2019 Rugby World Cup – Asia qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for Asia Rugby began in May 2016 and ended in early June 2018, where the winner of the qualification process advanced to a cross-regional play-off series against the winner of Round 2 of the Oceania qualification process in June 2018.

Format

The Asia Rugby Championship, governed by Asia Rugby, was the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2019, with Divisions 2, 1 and the Top 3 being involved in the process. The teams that competed in the 2016 Divisions 1 and 2 acted as Round 1 qualifiers, with the winner of Division 2 being promoted to Division 1, for the second regional qualification round in 2017. While the teams that competed in Division 1, contested 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 Division 1 act as the main qualification tournament, where the winner advanced to Round 3 joined Hong Kong and South Korea in the top flight division.

In 2018, the winner of the 2018 Asia Rugby Championship, Round 3, advanced to the cross-regional playoff series against Oceania 4 for a repechage berth.

Entrants

Ten teams competed during for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – Asian qualification; teams world rankings are prior to the first Asian qualification match on 8 May 2016 and bold nations denotes teams have previously played in a Rugby World Cup.

Nation	Rank	Began play	Qualifying status
Guam	73	18 May 2016	Eliminated by Thailand on 18 May 2016
Hong Kong	25	28 April 2018	Advances to Asia/Oceania play-off for repechage
Japan	10	N/A	Qualified as hosts of the World Cup
Kazakhstan	42	8 May 2016	Withdrew from World Cup contention on 10 April 2016
Malaysia	58	8 May 2016	Eliminated by South Korea on 19 May 2018
Philippines	54	8 May 2016	Eliminated by Malaysia on 17 May 2017
Singapore	59	8 May 2016	Eliminated by Malaysia on 14 May 2016
South Korea	26	28 April 2018	Eliminated by Hong Kong on 2 June 2018
Sri Lanka	38	8 May 2016	Eliminated by Malaysia on 20 May 2017
Thailand	76	18 May 2016	Eliminated by UAE on 21 May 2016
United Arab Emirates	83	18 May 2016	Eliminated by Sri Lanka on 17 May 2017
Uzbekistan	87	18 May 2016	Eliminated by UAE on 18 May 2016

Round 1

Main article: 2016 Asian Rugby Championship division tournaments

The first round consisted of ten matches between 8 teams. The winner of the Asian Rugby Championship Division 2 (Round 1A), United Arab Emirates, advanced to the second round and was promoted to division 1 for 2017, while the bottom placed team in division 1 (Round 1B), Singapore, was relegated and thus eliminated from Rugby World Cup contention.

On 10 April 2015, Kazakhstan who were meant to compete in the 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1 (Round 1B) withdrew from the competition and Rugby World Cup contention. Singapore were therefore promoted up to Division 1 and Thailand replaced Singapore in Division 2.^[1]

Round 1A: 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 2

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

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 May 2016 – Tashkent
	Thailand	25
					21 May 2016 – Tashkent
	Guam	16
					Thailand	18
	18 May 2016 – Tashkent
					United Arab Emirates	70
	United Arab Emirates	65
	Uzbekistan	13
					Third place play-off
					21 May 2016 – Tashkent
					Guam	23
					Uzbekistan	22

Matches

18 May 2016 14:00 Thailand  25–16  Guam Match centre[2] Report[3] Dustlik Stadium, Tashkent Referee: Rui Shimizu (Japan) 18 May 2016 16:00 Uzbekistan  13–65  United Arab Emirates Match centre[4] Report[3] Dustlik Stadium, Tashkent Referee: Just Wang (Singapore) 21 May 2016 14:00 Guam  23–22  Uzbekistan Match centre[5] Report[6] Dustlik Stadium, Tashkent Referee: Rui Shimizu (Japan) 21 May 2016 16:00 Thailand  18–70  United Arab Emirates Match centre[7] Report[6] Dustlik Stadium, Tashkent Referee: Just Wang (Singapore)

Round 1B: 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1

The 2016 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1 tournament was contested by four teams in a round robin format. The tournament was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Eliminated from RWC qualification

Pos	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Total points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	Malaysia	3	2	0	1	92	52	+40	3	11
2	Sri Lanka	3	2	0	1	75	80	–5	1	9
3	Philippines	3	1	0	2	60	63	–3	3	7
4	Singapore	3	1	0	2	65	97	–32	0	4
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 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 14:30 (1 BP) Sri Lanka  33–17  Singapore Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Timothy Baker (Hong Kong) 8 May 2016 16:30 (1 BP) Malaysia  10–15  Philippines Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Paul McKay (Singapore) 11 May 2016 14:30 (2 BP) Philippines  24–28  Singapore Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Dewi Rowlands (Hong Kong) 11 May 2016 16:30 (1 BP) Malaysia  42–17  Sri Lanka Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Timothy Baker (Hong Kong) 14 May 2016 14:30 Sri Lanka  25–21  Philippines (1 BP) Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Paul McKay (Singapore) 14 May 2016 16:30 (1 BP) Malaysia  40–20  Singapore Royal Selangor Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Timothy Baker (Hong Kong)

Round 2: 2017 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1

Main article: 2017 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments

The 2017 Asian Rugby Championship Division 1 tournament was held in Ipoh, Malaysia, in a round-robin format.

Advances to Round 3

Pos	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Total points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Malaysia	3	3	0	0	98	39	+59	2	14
2	Sri Lanka	3	2	0	1	66	52	+14	1	9
3	Philippines	3	1	0	2	55	90	–35	0	5
4	United Arab Emirates	3	0	0	3	65	103	–38	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 3 points 4 or more tries - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

14 May 2017 14:00 Sri Lanka  24–13  Philippines Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Lawrence Wilkinson (Hong Kong) 14 May 2017 16:00 (1 BP) Malaysia  36–22  United Arab Emirates Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Just Wang (Singapore) 17 May 2017 14:00 (1 BP) Sri Lanka  33–17  United Arab Emirates Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Charlie Brown (Singapore) 17 May 2017 16:00 (1 BP) Malaysia  40–8  Philippines Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Taku Otsuki (Japan) 20 May 2017 14:00 Philippines  34–26  United Arab Emirates Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Lawrence Wilkinson (Hong Kong) 20 May 2017 16:00 Malaysia  22–9  Sri Lanka Ipoh Padang, Ipoh Referee: Taku Otsuki (Japan)

Round 3: 2018 Asia Rugby Championship

Main article: 2018 Asia Rugby Championship

As the winner of this round, Hong Kong advances to a Cross-regional play-off series against Oceania 4, Cook Islands to earn a berth in the Repechage tournament.

Advances to Cross-regional play-off series

Pos	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Total points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Hong Kong	4	4	0	0	227	44	+183	3	19
2	South Korea	4	2	0	2	128	91	+37	2	10
3	Malaysia	4	0	0	4	40	260	–220	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points[citation needed] 4 or more tries - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches[8]

28 April 2018 16:30 Malaysia  10–35  South Korea (1 BP) National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Timothy Baker (Hong Kong) 5 May 2018 16:30 Malaysia  8–67  Hong Kong (1 BP) National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan) 12 May 2018 16:30 South Korea  21–30  Hong Kong Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium, Incheon Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan) 19 May 2018 16:30 (1 BP) South Korea  67–12  Malaysia Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium, Incheon Referee: Stephen Copeman (Hong Kong) 26 May 2018 16:00 (1 BP) Hong Kong  91–10  Malaysia Hong Kong Football Club Stadium, Hong Kong Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan) 2 June 2018 16:00 (1 BP) Hong Kong  39–5  South Korea Hong Kong Football Club Stadium, Hong Kong Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)