Four Asian Unions Sign On For Unions Cup 2024 To Develop XVs Rugby – Match Schedule, Officials, Team News

During the Singapore Rugby Festival Week 2024 organised by the Singapore Rugby Union, which concluded with the HSCB Singapore SVNS, four regional rugby presidents from Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the new Unions Cup 2024.

Updated 3 July 2024 – match schedule, squad news, match officials

In attendance were several members of the SRU (Singapore Rugby Union), led by their President Sunny Seah and General Manager Sidney Kumar, the President of the Thailand Rugby Union (TRU) Kulthon Prachuabmoh, the President of the Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union Jeffry Chang, as well as World Rugby EXCO and Philippines Rugby Football President (PRFU) Ada Milby.

Asia Rugby President Qais Al-Dhalai also made a special appearance as all members signed the documents in front of representatives of the unions, World Rugby and a small selection of media.

Unions Cup – Help Grow XVs Rugby In East and SEA

Speaking to Rugby Asia 247 before the signing took place, Ada Milby said, ‘We’re signing a MoU between four countries to start. It’s an agreement that we are all committed to the DNA and fabric of our game which is XVs rugby. At the moment it’s for the men’s game but next year we’ll look to see if we can expand that to the women’s game as well.”

Taking place from 28 June to July 6 2024 with Singapore Rugby Union as hosts, and Chinese Taipei and Thailand are both involved in the inaugural tri-nations Unions Cup.

Milby added, “We know that the cost of travel has gone up exponentially, especially since the pandemic, so what we’re looking to do is create more games and playing opportunities for our players. To have these close-cross-border sub-regional competitions is the best way to go about that.

So today it’s a commitment from four Union presidents to ensure we are playing as often as we can and against our neighbours which creates the best kind of rivalries – if you look at Scotland and England or similar rivalries – we have a similar setup and a chance to create that same buzz here in Asia with Thailand vs the Philippines or vs Singapore, and I think people will love that,” said Milby.

Singapore Rugby Union GM Sydney Kumar thanked the presidents of the unions and the Asia Rugby president for attending, signing and witnessing the MoU and is confident the action will help support the development of the game.

The idea is for the different countries to take turns hosting the tournament which will rotate locations each year, and Kulthon Prachuabmoh (TRU President) added, “We hope this competition will be sustainable and maintain growth in XV rugby in the region.”

Jeffry Chang was also happy with the MoU, saying, “We want to improve the rugby between these Asia rugby nations in the fifteen-a-side game. This agreement will look to improve East and Southeast Asia rugby to be stronger and better. Currently, most competitions are held in central or middle Asia, so this will allow for more game time.”

Chang added, “We want to unite our regions and we need to improve and grow together, so I appreciate everyone coming together to help start this initiative.”

Unions Cup 2024 Match Schedule

Singapore will host its first international 15s tournament since 2013 with 3 games held between the 29th of June till the 5th of July 2024! All matches will be shown on SRU YouTube channel