Hong Kong China Rugby and Japan Rugby Football Union Signed an MoU at 2025 Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens

Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) and Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Kai Tak Stadium at the 2025 Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens to further cement their working partnership to develop the sport.

In a joint statement, the unions said the agreement “pledges to build on the existing relationship between two of the founding member Unions of Asia Rugby to benefit rugby in Japan and Hong Kong – as well as to promote and grow the game in Asia.”

JRFU President Masato Tsuchida and Chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi stood pitchside alongside HKCR Chairman Chris Brooke and CEO James Farndon at the new Kai Tak Stadium on Saturday 29th March 2025 and were joined by Hong Kong China Captain James Christie and Japan Captain Daigo Morio for a photo on the field.

James Farndon, CEO of Hong Kong China Rugby, said “Our two Unions have been working successfully together for a significant period of time, and this was the opportunity to formalise our historical work and look ahead to what can be achieved moving forward.”

Masato Tsuchida, President of the Japan Rugby Football Union, added, “We have a long history of collaboration with Hong Kong China Rugby and we are delighted to formalise future partnership opportunities through this MoU.

Both Japan and Hong Kong have actively supported the growth of rugby in Asia since the foundation of Asia Rugby over 50 years ago. We will continue to leverage our respective Development and High Performance systems and expertise to strengthen the relationship between our Unions, and explore additional opportunities to enhance the technical assistance that we provide to Unions in the Asia Region.”

What Have JRFU and HKCR Agreed Upon?

The two unions have agreed under the MoU to focus on the ways in which the two unions can best support rugby development across Asia and collaborate with each other on areas including:

• Creating a regular schedule of fixtures between men’s and women’s 15s representative teams
• Joint sevens rugby training camps
• Age-grade rugby fixtures
• Domestic club rugby fixtures and technical exchanges
• Joint medical and player welfare initiatives

Japan women’s 15s team has qualified for the RWC 2025 and will be hosting the Asia Rugby Emirates Championship 2025 in May with Hong Kong China and Kazakstan. The Japanese Brave Blossoms have also already qualified for the Men’s RWC 2027, while the HKCR Men have an opportunity to do so for the first time if they win the Asia Rugby Men’s Championship in running from June-July 2025.

Part of the rumour mill for some time is that there might be teams from Hong Kong China and Korea looking to enter the JRLO in the coming years as the competition will be eligible for overseas teams in 2026 – but our sources indicated that HKCR is not looking to do so at the current time. If the Hong Kong China Men do qualify for the RWC 2027 they might increase their contracted full-time 15s players in preparation for the tournament but more will need to be confirmed in due course.

HKCR and Rugby Australia Discussions

Photo Credit – HKCR

Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) also hosted a number of international Unions including Rugby Australia, “to continue discussions around a more formal relationship between the two Unions.” Both Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh and Director of High Performance Peter Horne were guests and Hong Kong China Rugby CEO, James Farndon said: “We look forward to agreeing on strategic objectives that provide mutual benefit as part of a future MoU, our goals being to share knowledge and best practice across a number of key areas, including player, coach, referee and practitioner development.”

Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh commented, “Rugby Australia is committed to playing a leadership role in growing the game globally and we look forward to evolving our already strong relationship with Hong Kong China Rugby.”

The former Wallaby, added, “A future MoU between Rugby Australia and Hong Kong China Rugby will deliver substantial benefits to both unions and the game globally. We are making good progress on identifying key strategic objectives to collaborate on including, but not limited to, the areas of high performance, sports science and infrastructure.”

As part of a separate press conference held by World Rugby which we will bring more on later, current World Rugby Chairman Brett Robinson indicated that the new facilities at Kai Tak Stadium have allowed for new conversations to take place such as the possibility of hosting Bledisloe matches in Hong Kong once again.

Asian Rugby Divided?

Separately, apparent divisions within Asia Rugby have been made most apparent by the news that the Asia Rugby President has supported a joint bid from possibly Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to try and host the RWC in 2035 or 2039 – the 2035 and 2037 tournaments Japan had already indicated it wants to bid for.

Asia Rugby President Qais Al-Dhalai told The Times “I anticipate it could happen in 2035; I don’t want to underestimate the other bids, and I believe South Africa and European countries will also be interested, but if World Rugby works hard on it with a solid plan, it could happen in 2035. Why not? The stadiums are already there. It would be the most successful event in the history of rugby.”

This follows the governing body for the region suspending the JRFU chairman, Kensuke Iwabuchi, from his position with Asia Rugby in February 2025 pending an investigation into a potential code of conduct breach although no details have been shed and the JRFU said no reason has been provided. It’s been the operandi modus of this current leadership at Asia Rugby as they target those they disagree with.

The new 2028 Nations Cup finals are set to be played in Doha, Qatar.

There are already similar issues to the FIFA World Cup 2022 in terms of alcohol, human rights and a lack of a domestic playing and fan base cited as concerns for the Gulf region to host a Rugby World Cup. If successful, it would also impact the traditional dates the RWC are held as it is too hot in the region at that time of the year.

It should also be noted that World Rugby and Asia Rugby Exco Meetings are being held this week in Hong Kong to determine a number of important issues which include the future of the Sevens Rugby format and more news is expected to be released this week.

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