The 2017 Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, was the third annual tri-nations series for top-level rugby union in Asia and the thirtieth continental championship for the Asia Rugby 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 2016 series included Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Other Asian nations competed in the lower division tournaments.

The format of the competition is a double round-robin where the three nations play each other twice on a home and away basis. The team finishing on top of the standings is declared the winner.

Teams The teams involved, with their world rankings prior to the 2017 tournament in brackets: NationHome stadiumCityHead coachCaptain (11)Chichibunomiya Rugby StadiumTokyo Jamie Joseph TBA (26)Hong Kong Football Club StadiumHong Kong Leigh Jones TBA (28)Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby FieldIncheon John Walters TBA

Standings Champions

PositionNationGamesPointsPointsPlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstDifferenceBP1BP2Total1440017256+1163019242029965+3420103400459209-150101Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2).

Fixtures

Week 1

FB 15Lee Jae Bok RW 14Jeong Yeon Sik OC 13Kim Nam Uk IC 12Mun Jeong HoLW 11Kim Gwong MinFH 10Yu Jae HyeokSH 9 Shin Ki Cheol N8 8 Lee Yong SeungOF 7 Kim Jeong MinBF 6 Kim Hyun Soo RL 5 Han Kun KyuLL 4 Yang Dae Yeong TP 3 Kim Kwang Sik HK 2 Kim Jeep LP 1 Na Kwonyoung Replacements:HK 16Lim Junhui PR 17Kim Seong Tae PR 18Kang Taehyeon 19Shin Dahyeon 20Jung Hyojin 21Kim Sunghyun 22Chang Yong Heung 23Jang Jeong Min Coach: John Walters FB 15Seiya OzakiRW 14Ryuji Noguchi OC 13Ryohei Yamanaka IC 12Ryoto NakamuraLW 11Amanaki LotoaheaFH 10Jumpei OguraSH 9 Yutaka Nagare N8 8 Yoshitaka Tokunaga OF 7 Naoki OzawaBF 6 Daiki YanagawaRL 5 Kazuhiko UsamiLL 4 Yuya Odo TP 3 Takayuki Watanabe HK 2 Takeshi Hino LP 1 Shintaro Ishihara Replacements:HK 16Atsushi Sakate PR 17Kohei Assahori PR 18Genki Sudo 19Naohiro Kotaki 20Yoshiya Hosoda 21Takahiro Ogawa 22Rikiya Matsuda 23Chikara Ito Coach: Jamie Joseph

Week 2

FB 15Ryuji NoguchiRW 14Amanaki Lotoahea OC 13Ryohei Yamanaka IC 12Rikiya MatsudaLW 11Akihito YamadaFH 10Jumpei OguraSH 9 Yutaka Nagare N8 8 Shuhei Matsuhashi OF 7 Naoki OzawaBF 6 Malgene IlauaRL 5 Samuela AniseLL 4 Kotaro Yatabe TP 3 Genki Sudo HK 2 Atsushi Sakate LP 1 Shintaro Ishihara Replacements:HK 16Takeshi Hino PR 17Shogo Miura PR 18Yu Chinen 19Naohiro Kotaki 20Yoshitaka Tokunaga 21Kaito Shigeno 22Takuya Yamasawa 23Ryoto Nakamura Coach: Jamie Joseph FB 15Lee Jae Bok RW 14Jeong Yeon Sik OC 13Kim Sung Soo IC 12Mun Jeong HoLW 11Chang Yong HeungFH 10Yu Jae HyeokSH 9 Shin Ki Cheol N8 8 Lee Yong SeungOF 7 Kim Jeong MinBF 6 Kim Hyun Soo RL 5 Han Kun KyuLL 4 Yang Dae Yeong TP 3 Kim Kwang Sik HK 2 Kim Jeep LP 1 Na Kwonyoung Replacements:HK 16Lim Junhui PR 17Kim Seong Tae PR 18Kang Taehyeon 19Shin Dahyeon 20Jung Hyojin 21Kim Sunghyun 22Kim Gwong Min 23Jang Jeong Min Coach: John Walters

Week 3

FB 15Ryuji NoguchiRW 14Akihito Yamada OC 13Kanta Shikao IC 12Harumichi TatekawaLW 11Seiya OzakiFH 10Rikiya MatsudaSH 9 Kaito Shigeno N8 8 Shuhei Matsuhashi OF 7 Shokei KinBF 6 Malgene IlauaRL 5 Samuela Anise LL 4 Naohiro Kotaki TP 3 Yu Chinen HK 2 Atsushi Sakate LP 1 Shintaro Ishihara Replacements:HK 16Shota Horie PR 17Shogo Miura PR 18Takayuki Watanabe 19Kotaro Yatabe 20Yoshitaka Tokunaga 21Naoki Ozawa 22Yutaka Nagare 23Takuya Yamasawa Coach: Jamie Joseph FB 15Rowan VartyRW 14Salom Yiu Kam ShingOC 13Tyler Spitz IC 12Eliesa Kaleca RaucaLW 11Sebastien AlfonsiFH 10Matthew RossleeSH 9 Jamie HoodN8 8 Daniel FalveyOF 7 Toby FennBF 6 Philip WhitfieldRL 5 Adrian GriffithsLL 4 James Cunningham TP 3 Dylan RogersHK 2 Benjamin RobertsLP 1 Benjamin HigginsReplacements:HK 16Jamie Tsang Hon ManPR 17Alex Ng Wai ShingPR 18Angus Dixon 19Kyle Sullivan 20Thomas Lamboley 21Alastair Maclay 22Cado Lee Ka To 23Robert Keith Coach: Leigh Jones

Week 4

FB 15Alexander Mcqueen RW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing OC 13Tyler Spitz IC 12Eliesa Kaleca RaucaLW 11Alastair MaclayFH 10Matthew RossleeSH 9 Jamie Hood N8 8 Daniel FalveyOF 7 Matthew LammingBF 6 Nicholas Hewson RL 5 Adrian GriffithsLL 4 James Cunningham TP 3 Dylan Rogers HK 2 Benjamin Roberts LP 1 Benjamin Higgins Replacements:HK 16John Markley PR 17Angus Dixon PR 18Jack Parfitt 19Kyle Sullivan 20Thomas Lamboley 21Charles Higson-smith 22Cado Lee Ka To 23Benjamin Rimene Coach: Leigh Jones FB 15Ryuji NoguchiRW 14Akihito Yamada OC 13Kanta Shikao IC 12Ryoto NakamuraLW 11Amanaki LotoaheaFH 10Takuya YamasawaSH 9 Yutaka Nagare N8 8 Shuhei Matsuhashi OF 7 Naoki OzawaBF 6 Yoshitaka TokunagaRL 5 Samuela AniseLL 4 Kotaro Yatabe TP 3 Takayuki Watanabe HK 2 Atsushi Sakate LP 1 Shintaro Ishihara Replacements:HK 16Kosuke Horikoshi PR 17Kohei Assahori PR 18Yu Chinen 19Yuya Odo 20Malgene Ilaua 21Kaito Shigeno 22Rikiya Matsuda 23Seiya Ozaki Coach: Jamie Joseph

Week 5

FB 15Chang Yong Heung RW 14Jeong Yeon SikOC 13Lee Jae BokIC 12Kim Sung SooLW 11Kim Gwong MinFH 10Lee SeokgyunSH 9 Shin Ki CheolN8 8 Lee Yong SeungOF 7 Kim Jeong MinBF 6 Kim Hyun SooRL 5 Kim SangjinLL 4 Shin DahyeonTP 3 Kim Kwang SikHK 2 Kim Jeep LP 1 Na KwanyoungReplacements:HK 16Lim JunhuiPR 17 Kim Seong TaePR 18Sin Woosung 19Kim Daewhwan 20You Jihoon 21Kim Sunghyun 22Yu Jae Hyeok 23Andre Jin Coquillard Coach: John Walters FB 15Jamie HoodRW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing OC 13Tyler Spitz IC 12Eliesa Kaleca RaucaLW 11Alastair MaclayFH 10Matthew RossleeSH 9 Cado Lee Ka To N8 8 Thomas Lamboley OF 7 Matthew LammingBF 6 Nicholas HewsonRL 5 Adrian GriffithsLL 4 James Cunningham TP 3 Dylan Rogers HK 2 Benjamin RobertsLP 1 Benjamin HigginsReplacements:HK 16John MarkleyPR 17Angus Dixon PR 18Alex Ng Wai Shing 19Kyle Sullivan 20Toby Fenn 21Charles Higson-Smith 22Benjamin Rimene 23Robert Keith Coach: Leigh Jones

Week 6

FB 15Jamie HoodRW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing OC 13Tyler Spitz IC 12Eliesa Kaleca RaucaLW 11Alastair MaclayFH 10Matthew RossleeSH 9 Cado Lee Ka To N8 8 Thomas Lamboley OF 7 Matthew LammingBF 6 Nicholas HewsonRL 5 Adrian GriffithsLL 4 James Cunningham TP 18 Dylan Rogers HK 2 Benjamin RobertsLP 1 Benjamin HigginsReplacements:HK 3Alex Ng Wai ShingPR 16John MarkleyPR 17Rohan Cook 19Kyle Sullivan 20Daniel Falvey 21Benjamin Rimene 22Charles Higson-Smith 23Toby Fenn Coach: Leigh Jones FB 15Lee Jae BokRW 14Chang Yong HeungOC 13Kim Sung SooIC 12Mun Jeong HoLW 11Kim Gwong MinFH 10Yu Jae HyeokSH 9 Kim SunghyunN8 8 Lee Yong SeungOF 7 Kim Jeong MinBF 6 Kim Hyun SooRL 5 Kim SangjinLL 4 Kim DaehwanTP 3 Sin Woosung HK 2 Lim Junhui LP 1 Kim Seong TaeReplacements:HK 16Kim JeepPR 17Na KwanyoungPR 18Lee Gyusang 19Shin Dahyeon 20You Jihoon 21Hong Sungjojng 22Kim Nam Uk 23Jeon Yeon Sik Coach: John Walters

See also 2017 Asia Rugby Championship division tournaments

References