby-womens-xv-open-asia-rugby-championship-challenge-in-almaty

Hong Kong China's squad features eight new potential debutants who are excited to be written into the history books. Check out your match day 23 here: https://hkrugby.com/match-centre/fixture/12494814

You can watch all the action for free on YouTube or RugbyPass TV. Kick-off is 4PM local time, 7PM Hong Kong time on Tuesday 5 May.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR4fszI30_U
RugbyPass TV: https://rugbypass.tv/live/302028

The Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship (AREWC) 2026 will be hosted in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 30 April until 10 May 2026. The tournament will again feature the defending champions Japan (known as the Sakura 15s), Hong Kong China and hosts Kazakhstan. The tournament comes on the back of the news that Hong Kong has been selected to host World Rugby’s new-look WXV Global Series Challenger in September, with all three triple-header matches played at Kai Tak’s Youth Sports Ground.

This will be the 15th edition of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, and Japan are currently ranked 11th in the world, Hong Kong China are ranked 16th, while Kazakhstan are 19th. The 2026 tournament will once again be played in a three-match, round robin format, and all fixtures are fully capped Test matches.

Read more: https://hkrugby.com/news/details/asia-rugby-emirates-womens-championship-2026-preview

Hong Kong will play host for the WXV Global Series Challenger 2026 from 13 September to 26 September 2026, with the tournament’s nine matches to be played as three triple-header matchdays all to be held at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground.

Read more: https://hkrugby.com/news/details/hong-kong-to-host-2026-wxv-global-series-challenger

Hong Kong China Women’s XVs head to Kazakhstan at the start of May to take part in this year’s Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship.

In 2025 the three-team round robin tournament was held in Japan, with Hong Kong China coming runners-up to the hosts thanks to a 29-12 win over Kazakhstan. For 2026, Kazakhstan will host the tournament, with fixtures as follows:

Kazakhstan vs Japan – Thursday 30 April
Japan vs Hong Kong China – Tuesday 5 May
Kazakhstan vs Hong Kong China – Sunday 10 May

Read more: https://www.hkrugby.com/news/details/hong-kong-china-women-prepare-for-asia-rugby-championship-2026