Latest news with #AsiaRugby
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan to set up Asia Rugby Women's Championship decider with Japan
Head coach Lewis Wilson said Hong Kong were backing themselves to upset heavy favourites Japan in an Asia Rugby Women's Championship decider on Sunday, after the city team overcame dogged Kazakhstan 29-12 in steamy Fukuoka on Tuesday. Tanya Dhar, Kea Herewini and Shanna Forrest all crossed to give Hong Kong a 17-0 half-time advantage. Player-of-the-match Forrest said: 'Kazakhstan are a very physical team, but I think we executed well in certain areas and that helped us win the game.' The Kazakhs' two tries came from Oxana Shadrina and Svetlana Malezhina, either side of a score for Jess Eden, before Grace Hood wrapped up Hong Kong's success with two minutes remaining. Shanna Forrest scored Hong Kong's third try as they led 17-0 at half-time. Photo: Hong Kong China Rugby Wilson, who handed a late debut off the bench to lock Naomi Peeters, praised his side's 'physical and well-organised defence' throughout a performance that was 'testament to all the hard work we've done'. The weekend shoot-out with record six-times champions Japan, who are fine-tuning ahead of the August and September World Cup in England, will represent a significant step up for world No 17 team Hong Kong.
South China Morning Post
19-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's high-stakes June rugby match to take place at Kai Tak Sports Park
Hong Kong's match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Rugby Emirates Men's Championship next month is to be held at Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground, the city's union has confirmed. Advertisement The fixture at Kai Tak Sports Park's secondary stadium will take place on Sunday June 22 as Hong Kong look to defend their title in the four-team round-robin tournament, having won the past five editions. The team will play two away fixtures either side of it, with the first against the United Arab Emirates on June 13 and the second against South Korea on July 5. Sri Lanka qualified for the tournament thanks to an impressive 59-19 win against Malaysia in April. Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) CEO James Farndon said it was important for the representative teams to play matches at the sports park, which opened in March and has already hosted the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. '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,' he said. Hong Kong line up for their match against Brazil at the Youth Sports Ground last November. Photo: HKCR '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.'
Japan Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Japan Times
Furious Japan seeks apology after 'no basis' found for chairman's Asia Rugby ban
Furious Japanese rugby chiefs said on Thursday they were demanding an apology from "reckless" Asia Rugby after an independent review found the regional association suspended Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi with "no basis." World Rugby was called in to investigate in February when Asia Rugby banned Iwabuchi from its executive committee for a potential code of conduct breach. The independent review by the sport's global governing body cleared Iwabuchi of any wrongdoing and called on Asia Rugby to reinstate him to his executive committee position.
The Mainichi
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Mainichi
JRFU demands reinstatement of chairman to Asia Rugby, apology for ban
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japan Rugby Football Union has demanded the immediate reinstatement of its Chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi to the Asia Rugby executive committee and will seek a public apology after an independent investigation found no basis for his suspension by the regional ruling body in February. In a strongly worded statement released Thursday, JRFU President Masato Tsuchida said the finding by a World Rugby-appointed disciplinary officer of no wrongdoing by Iwabuchi was a rebuke to Asia Rugby over its suspension of the 49-year-old former Japan flyhalf. "The JRFU is delighted that through this independent World Rugby-led investigation, Mr. Iwabuchi's reputation has been restored, and Asia Rugby has been called out for its significant governance failures and lack of transparency," Tsuchida said. Asia Rugby on Feb. 24 announced its temporary suspension of Iwabuchi as vice president over "a potential code of conduct breach" while providing no further details. World Rugby said the allegation stemmed from Iwabuchi raising queries with Asia Rugby "regarding the contents of documents" he was asked to sign as an executive, and that these were "entirely reasonable queries" showing "good governance practice on his part." "While the outcome is a relief for both Mr. Iwabuchi and the JRFU, the reckless behavior of Asia Rugby in suspending Mr. Iwabuchi without any due process and issuing a vague and potentially defamatory press release at the time is very damaging to the reputation of Asia Rugby," Tsuchida said. World Rugby has notified Asia Rugby that it expects Iwabuchi to be reinstated. The JRFU said it will request that the president of Asia Rugby, Qais Al-Dhalai, issue a public apology to Iwabuchi.
TimesLIVE
21-04-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Saudi Arabia not ruling out a bid for 2035 Rugby World Cup
Saudi Arabia, hosts of the 2034 Soccer World Cup, could make a bid for the 2035 Rugby World Cup despite barely playing the game. Sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal was not ruling it out when he met reporters on the sidelines of Sunday's floodlit Formula One grand prix in Jeddah. 'We're interested in rugby, we're interested in developing the sport locally, so we created a federation to see what we can do to develop the sport,' he said. 'I don't think we're on the level of hosting yet but 2035 is in 10 years so maybe it grows in that direction and we see a big interest in that, then why not?' The Times newspaper reported last month Saudi Arabia could join with Qatar, who hosted the 2022 Soccer World Cup, and the United Arab Emirates in a joint bid for 2035 or 2039. It quoted Asia Rugby president Qais Al Dhalai, an Emirati, as saying it could happen. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are officially teaming up to launch a joint bid to host the 2035 or 2039 Rugby World Cup - a first for the region and potentially, a very big moment for the global game. Georgia Tolley gets the take of Benjamin Van Rooyen, CEO of Asia Rugby. - Dubai Eye 103.8 'A multi-host could be a successful story and a new model for rugby. UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Why not? The stadiums are ready there. It will be the most successful event in the history of rugby,' he said. The UAE are ranked 49th in the world, with Qatar 87th and Saudi Arabia not in the top 113. Australia hosts the next men's tournament in 2027 with the US in 2031. Al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia, which has also been awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games, has 97 sports federations and could not host everything. 'But why do we have 97 federations? Because we want to promote sports, even the smallest sports that maybe a small number of people participate in, in Saudi or there isn't that big of an interest, so at least someone can play that sport in the kingdom.' The country has spent heavily on sport but critics accuse it of 'sportswashing' its human rights record. The country denies rights abuses and says it protects national security through its laws. Al-Faisal said boxing was showing rapid growth, with more and more gyms opening as the country hosted world title fights, and golf was the same. 'We had a very small percentage of youth playing in golf but now after LIV Golf, and after the tournaments that we've hosted in the kingdom, we see a big number of participation,' he said. Cricket was another sport with potential due to the large number of foreign workers from elsewhere in Asia. 'I think in the cricket league we have around 35,000 players already, 90% of them are not Saudi, but we want to accommodate that because they live here, we want to provide for them,' said the prince. 'So does it mean we're going to host a big cricket tournament or match in the future? Maybe. But we'll see how it goes towards that, and if it makes sense to host these events.'
