After a lapse of 10 years, the National 15 a side rugby outfit has once again gained qualification to participate in the Asian Rugby Championship which is the region’s top tier competition. This is the 4th occasion Sri Lanka has qualified for the tournament.
In the year 2008, ‘Asia Rugby’ (the regional governing body for Rugby in Asia – formerly known as the Asian Rugby Football Union) introduced a new annual rugby tournament based on a Promotion/Relegation system whereby countries were grouped into various Divisions & based on their performance with the winners being promoted and the bottom placed team relegated. This competition replaced the previously held Bi-Annual ‘Asiad’ tournament in order to ensure that teams in the region had regular matches against teams with equal strength with the opportunity to go up the rankings in Asia.
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‘The Papare’ looks back at how the TUSKERS have performed over the years in Asia’s Top Tier Tournament.
2011
Sri Lanka created history in 2010 by winning the Asian Division 1 tournament held in Singapore for the first time and qualified for the Asian 5 Nations Tournament in 2011.
The Asian 5 Nations Tournament was played on a round robin format with all teams playing 2 matches each on a home & away basis. Sri Lanka’s entry into this top tier Asian Tournament started well enough with a draw against the UAE at home 13 all. However, the Tuskers could not live up to expectations for the remainder of the tournament and were demoted back to the Division 1 segment for 2012. Following were the results for Sri Lanka in this tournament:
Sri Lanka drew with UAE 13 all (in Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka lost to Hong Kong 03 – 48 (in Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka lost to Kazakhstan 18 – 34 (in Kazakhstan)
Sri Lanka lost to Japan 13 -90 (in Sri Lanka)
Standings:
- Japan – 24 points
- Hong Kong – 18 points
- UAE – 8 points
- Kazakhstan – 6 points
- Sri Lanka – 3 points
2014
Sri Lanka once again qualified to play in the 2014 Asian 5 Nations tournament after winning the Asian Division 1 tournament in 2013 at home. However, the Tuskers found the going tough and lost all their games in the competition. While suffering heavy defeats to the top 3 Asian teams, the Lankans went down in a close contest against the Philippines. Below are their results:
Sri Lanka lost to Korea 03 – 59 (in South Korea)
Sri Lanka lost to Hong Kong 10 – 41 (in Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka lost to Japan 10 -132 (in Japan)
Sri Lanka lost to Philippines 25 -26 (in Sri Lanka)
As a result of this performance Sri Lanka were demoted to the Division 1 Tournament for 2015. However the Philippines too were demoted to Division 1 as Asia Rugby decided to limit the top tier competition (renamed as the ‘Asian Rugby Championship’) to 3 teams from 2015 onwards where these 3 teams will play each other on a home & away basis. As a result, Japan along with Hong Kong & Korea qualified to play in that tournament since they were the top 3 teams in this final Asian 5 Nations tournament.
Standings:
- Japan – 24 points
- Hong Kong – 18 points
- Korea – 12 points
- Philippines – 6 points
- Sri Lanka – 1 point
2016
The Tuskers emerged victorious in the 2015 Division 1 tournament held in the Philippines for the 3rd time and had the opportunity to play against Korea (who finished 3rd in the Asian Rugby Championship) for the opportunity to play in the Top Tier Asian competition in 2016. However, Sri Lanka decided to forgo this chance to remain in the Division 1 segment.
2025
As a result of winning the Asian Division 1 tournament for the 4th time as hosts in 2024 beating India & Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka earned the opportunity to play the bottom side of the Asian Rugby Championship Malaysia, in a play off match to decide who will qualify to play in the Tier 1 event in 2025.
In this promotion playoff match played at home Sri Lanka comfortably overcame the Malaysians 59 – 19 and as a result will join Hong Kong, South Korea & UAE in the Top tier event. The dates of the matches are as follows:
13th June vs. Korea in Sri Lanka
22nd June vs. Hong Kong in Hong Kong
4th July vs UAE in Sri Lanka
The Tuskers have won the Asian Division 1 tournament on 4 occasions (2010, 2013, 2015 & 2025), to earn the right to play in Asia’s Tier 1 competition (i.e Asian Rugby Championship) while participating in it on three occasions in 2011, 2014 & now in 2025.
Having played 3 matches (against Malaysia once & the New Zealand Under 85kg team twice) in the lead up to this tournament as well as having the opportunity to host two matches, the Sri Lankan outfit will look to put in a good performance and survive in the top division of Asian Rugby which Sri Lanka were unfortunately unable to do in the last few instances they played at the very top. This year’s tournament is also the pathway for the Rugby World Cup next year as a 2nd qualification spot is available for the Asian Region for the first time. While the winners of this year’s tournament book their spot in the next World Cup, the 2nd ranked side will face off the 2nd ranked side in Africa to qualify for the repechage round. Will 2025 be the year where Sri Lanka put up their best fight yet against the giants of Asia? Sri Lanka certainly do have the talent to achieve that feat!
Here’s ‘The Papare’ wishing the Tuskers all the very best at the Asian Rugby Championship 2025 edition!!!
