The Asia Rugby Championships kick-off this weekend. Why should you care?

The Lions squad has finally been announced so we can all move on and remind ourselves that a host of intriguing rugby match-ups are taking place all over the world.

One such event is the Asia Rugby Championships, starting this weekend and featuring the national teams from Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea squaring off in a double round-robin format, with Jap…errr… the top points-scorer…. being crowned Best in Asia for 2017. In Asia, RugbyPass.com will have every game live and on-demand, across all devices. Click here to get 25% off an annual subscription.

Japan Rugby was on a high in the past two years, having beaten South Africa at a World Cup and then New Zealand in the Olympics (albeit only Sevens), but 2016 was a tough one, with a win against Canada the only real highlight. In saying this, the Brave Blossoms won last year’s ARC with ease and are currently ranked 11th on the IRB World Rankings, so will be strong favourites against the same opposition in 2016.

Hong Kong is another team experiencing growth, having benefitted from its strong domestic competition and investment in the grassroots game that puts the Australian Rugby Union to shame. The Dragons ended 2016 with a narrow loss to Russia in the final of the Cup of Nations after a couple of strong wins against the respective might of Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea, and are currently ranked 26th in the world.

Rounding out Asia’s top three is South Korea. Not renowned for their rugby prowess, but frequently pulling tens of thousands of fans to university and club games, South Korea looks like a distant third in this year’s competition (they lost 85-0 to Japan in last year’s ARC opener) but will be looking to their home game against Hong Kong on May 27th for an upset.

So why should the everyday rugby fan care about these teams and this competition?

For starters, there’s Japan. The Brave Blossoms are Asia’s best hope for a credible force on the global rugby scene and will only get better with more exposure to the behemoths of Europe and the Antipodes. As the 2019 Rugby World Cup approaches, the Japanese will be desperate to continue dominating the Asian rugby scene but also step up into the big leagues. On current form, Japan would give Australia, South Africa, Italy and Wales a serious run for their money, when just a few years ago they were getting thrashed.

Then there’s Hong Kong, long a bastion of rugby in Asia, from its expat beginnings to more of a sport for local kids and a likely feeder into the new Chinese domestic league. If rumours of an expanded World Cup are to be believed, Asia’s second-best team would be just a few wins away from a seat at the global stage that the likes of Georgia, Japan and Romania have taken advantage of in recent years to bolster their domestic programmes.

And while the Koreans are the likely battlers again in this year’s tournament, it remains important for the development of the game in Asia and around the world for the more established rugby nations to show support and give the players and staff the motivation to keep improving.

Fans in Asia (including Hong Kong and South Korea) can catch every game of the Asia Rugby Championships live and on-demand on RugbyPass.com, in addition to Super Rugby, Top 14, Aviva Premiership, Pro12, NRL and the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.