Asia’s top rugby sevens teams are locked in for 2026 after an exciting final weekend of action in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with Hong Kong China Japan Men and Women defend their Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series titles.
However, while Hong Kong China did enough to top the overall table in their title defence, Sri Lanka’s biggest city is likely to be left disappointed, losing the final 28-14 to Japan The men’s side, who joined the women to complete a Sri Lanka sweep for the land of the rising sun.
Coming into the tournament as heavy favorites given their HSBC SVNS Series status, the Sakura 7s had to work hard to claim their title, with China pushing the side all the way in the final.
Ultimately losing 14-7, the Chinese had a chance after the buzzer to pull one back but ultimately fell short, Yue Sun scoring all his points in a performance that, overall, showed significant improvement.
However, Japan’s SVNS class shone through, with captain Rinka Matsuda and S. Ohashi eventually scoring a try each to keep the Chinese at bay.
Despite the disappointment, the Chinese finished second overall in the standings behind Japan, which will see them qualify for the HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in late November in Dubai.
“We are really happy that we were able to end the series with a championship,” Matsuda told RugbyAsia247. “From the training camp before the tournament, we focused on each player showing their strengths.
“The tournament allowed all players to show their strengths, and as the games progressed, team cohesion improved, allowing us to grow as a team.”
“We started building our team for this tournament just four days after the Asian Games and we entered this tournament with 13 players from different backgrounds, including five players making their debuts,” added Sakura 7s head coach Yuka Kanematsu.
“This tournament presented the players with many first experiences, but they showed a high level of concentration from the first match and grew into a fantastic team with each match.
“I am really proud of the players who have contributed to our three wins in this Asian series.”
Results outside the final series also impressed in the women’s competition, with Hong Kong China Women winning Kazakhstan 14-5 in the third-place playoff to win bronze, the Kazakhs are making their first semifinal appearance in years.
The men’s event was a tighter affair, with Hong Kong China Men crossing the line to qualify for SVNS 3 thanks to previous results and a better series points difference – but Japan’s men’s team deservedly won in Colombo.
With China in Hong Kong holding the balance in recent clashes between the two sides, Yuma Nakagawa’s two tries helped seal a 28-14 victory for the Japanese, surviving Max’s scores Denmark and Matt Worley (the former is the top scorer of the weekend).
“This tournament win is valuable because it shows the team’s ability to adapt to different situations and the success of this program, which provides opportunities for young players to shine,” added Phil Greening, Japan Men’s Sevens Head Coach.
“Even though the Asian Games ended in disappointment, the players learned from that experience, remained united and continued to believe in our philosophy of preparation and coaching.
“They fought as one, showing skill and the will to win, maintaining a consistently high standard and producing results when opportunities arose.
“The next challenge is to make this the standard, not the exception.”
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the loss,” Chinese men’s sevens coach Jevon Groves told the hkrugby.com. The boys looked quite tired. It was a pretty tough campaign for them, and I think the contact area was probably the difference.
“They were just a little bit better at it; they had a couple of early spikes, and I think it was an accumulation of things, it was a tough campaign.
“I think it’s good for us to lose like this. It’s going to make us think and think a little bit deeper about our game and how we can be better.”
“Now we need to have a week off and then we’ll regroup and get ready to prepare for the challenger (SVNS 3), which will be an exciting prospect and an opportunity for other boys to step up and grow, which is exciting for the depth of the program.”
China defeated Thailand 21-12 saw them finish third in the men’s tournament, but it proved to be a strong campaign for the Thais, with their fourth-place finish their highest in their history so far.
Iran and women’s sides of Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan and the Indian men’s teams finished in the bottom two positions in their respective tables, relegating them to the Trophy Series as a result.
