| 2023 Asia Rugby Women's Championship | |
| Type: | women |
| Host: | Kazakhstan |
| Venue: | Almaty Sports Training Complex |
| Date: | – |
| Countries: | |
| Nations: | 3 |
| Champion: | JPN |
| Count: | 5 |
| Runnerup: | KAZ |
| Matches: | 2 |
| Top Scorer: | Ayasa Otsuka – 17 points |
| Website: | Asia Rugby |
| Preceded By: | 2022 |
| Succeeded By: | 2024 |
The 2023 Asia Rugby Women's Championship is the 12th edition of the Asia Rugby Women's Championship, and took place from 23 to 28 May and was hosted in Almaty, Kazakhstan.[1] [2] The winner and runner-up will classify for the inaugural edition of the WXV. The winner qualifies for WXV2, and the runner-up competes in WXV3. WXV will also provide a pathway to the 2025 Rugby World Cup, with at least the top five non-qualified teams at the end of WXV 2024 earning qualification to the tournament.[3]
Japan defeated Kazakhstan in the final and were crowned champions. Both teams will compete in the inaugural WXV competition in October, with Japan set to compete in WXV 2 and Kazakhstan in WXV 3.[4]
The first match will see 15th ranked, Hong Kong China, take on hosts Kazakhstan who are ranked 19th at the Almaty Sports Training Complex in Almaty at 16:00 (+6 GMT). The winner will face Japan in the final on May 28 at the same venue at 15:00 local time.
China was initially scheduled to play Japan in the semifinals but withdrew from the tournament. Thus, giving Japan a win by default.[5]
On 18 May 2023, Asia Rugby announced the appointment of match officials for the upcoming tournament.[6] Referees (2)
Eri KamimuraAssistants (3)
Hibiki Ikeda
Yuliya IgnatenkoTelevision Match Official
Greg Hinton