The Elite Rugby Programme, comprising 30 professional athletes and five staff, will not have their contracts renewed after June, but men’s and women’s sevens and the women’s 15s escape cutbacks.

Western Force owner Andrew Forrest’s innovative rugby competition put on hold as Global Rapid Rugby CEO Mark Evans steps down and teams consider future during global pandemic.

Hong Kong’s 15-a-side squad will kick off their 2019 Asia Rugby Championship on Saturday in Incheon against South Korea.

The Global Rapid Rugby squad will meet the 15-a-side national team, who are gearing up for the Asia Rugby Championship

The Asian Rugby Football Union has undergone its first name change in 47 years and will now be known as Asia Rugby, the sport’s regional governing body said on Monday.

Hong Kong could field players in the new Japan-based Super Rugby franchise according to Brave Blossoms' coach Eddie Jones - but it will depend on how the team perform in their inaugural season next year.

Hong Kong held on to their number two spot in Asia after the final match in the Asia Rugby Championship against Japan was abandoned on Saturday owing to torrential rain – much to the disgust of World Cup-bound Japanese coach Eddie Jones. Hong Kong’s women lost 12-27 in their finale against Japan and ended third in the Asia Women’s Rugby Championship.

Possession and playing at pace will be the key ingredients for Japan at the Rugby World Cup, according to head coach Eddie Jones, who is mapping out a strategy he hopes will enable his charges to spring a surprise or two this September in England.

The final match of the Asia Rugby Championship between Hong Kong and Japan was abandoned after 13 minutes, while the AFC Cup play-off soccer match between Sun Pegasus and YFCMD was called off at half-time with Pegasus leading 1-0.

Head coach Andy Hall has called for Hong Kong to take a lesson from the adventurous style of South Korea and give it their best shot against Japan at Aberdeen Stadium on Saturday.

Hong Kong face surprise package Japan in the finale of the Asia Women’s Rugby Championship at Aberdeen Stadium on Saturday and one thing is for sure – they won’t be repeating their error from the Almaty opener when they played, and lost to, Kazakhstan.

Hong Kong will “not go out to defend for 80 minutes” and will look to fly-half Niall Rowark to lead the attack against Japan in the Asia Rugby Championship finale at Aberdeen Stadium on Saturday.

A try in extra-time by Salom Yiu Kam-shing helped Hong Kong squeeze to a 38-37 victory over 13-man South Korea in Incheon on Saturday and keep alive their hopes of finishing second in the Asia Rugby Championship.

Between them they hold only a handful of caps, but the brotherhood of playing together for Hong Kong Scottish is the glue that binds front-rowers John Aikman, Lachlan Chubb and Jack Parfitt as they face South Korea in a must-win encounter in Incheon on Saturday.

Line-out specialist Adrian Griffiths will win his first cap for Hong Kong in the win-or-bust Asia Rugby Championship encounter against South Korea in Incheon on Saturday.

Japan coach Eddie Jones got the fast start he wanted in Fukuoka on Saturday as his side crushed South Korea 66-10 to capture the 2015 Asia Rugby Championship with a game to spare.

Hong Kong would be better-placed than Asian rivals Japan and most other countries to cope with any tightening of the three-year residency rule, said senior official Dai Rees.

Hong Kong managed a few “mini-victories” but there were not enough of them to worry Japan, who coasted to a 41-0 triumph in the Asia Rugby Championship in Tokyo on Saturday.

For Japan head coach Eddie Jones, Saturday's Asia Rugby Championship encounter with Hong Kong in Tokyo is one more building block in his preparations for the World Cup in September.

Debutant forwards Adam Butterfield and Damian "Moses" Bailey will be thrown in the deep end when Hong Kong take on champions Japan in their second match of the Asia Rugby Championship in Tokyo on Saturday.

Hong Kong's grip on second place in Asia was loosened by South Korea, who held on to score a 33-26 victory against the hosts at Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday.

Former Australia and current Japan coach Eddie Jones has been appointed director of rugby for the Japanese Super Rugby team, which will join the expanded championship next season.

The heat will be on Hong Kong's forwards, especially a relatively inexperienced front row, to deliver in their opening encounter of the Asia Rugby Championship against South Korea at Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday.

Skipper Christy Cheng Ka-chi and her Hong Kong team-mates face a daunting opening match in the Asia Women’s Rugby Championship on Saturday when they bid to become to the first women’s fifteens team to beat Kazakhstan in their own backyard.

Hong Kong are set to unveil their newest attack weapon – 1.89-metre, 100kg winger Charlie Higson-Smith – in their Asia Rugby Championship opener against South Korea on Saturday.

See all results and the final standings for the 2015 Asia Rugby Championship and the 2015 Asia Women’s Rugby Championship. Both the men’s and women’s championships were won by Japan.

These highlights videos from Asia Rugby (fomerly known as the Asian Rugby Football Union) include previews and weekly competition highlights from the 2015 Asia Rugby Championship (April 18 to May 23) and Asia Women’s Rugby Championship (April 25 to May 23). The restructured competitions both focus on the Top Three teams in the region – Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea in the ARC; while the AWRC features Japan, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong will get two bites at Asian powerhouse Japan in a streamlined 15-a-side Asia Rugby Championship next season.