2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series

2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
Hosts United Arab Emirates
Date19–20 November 2021
Final positions
Champions Hong Kong (4th title)
Runners-up South Korea
Third Japan
Series details
Matches played20
Top try scorer Cado Lee Ka To
(5 tries)
Top point scorer Russell Webb
(39 points)
← 2019
2022 →

The 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series was a rugby sevens tournament held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in late November 2021.[1] Following the cancellation of the 2020 series due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the twelfth edition of Asia's continental sevens circuit. The event acted as a qualifier for the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile and the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa. Hong Kong and South Korea qualified for both events.[2][3]

Incheon, Huizhou and Colombo were originally scheduled as legs of the 2021 series,[4] but all were eventually cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced by two events in the United Arab Emirates.[1][5] This was eventually changed again to a single sevens event held in Dubai.

Qualification

Main article: 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series Trophy

Five teams from West Asia played in a qualification tournament over two days to make up the eighth place at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series. The event was played as a round-robin and knockout, hosted by Qatar. Previous attendees United Arab Emirates won the tournament on 9 October.[6][7]

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances Previous best
performance
 United Arab Emirates Asia Rugby Trophy winner 9 October 2021 2 (2015, 2019) Sixth place (Bangkok 2015, Colombo 2019)

Teams

There were eight teams competing in the tournament, which only had one change from the previous one (2019):

Pool stage

Pool A

Team P W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
 Hong Kong 3 3 0 0 97 12 +85 9 Advance to Cup playoffs
 South Korea 3 2 0 1 93 21 +72 7 Advance to Cup playoffs
 Philippines 3 1 0 2 19 87 –68 5 Advance to Plate playoffs
 Malaysia 3 0 0 3 24 113 –89 3 Advance to Plate playoffs
19 November
13:58 GST (UTC+4)
South Korea 7–14 Hong Kong
Dubai
19 November
14:20 GST (UTC+4)
Philippines 19–12 Malaysia
Dubai
19 November
17:08 GST (UTC+4)
South Korea 46–0 Philippines
Dubai
19 November
17:30 GST (UTC+4)
Hong Kong 54–5 Malaysia
Dubai
19 November
20:18 GST (UTC+4)
South Korea 40–7 Malaysia
Dubai
19 November
20:40 GST (UTC+4)
Hong Kong 29–0 Philippines
Dubai


Pool B

Team P W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
 Japan 3 3 0 0 84 33 +51 9 Advance to Cup playoffs
 China 3 2 0 1 61 43 +18 7 Advance to Cup playoffs
 United Arab Emirates 3 1 0 2 65 63 +2 5 Advance to Plate playoffs
 Sri Lanka 3 0 0 3 21 92 –71 3 Advance to Plate playoffs
19 November
14:42 GST (UTC+4)
Japan 31–14 Sri Lanka
Dubai
19 November
15:04 GST (UTC+4)
China 29–17 United Arab Emirates
Dubai
19 November
17:52 GST (UTC+4)
Japan 26–0 China
Dubai
19 November
18:14 GST (UTC+4)
Sri Lanka 7–29 United Arab Emirates
Dubai
19 November
21:02 GST (UTC+4)
Japan 27–19 United Arab Emirates
Dubai
19 November
21:24 GST (UTC+4)
Sri Lanka 0–32 China
Dubai

Knockout stage

Plate playoffs

 
Plate Semi-finalsPlate Final
 
      
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 
 Philippines26
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 Sri Lanka28
 
 Sri Lanka10
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 United Arab Emirates29
 
 United Arab Emirates31
 
 
 Malaysia14
 
7th place Final
 
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 
 Philippines19
 
 
 Malaysia28


Semi-finals

20 November
16:28 GST (UTC+4)
Philippines 26–28 Sri Lanka
Dubai
20 November
16:50 GST (UTC+4)
United Arab Emirates 31–14 Malaysia
Dubai

Seventh place

20 November
18:44 GST (UTC+4)
Philippines 19–28 Malaysia
Dubai

Fifth place

20 November
19:06 GST (UTC+4)
Sri Lanka 10–29 United Arab Emirates
Dubai

Cup playoffs

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 
 Hong Kong24
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 China0
 
 Hong Kong33
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 South Korea7
 
 Japan14
 
 
 South Korea21
 
Third place
 
 
20 November – Dubai
 
 
 China19
 
 
 Japan26

Semi-finals

20 November
17:12 GST (UTC+4)
Hong Kong 24–0 China
Dubai
20 November
17:34 GST (UTC+4)
Japan 14–21 South Korea
Dubai

Third place

20 November
20:04 GST (UTC+4)
China 19–26 Japan
Dubai

Final

20 November
20:48 GST (UTC+4)
Hong Kong 33–7 South Korea
Dubai


Final standings

Legend
Qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Pos Team
1  Hong Kong
2  South Korea
3  Japan
4  China
5  United Arab Emirates
6  Sri Lanka
7  Malaysia
8  Philippines

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2021 Update". 6 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Four Asian teams book their berths at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town". Asia Rugby. 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  3. ^ "Hong Kong men win Asia Rugby Sevens Series title, women seal third after dazzling Dubai weekend". South China Morning Post. 21 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Asia Rugby Competitions 2021". Asia Rugby. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Asia Rugby Competitions 2021". Asia Rugby. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Asia Rugby announces schedule for West Asia 7s, Qatar 2021". Asia Rugby. 7 October 2021.
  7. ^ "UAE gets double victory at the restart of Asia Rugby Sevens Series". PlanetSevens. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.