The leading rugby players of the UAE return to national duty this weekend when they host Hong Kong at The Sevens, Dubai.
It is the opening fixture of the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship (ARC), which carries with it a direct qualification place at the Rugby World Cup.
Expansion
The next World Cup, to be played in Australia in October and November 2027, will involve 24 teams, up from 20 last time.
The first three World Cups featured 16 teams, while all those from 1999 till the last one, in France in 2023, have had 20.
The new format will feature six pools of four teams, with a round of 16 added before the quarter-finals. The tournament duration is reduced from seven to six weeks.
For the first time, there will also be a guaranteed participant from Asia other than Japan.
Qualifying
Twelve teams gained automatic qualification for the tournament by finishing in the top three of their pool at the 2023 World Cup.
Four teams have qualified from Europe. Three will qualify from the Pacific – which includes Japan - plus one each from Africa, Asia and South America.
There will be an additional qualifier from a South America/Pacific play-off. The final team will be decided via a four-team repechage tournament, to be played in Dubai in November.
Asian representation
Japan are one of only 10 sides to have played at every Rugby World Cup. No other Asian side has ever played in rugby’s showpiece tournament.
That is guaranteed to change this time. The winners of the 2025 ARC will qualify directly, while the runners-up will be entered into a repechage system.
Play-offs
The second-placed side in the Asia Rugby Championship will face a play-off against the second-best side from the corresponding competition in Africa.
The losers will be eliminated, while the winners will advance to the last-chance, four-team final qualification tournament.
If the UAE do finish second in the ARC, it will be tough. They have played Zimbabwe and Kenya in recent times – each potential opponents in the play-off – and have been soundly beaten.
If they were to make it through, though, there would be a significant incentive for them.
Home advantage
The final qualification tournament will be a four-team round-robin tournament, and is to be played at The Sevens, Dubai – even if the UAE aren’t involved.
The participating teams will include Belgium, the fifth-placed team from the European section of qualifying, plus the third-placed team from South America.
They will be joined by the loser of the play-off series between South America and the Pacific sections, plus the winner of the African/Asia play-off.
The winner of the tournament, which will be played from November 8-18, will advance to the World Cup.
2025 ARC fixtures
- Friday, June 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka v South Korea
- Saturday, June 14, Dubai: UAE v Hong Kong
- Saturday, June 21, Incheon: South Korea v UAE
- Sunday June 22, Hong Kong: Hong Kong China v Sri Lanka
- Friday, July 4, Colombo: Sri Lanka v UAE
- Saturday, July 5, Incheon: South Korea v Hong Kong China
UAE’s form
The national team’s hopes of featuring in the qualification shake-up soared when they achieved a historic second-place finish in the ARC last year.
They managed that by claiming a thrilling comeback win against South Korea in the heat of the Dubai summer, then by dispatching Malaysia.
If they are to go one better this year, and claim that automatic qualifying berth, they will likely have to do something they have never managed before.
Since replacing the Arabian Gulf in the World Rugby competition structure in 2011, the UAE have yet to beat Hong Kong.
The UAE’s opening day visitors have won the ARC for each other past five years. What the UAE do have in their favour, though, is that they are hosting Hong Kong in the heat of summer.
The national team then have away fixtures against South Korea and Sri Lanka.
