Asia RWC 2007 Qualifiers to be Played in Hong Kong

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has today announced that the rescheduled Asia Rugby World Cup 2007 Round 3 Qualification matches between Hong Kong, Japan and Korea will be played in Hong Kong.

The three matches were originally due to be played in Sri Lanka as part of the 2006 Asia Rugby Football Tournament but had to be rescheduled after the IRB announced the postponement of the Tournament following recommendations that it should not go ahead due to the current security situation in Sri Lanka.

The rescheduled matches will now be played in a round-robin format hosted by the Hong Kong Football Club between November 18-25.

The playing schedule is as follows:

Japan v Hong Kong, Saturday November 18

Hong Kong v Korea, Tuesday November 21

Korea v Japan, Saturday November 25

The winner of the round robin tournament will qualify directly to Rugby World Cup 2007 in France as Asia 1 to join Australia, Wales, Fiji and Canada in Pool B. The runner up will advance to the repechage round as Asia 2 to play Tonga.