2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series
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]
| 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series | |
|---|---|
| Hosts |  United Arab Emirates |
| Date | 19–20 November 2021 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Hong Kong (4th title) |
| Runners-up |  South Korea |
| Third |  Japan |
| Series details | |
| Matches played | 20 |
| Top try scorer | Cado Lee Ka To (5 tries) |
| Top point scorer | Russell Webb (39 points) |
← 2019 2022 → | |
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
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 |
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 |
Knockout stage
Plate playoffs
| Plate Semi-finals | Plate Final | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| Philippines | 26 | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| Sri Lanka | 28 | |||||
| Sri Lanka | 10 | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 29 | |||||
| United Arab Emirates | 31 | |||||
| Malaysia | 14 | |||||
| 7th place Final | ||||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| Philippines | 19 | |||||
| Malaysia | 28 | |||||
Semi-finals
Seventh place
Fifth place
Cup playoffs
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| Hong Kong | 24 | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| China | 0 | |||||
| Hong Kong | 33 | |||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| South Korea | 7 | |||||
| Japan | 14 | |||||
| South Korea | 21 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 20 November – Dubai | ||||||
| China | 19 | |||||
| Japan | 26 | |||||
Semi-finals
Third place
Final
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 |
References
- "Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2021 Update". 6 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021.
- "Four Asian teams book their berths at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town". Asia Rugby. 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
- "Hong Kong men win Asia Rugby Sevens Series title, women seal third after dazzling Dubai weekend". South China Morning Post. 21 November 2021.
- "Asia Rugby Competitions 2021". Asia Rugby. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- "Asia Rugby Competitions 2021". Asia Rugby. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- "Asia Rugby announces schedule for West Asia 7s, Qatar 2021". Asia Rugby. 7 October 2021.
- "UAE gets double victory at the restart of Asia Rugby Sevens Series". PlanetSevens. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.