PUBLISHED ON 19 MAY 2025
Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) can confirm that our upcoming men’s 15s Test Match against Sri Lanka will be hosted at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground (YSG). The fixture is part of the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship (ARMC) and will be played on Sunday 22 June (KO 4:30PM).
The Hong Kong China representative men’s team will feature in the four-team round robin ARMC tournament this summer as defending champions, having won the last five consecutive Asia Rugby titles.
The squad will play away fixtures against the United Arab Emirates (Friday 13 June) and Korea (Saturday 5 July) either side of the home match against Sri Lanka, who qualified for the tournament thanks to an impressive 59-19 win against Malaysia in the Asia Rugby Emirates April’s Championship Playoff in April.
HKCR CEO James Farndon stressed the importance of playing representative matches at Kai Tak Sports Park, which opened with the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens as its first international sports event in March:
“With Hong Kong boasting a new world-class sports facility, like many sports associations, we are excited about the quality and scale of future events we can deliver at Kai Tak Sports Park.
“Building on the success of the Hong Kong Sevens, we are delighted to be bringing our Asia Rugby Men’s Championship home match to the Youth Sports Ground. We know that the team at Kai Tak will support us in delivering a great event both on and off the field, and we look forward to working together in the lead-up to the event.”
In 2025 the winner of the ARMC will qualify directly for the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, with the runner-up given a second chance to qualify via an Asia/Africa Play-off and Final Qualification Tournament. Hong Kong China Men’s 15s Head Coach, Andrew Douglas, looked ahead to the campaign:
“This year’s Asia Rugby Championship is hugely important for our men’s 15s programme, with the reward of an automatic qualification spot for a Rugby World Cup a real game changer for the winners.
“Our coaching team has been preparing the squad for the best part of a year now, to put us in the best possible position for the campaign. This includes last summer’s three-match tour to South America, our two-match autumn series against Brazil in Hong Kong – and supporting our players through a full season of domestic Premiership rugby.
“We are now into our overseas camps, taking 32 players to Australia last month and a similar number to Japan this month, with some additional overseas-based players also in contention for selection. These form critical preparation for the three matches, including tough trips to play in the UAE and Korea, as well as the new challenge presented by Sri Lanka at Kai Tak.”
Hong Kong China Men’s 15s Captain Josh Hrstich looked ahead to a return to YSG, where the team took on Brazil as one of the venue’s test events in November 2024:
“Youth Sports Ground is fantastic from a player perspective, considering the pitch, performance facilities and the atmosphere. It was great to get the chance to play there late last year, and the boys can’t wait to go again in June.
“We also know that our fans loved coming to watch us at the Youth Sports Ground, so hopefully we can draw a big crowd to really get behind us against Sri Lanka.”
Tickets for this event will be on sale soon, with further information and updates to follow at hkrugby.com.
