Asia Rugby Championship 2023 – Hong Kong China, South Korea & Malaysia

The Men’s Asia Rugby Championship 2023 gets underway in June with the same three contendors as in recent years; Hong Kong China, South Korea, and Malaysia.

The tournament has changed format several times, and in 2023 starts with Malaysia hosting South Korea on the 3rd of June 2023 at Stadium Saidina Hamzah, International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hong Kong, China are the defending Asia Rugby champions and Malaysia heads to Hong Kong to take on the defending champions at Hong Kong Football Club the following weekend before the final ARC 2023 match between  Hong Kong China and South Korea is also played at Hong Kong Football Club (see more information on ticketing below).

The two matches in Hong Kong will be the first home test matches for the men’s representative team in over three years.

We have had no official news, but we are led to believe the bottom team in ARC 2023 could be relegated and the winner of the ARM D1 could see promotion to the ARC in 2024.

ARC 2022 Results

• South Korea 55–10 Malaysia
• South Korea 21–23 Hong Kong

World Rugby Ranking – Asia Rugby Men’s Championship 2023

(Correct at the time of publishing)

• #24 Hong Kong China
• #30 South Korea
• #49 Malaysia

It should be noted that Malaysia is ranked below Sri Lana and the Philippines –  Sri Lanka is currently suspended from playing.

Malaysia Men’s XV – Asia Rugby Championship 2023

• Head coach:  Mohd Farid Syazwan bin Abu Bakar

Malaysia Men’s XV – Asia Rugby Championship 2023

South Korea Men’s XV – Asia Rugby Championship 2023

The South Korean men have a new coach and a young team with a number of new caps in the 26-training squad to prepare for the Asia Rugby Championship 2023. They lost to Hong Kong China at home in 2022 and missed out on RWC 2023 qualification and will play both matches away from home in the ARC 2023.

The domestic XVs championship has been underway in South Korea but they have yet to play any warm-up games as a national team (that we have seen).

South Korea Squad – ARC 2023

Seok Dong Hee (POSCO, 3 caps), Shin Gi Soo (KAFAC, 2 caps), Choi Ho Young (Korea Univ., 2 caps), Yeo Jae Min (POSCO, 0 caps), Kang Soon Hyuk (KAFAC, 6 caps), Won Jeong Ho (Korea Univ., 0 caps), Shin Da Hyun (KEPCO, 10 caps), Lee Jin Seok (POSCO, 7 caps), Kim Dae Hwan (KEPCO, 2 caps), Noh Ok Gi (KEPCO, 4 caps), Kim Yo Han (Hyundai Glovis, 2 caps), Noh Myung Soo (Hyundai Glovis, 0 caps), Park Woo Bin (KAFAC, 0 caps), Hwang Jeong Wook (Korea University, 0 cap), Lee Geon (KEPCO, 2 caps), Kim Wan Seok (KAFAC, 0 caps), Kim Ki Min (KEPCO, 4 caps), Kim Hyun Jin (Korea Univ., 0 caps),Kim Yong Hwi (OK Financial Group Okman, 1 cap), Yang Jun Cheol (KAFAC, 0 cap), Huh Dong (Korea Univ., 0 cap), Jeong Yeon Sik (Hyundai Glovis, 13 caps), Jang Jeong Min (KEPCO, 10 caps), Chang Yong Heung (KEPCO, 9 caps), Kim Eui Tae (KAFAC, 0 caps), Jang Hyun Goo (Kyung Hee Univ., 0 cap)

• Head coach: Lee Myung Geun (ex-Kubota)
• Forwards coach: Yu Youngnam (ex-Panasonic)
• Backs coach: Oh Yeong Gil (ex-head coach Osaka Korean HS)
• Scrum coach: Kim Kwang Sik (ex-NEC, Honda and Hino)

Hong Kong China Men’s XV – Asia Rugby Championship 2023

Lewis Evans as HKRU Men’s XV Head Coach has been keeping busy. He saw his provisional squad take on a World XV made up of HKRU domestic premiership payers in April 2023, saying at the time “There are definitely windows of opportunity that we needed to try and utilise…This was the time when players are still relatively fit from the season, still ready, prepared, and it means the Hong Kong team has a bit of a run out as well.”

The Hong Kong China Men’s XVs Head Coach and CCO for USRC Tigers RFC also spent time with the ACT Brumbies Rugby on a week-long professional development and immersion experience.

Lewis and the Hong Kong Men’s XV play towards the end of the Asia Rugby Championship and squad details will be released later.  This will be their first XV international since they played the RWC 2023 qualifiers in 2022.

Hong Kong China Squad – ARC 2023

More information on the matchday squad vs Malaysia here and read more from Head Coach Lewis Evans.

Asia Rugby Championship 2023 Fixtures

• 3rd June 2023 – Malaysia 3-27 South Korea – Stadium Saidina Hamzah, International Islamic University Malaysia – 2PM (local time) (Stream Link)
• 10th June 2023 – Hong Kong China 88-9 Malaysia – Hong Kong Football Club – KO 5PM (HK time)
• 17th June 2023 – Hong Kong China vs South Korea – Hong Kong Football Club – KO 5PM (HK time)

For the matches in Hong Kong, fans can scan the QR below to get their tickets for the Hong Kong China vs Malaysia and Hong Kong China vs South Korea matches on 10th & 17th June 2023 at HKFC. Entry to the match is free with the ticket issued through HKRU’s official ticketing app.

Match Officials – Asia Rugby Men’s Championship 2023

It appears as if the following match officials be involved in all three matches (unless otherwise noted) while the referees and AR for the matches are listed below as per Asia Rugby information.

• Television Match Official (TMO) – Shane Barr (Singapore Rugby Union – SRU)*
• Performance Reviewer  – Peter Hudson (Qatar Rugby Football Union) – remotely
• Citing Commissioner  – Chris Galea  (SRU)
• Judicial Officer – Ramesh Lachmanan (Malaysia Rugby Union)

Match 1 – 3rd June 2023 – Malaysia 3-27 South Korea

Matthew Rodden from the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) will take charge of the opening match between Malaysia and Korea on June 3rd in Malaysia, and the Assistant Referees will be Craig Chan (HKRU) and Leow Wei Liang from SRU.

Match 2 – 10th June 2023 – Hong Kong China vs Malaysia

Shane Barr will referee the Hong Kong versus Malaysia clash on June 10th in Hong Kong, supported by Assistant Referees Katsuki Furuse and Tasuku Kawahara, both from the Japan Rugby Football Union.

Match 3 – 17th June 2023 – Hong Kong China vs South Korea

Katsuki Furuse will referee the final ARMC 2023 in Hong Kong, with Assistant Referees Tasuku Kawahara and Takehito Namkeawa, both from the JRFU.

• TMO – Shuhei Kubo (JRFU)

Image Credit: HKRU

How To Watch The ARC 2023?

Malaysia Rugby has said they will provide a live stream of the matches played in Malaysia on their FB page.

We will bring more news on the Asia Rugby Men Championship 2023 as team squads, KO times and any further streaming news as information is released.

Asian Rugby Tournaments 2023

• Chinese Social Rugby Events 2023.
• The Best Social 2023 Rugby Tournaments In Asia
• Asian Rugby Championship Division 1 2023.
• Best International 2023 Rugby Tournaments In Asia.