2015 Asian Sevens Series Explained

Countries:
Date:	5 September – 11 October 2015
Nations:	12
Top Point Scorer:	Goto, Teruya
Top Try Scorer:	Goto, Teruya (22)
Prevseason:	2014
Nextseason:	2016

The 2015 Asian Sevens Series was the seventh Asian Sevens Series held by Asia Rugby. The winner and runner-up of the competition gaining entry into the World Series qualifying tournament (to become a core team in 2017) at the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens.

The first leg of the 2015 Asian Sevens Series was held at the Tiantai Stadium in Qingdao on 5 and 6 September.^[1] The biggest surprise of that tournament was that for the first time since 2011 Hong Kong failed to make the finals, losing in the quarterfinals to the Chinese, 21 - 17. The Chinese were successful in the semi-finals defeating Sri Lanka 22 - 12 garnering their first cup final appearance against Japan, who defeated South Korea by 21 - 5 in their semi-final. The Japanese went on to win the Cup final by defeating the Chinese by 28 - 12.^[2] ^[3] In the Plate final Hong Kong defeated Kazakhstan 27 - 0 and in the Bowl final UAE were successful against Singapore 15 - 7.

The second leg of the series was held in Thailand on 26 and 27 September. In this leg Japan, and South Korea, successfully made their way through the competition unbeaten. Japan coming from behind to win a tense encounter 24 - 19, against Hong Kong in the semi-final, scoring a golden try in sudden death extra-time. Japan then repeated their earlier result in Shanghai, easily winning the Cup 45 - 7 against South Korea. The Plate final was contested between UAE and China, with China securing the Plate with a 26 - 5 victory, whilst in the Bowl final Thailand defeated the Philippines 24 - 19.

The last leg was held at the Colombo Racecourse in Sri Lanka on 10 and 11 October. Japan booked their berth in the Cup final with a 31 - 5 victory over China in the quarter-final and a hard-fought 26 - 19 win over hosts Sri Lanka in the semi-final. Hong Kong beat Chinese Taipei 33 - 5 in their quarter-final before hammering Malaysia 38 - 7 in the semi-finals. Hong Kong’s path to the final was made easier by the shock loss of South Korea to Thailand in the preliminary rounds. Japan secured a clean sweep of the series winning their third Cup by defeating Hong Kong 29 - 22. South Korea won the Plate final, with a 17 - 10 victory over Chinese Taipei.

The winner of the 2015 Asian Sevens Series was Japan, who won all three legs, the remaining places on the podium went to Hong Kong and South Korea, with their final position determined by the difference of points.^[4] ^[5]

Teams

12 teams competed in the tournament.

Tour venues

- bgcolor="#efefef"	+ 2015 Venues	- bgcolor="#efefef" !Leg	City	Dates	Cup	Plate	Bowl
		5–6 September 2015
		26–27 September 2015
		10–11 October 2015

China

The China 7s was held in Qingdao from September 5-6.

Pool stages

Pool A


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool B


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool C


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool D


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Knockout stages

Bowl

Plate

Cup

Thailand

The Thailand 7s was held in Bangkok September 26-27.

Pool stages

Pool A


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool B


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool C


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool D


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Knockout stages

Bowl

Plate

Cup^[6] ^[7] ^[8]

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka 7s was held in Colombo from October 10-11. Kazakhstan withdrew from the tournament leaving only Hong Kong and China in pool C.

Pool stages

Pool A


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool B


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Pool C

Teams
	2	2	0	0
	2	0	0	2

Pool D


2	2	0
2	1	1
2	0	2

Knockout stages

Bottom 3 playoff

- 9th
- 10th
- 11th

Plate

Cup

Final standings

2015 Standings
Pos.	Country				Overall
		12	12	12	36
		8	10	11	29
		10	11	8	29
4		9	9	10	28
5		11	8	6	25
6		5	5	9	19
7		4	7	4	15
8		3	6	3	12
9		2	4	5	11
10		6	3	2	11
11		7	2	-	9
12		1	1	7	9

^[9] ^[10] ^[11]

Notes and References

http://rugby7.com/st.asp?T=AAA-1000 Asia Sevens – Qindao, China. 9/5/2015 - 9/6/2015
Web site: ARS 2015 Japan win China 7s . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150907080055/https://www.asiarugby.com/news/2015/09/ars-2015-japan-win-china-7s . 2015-09-07. 2015-10-21. asiarugby.com.
Web site: Joy and despair for Hong Kong Sevens at China. 2015-10-21. worldrugby.org.
Web site: Japan triumph in Thailand Sevens 2015. 2015-10-21. asiarugby.com. 2016-04-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20160918204607/http://asiarugby.com/news/2015/09/japan-triumph-in-thailand-sevens-2015. 2016-09-18. dead.
Web site: Japan sevens adds a feel good factor. 2015-10-21. worldrugby.org.
Web site: 2015-09-27. Hong Kong lose gripping semi-final against Japan in Thailand Sevens. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.
Web site: 2015-09-27. Hong Kong off to a flying start at Thailand Sevens with two easy wins. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.
Web site: 2015-09-24. Hong Kong coach Gareth Baber keeps faith with tried and tested squad for Thailand Sevens. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.
Web site: 2015-09-04. Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2015 results & standings. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.
Web site: 2015-10-11. Hong Kong men and women build momentum as all-powerful Japan complete Sri Lanka Sevens double. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.
Web site: 2015-10-11. Hong Kong men’s seven cruise into Colombo Cup final clash with Japan. 2021-11-25. South China Morning Post. en.