Hong Kong and Japan qualify for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009

Hong Kong and Japan will be joining the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union as the three Asian men’s sides at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai.

The top two finishing teams in the 12-team Men’s Tournament automatically qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens next March, where they will join the Arabian Gulf who automatically qualified as the host union.

Japan, the tournament’s top seeds and reigning Asian Games Sevens champions beat China 24 - 0 to reach their fifth consecutive Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Japan is the only Asian team to have qualified for every Rugby World Cup and every Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament since the inception of these global rugby championship events in 1987 and 1993 respectively.

The Arabian Gulf, Hong Kong and Japan will represent Asia in the fifth Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai from March 5 - 7, 2009.

Dubai 2009 also marks the rugby world’s first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Nine teams were competing for the three slots open to Asian teams next March, with the favourites being the Asian Women’s Sevens champions Kazakhstan and China.

The win by Japan concludes a very successful weekend for Japanese rugby as both teams qualified for the Rugby World Cup Sevens on the same weekend that the Japan Rugby Football Union announced their intention to bid for the Rugby World Cup 2015.