ASIA RUGBY EMIRATES WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 PREVIEW

The Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Championship (AREWC) 2026 will be hosted in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 28 April until 9 May 2026. The tournament will again feature the defending champions Japan (known as the Sakura 15s), Hong Kong China and hosts Kazakhstan. The tournament comes on the back of the news that Hong Kong has been selected to host World Rugby’s new-look WXV Global Series Challenger in September, with all three triple-header matches played at Kai Tak’s Youth Sports Ground.

This will be the 15th edition of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, and Japan are currently ranked 11th in the world, Hong Kong China are ranked 16th, while Kazakhstan are 19th. The 2026 tournament will once again be played in a three-match, round robin format, and all fixtures are fully capped Test matches. 

• Kazakhstan vs Japan – Tuesday 28 April
• Japan vs Hong Kong China – Tuesday 5 May
• Kazakhstan vs Hong Kong China – Sunday 10 May

Japan are the defending champions, and last year claimed their 7th title in total, which means they will start as favourites. Hong Kong China lost to Japan 63-5 last year, but defeated Kazakhstan 29-12 to finish as runners-up for the second consecutive year and secure a place at the WXV3 tournament that doubled up as a final qualifying competition for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Bella Milo has been named as the Lead Coach for the campaign, before leaving to take on the role of Head Coach of her native Manusina Samoa. The campaign will be overseen by John Haggart as Strategic & Technical Consultant with our Women’s Club Coaching Officers (WCCOs) in other coaching roles (read more).

The hosts, Kazakhstan, have not won a game in the tournament for the past two years, but have also yet to lose to Hong Kong China home. The squad have set some clear goals for the tournament obviously with an eye on the WXV Global Challenger Series later in the year.

Milo explained the preparation thus far, as the wider squad has been training for a few weeks. “This has been a different build-up, and obviously with one eye on September, but we've got a really good group of players together post-Premiership. There is a mix of young players as well as our experienced players, with new and experienced coaches as well.

“I feel we've had good preparation. We trained during Hong Kong Sevens week, and we've had a lot of our players playing in the HKFC 10s, so in terms of that contact area, I'm happy enough we've been able to have that element. We've got a big match on the 26th of April where we'll play the best of the rest in Hong Kong, and we are trying to put that team together now. It gives us another exposure to contact.”

Most of the squad were involved in the local Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership 2025/26, which finished in March, but they will be without the full-time contracted HKCR Sevens players who usually bolster the 15s squad.

Bella said, “I'm pretty happy with the players that we do have. A lot of them haven't played in a while. So I mentioned some of the big hits outs held recently, and it was hot, it was tough, but for them to just get out there and have that contact means they were a bit sore the week after. It is good preparation.

“Ian (Ian Bonnet – Lead S&C) has done a really great job in terms of loading and our running blocks and just making sure we're training at that high-performance level and matching at least what we were working at last year.”

“We've put some goals down that we want to work on. Obviously, we've got some new players who will enjoy a new experience. But we want to go to Kazakhstan, and we want to try and get that win over them in their backyard. With Japan, we've got to try and close that gap. We've got some things that we want to really focus on to be able to put a few players in the Test arena and also continue to develop the other players.”

Exciting Times for Hong Kong China Women’s Rugby

Bella steps away from Hong Kong to take up the role as Head Coach of the Manusina Women’s XV team after this Championship, and Samoa will also head to Hong Kong and compete in the WXV Global Series Challenger 2026 event.

“It is nice to lead the HKCR coaching team, but it's sad. I had to tell the players that I got the phone call from Samoa just after I'd been announced as the Lead Coach for this Asia Rugby Women’s XV Championship. It is tough, as I have two homes, so it was really, really difficult to share that news.

“I think Hong Kong's in a great place now. We've got to get a bit more consistency, but I know now there are some things that the HKCR leadership group have put in place so that our girls are really well supported. And I've felt that support since I've come into that lead role, and that's been awesome. I'm excited for our girls and upset to leave them.”

The level of competition in the recently concluded Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Hong Kong Premiership and the quality of players that are coming to play in Hong Kong also mean Bella Milo is optimistic about the continued trajectory of the women’s game in the city.

“I think we've just got to keep on top of that. This year, Kroll USRC Tigers and Societe Generale Valley RFC were in the final, and Tigers took it out. So it's anyone's ball game, and we're playing some good rugby, and that's attracting players. 

“Hong Kong's a great place to start or to be transient as a player. And so I think in terms of the Premiership that's been building, and the more we promote our Sevens and our Fifteens players, the more our younger players that are here in Hong Kong see players that look like them, they will want to reach those levels and I think that's something that Hong Kong China Rugby are really working on in terms of our media exposure.

“It is exciting if we can consistently keep promoting our women's game and promoting the representative game, then we'll get the consistency of players we need. 

“I think the WXV Global Challenger Series is awesome because that's another few Tests and in front of our home fans, so we've got this Asia Rugby Championship and then WXV to look forward to – that's five Test Matches in one year. Knowing that is coming, who doesn't want to play that and put their hand up for Hong Kong?”

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