The 2015 Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, was the inaugural tri-nations series for top-level rugby union in Asia and the twenty-eighth continental championship for the ARFU nations. The Asia Rugby Championship replaced the former Asian Five Nations in 2015, with only three nations competing in the top division instead of the previous five. The inaugural series included Hong Kong,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and South Korea. Other Asian nations competed in the lower division tournaments. Instead of the single round-robin format used in the Asian Five Nations, the three teams played each other twice on a home and away basis. Japan, as the team finishing on top of the standings in 2015, was declared the winner. The bottom-placed team, Korea, was subject to a promotion-relegation play-off against the winner of the next lower division. However, Sri Lanka, who finished on top of Division 1, declined the opportunity to challenge.

Standings

Notes: * The final match saw the Japan v Hong Kong match abandoned due to adverse weather. It was agreed that Japan and Hong Kong would share the points, with each team receiving 3 points each.

Fixtures

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Top 3 Challenge

Due to financial reasons, the game was cancelled and South Korea remained in the Tri-nations division for 2016.

Squads

Summary

Note: Ages, caps and domestic side are of 18 April 2015 – the starting date of the tournament.

Japan

On 5 March, head coach Eddie Jones named a 31-man squad for the 2015 Asian Rugby Championship. On 11 April, Chihito Matsui and Ryohei Yamanaka was added to the squad.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's squad for the 2015 Asian Rugby Championship. Adrian Griffiths was added to the squad for the Round 5 game with South Korea. Head Coach: Andrew Hall

South Korea

South Korea 31-man squad for the 2015 Asian Rugby Championship. Andre Coquillard and Park Hwan were added to the squad for the Round 5 game with Hong Kong. *Head coach: Chung Hyung Seok

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asian 2015 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2015 in Asian rugby union

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

International rugby union competitions hosted by Hong Kong International rugby union competitions hosted by South Korea International rugby union competitions hosted by Japan 2014–15 in Japanese rugby union rugby union rugby union