Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.
History Early rugby union in China was often played by expatriates of various rugby playing nations, and colonials. For example, there was a rugby club in Shanghai,Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. where many of these could be found, and there was also a significant presence in Hong Kong, due to the strong connections with the British Commonwealth. The Shanghai club folded in 1952, and the surplus funds were presented to the English RFU for a "Royal Retiring Room", at Twickenham near London.
In the 1930s and 1940s, rugby is said to have been adopted by Chinese military commanders to instil aggression into troops during the war with Japan.
Later, for a period under Communism, rugby was banned in China, with the national Sports Council stating that "the meeting of sullied bodies in physical contact cannot be approved."
In post-Cultural Revolution days, the relative strength of rugby in Hong Kong has helped reintroduce the sport into the PRC, and the head of the HKRFU George Simkin introduced a development programme there.Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p65
Chinese delegates were amongst those who went to the centenary congress of the International Rugby Football Board in 1986.Starmer-Smith, p186
Rugby re-emerged in the PRC in 1990, with a club forming at the Beijing Agricultural University (now merged into China Agricultural University) at Beijing. A professor there, Chao Xihuang was introduced to the sport by a Japanese businessman, and set up a couple of sides. Professor Zheng Hongjun is also credited with the early development of rugby in the 1990s.
The growth of the sport has been massive. For example, in 1991, there were a mere 30 registered players in China. By 1996, there were over a thousand instructors alone.
Today, one segment of Chinese society where rugby is particularly popular is the military. Rugby is an official sport of the People's Liberation Army, with the PLA Sports Institute participating in the highly competitive Hong Kong leagues.
Notable Chinese rugby players include Zhang Zhiqiang ("Johnny Zhang"), who had a stint with the famous Leicester Tigers club in England, and promising young speedster Li Yang, who boasts a time of 10.6 seconds in the 100-metre sprint.
In June 2006, a delegation from Leicester rugby club led by Martin Johnson went on a week-long visit to China to promote the game.
Since the beginning of 2000s, China has concerned more of the rugby sevens instead of the 15-men rugby, due to the Olympic strategy.
Popularity By participation In January 2017, it was reported that China had 76,000 registered rugby players, up 40% on 2014.
By interest According to World Rugby, in 2018 China and the US are tied for the countries with the most people either "interested" or "very interested" in rugby union, with 30 million fans in each. This compares to 25 million in India and 15 million in Japan.
This interest has been particularly piqued by rugby sevens. For example, it has been reported that 44 million people in China watched sevens at the Rio Olympics — double the number in the UK and second only to the United States worldwide.44 million people in China watched sevens at the Rio Olympics — double the number in the UK and second only to the United States worldwide
This contrasts with 2015, when Repucom released survey figures suggesting that only 1% of Chinese people were looking forward to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, down from 4% ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Rugby Sevens Within China Annual Beginning in 2010, two national championships – two-day sevens' tournaments held in different locations – were held every year. However, in 2015, to help the game gain consistent exposure, the China Rugby Football Association divided the annual Sevens National Championships into four legs held in different cities. As a result, according to Cui Weihong, secretary-general of the China Rugby Football Association, "[t]he sevens' action will keep going from April to November with a series of scheduled events. We hope this intensive exposure will attract interest from sponsors and sports marketing agencies to help establish a professional league in the near future."
Since 2013, the National University Rugby Sevens Championship has been organized annually, with 2015's event attracting 12 male and eight female university teams from across the country.
Quadrennial In a big boost for the sport, Rugby Sevens debuted in the National Games of China in 2013, at the 12th edition of the event, held in 2013 in Liaoning. The coach of the Chinese women's national team, Ben Gollings, said in 2016 that "[t]he biggest [rugby sevens] competition [in China] is the China Games which is played by all the provinces. This has helped start the development of rugby but when it gets into schools we will see the biggest growth."
During the Liaoning tournament, the women's final between Shandong and Beijing proved controversial when, at the insistence of their coach, Beijing players refused to continue playing, after a try was awarded to Shandong by the Spanish referee. The Beijing team was subsequently fined and later issued an apology.
The most recent National Games of China was held in Tianjin in 2017.
China at international level Women's Sevens From 2019 to 2020, the coach of the Chinese Women's Sevens team was New Zealander Sean Horan, who previously coached the New Zealand Women's Sevens team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Since late 2020, it has been Scotsman Euan Mackintosh.
Olympics Rio 2016 DNQ In November 2015, China qualified for the Final 2016 Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament, an event which would determine the 12th and last team to play at Rio 2016. The tournament took place on 25–26 June 2016 in Ireland. China finished second in its pool, but then lost to Spain in the first play-off match, ending its chance of winning the tournament. It nevertheless went on to beat Samoa and Argentina, to clinch the Plate Final. A video report on the team's preparations for the tournament is available at http://www.worldrugby.org/video/171952
Tokyo 2020 China beat Hong Kong 33–0 in the final of the 2019 Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At Tokyo, they made the quarterfinals and eventually finished seventh out of 12 teams.
World Cup UAE 2009 In October 2008, China finished third (behind Japan and Thailand) in the Asian qualification tournament to book a place in the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. At the UAE tournament in March 2009, China won the Bowl final, beating the Netherlands, Japan, Italy and Brazil.
Moscow 2013 In October 2012, China finished second (behind Fiji) in the Asian qualification tournament to book a place in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. At the Moscow tournament in June 2013, China lost all its pool games but beat Brazil in the Bowl play-offs before losing in the Bowl semi-finals to the Netherlands.
San Francisco 2018 In October 2017, China finished second (behind Japan) in the Asian qualification tournament to book a place in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. At the tournament in July 2018, China finished 12th of 16 teams.
Cape Town 2022 In November 2021, China finished second (behind Japan) in the Asian qualification tournament to book a place in the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series After winning the qualifying tournament in Hong Kong in September 2014, China became one of the core teams in the 2014–2015 season. However, it won no pool matches in any of the five events, and finished 11th out of 13 teams, failing to secure automatic core team status for the following season.
In the qualifying tournament in Dublin in August 2015, China lost 27–5 to Ireland in the quarterfinals, so did not gain a place in the main Sevens Series. In the qualifying tournament in Dublin in June 2016, which doubled as the Final 2016 Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament, China lost to Spain (the eventual winner) in the quarterfinal, so did not gain a place in the main Sevens Series. In the qualifying tournament in Hong Kong in April 2017, China lost 28–14 to Japan (the eventual winner) in the quarterfinal, so did not gain a place in the main Sevens Series.
After winning the qualifying tournament in Hong Kong in April 2018, China became one of the core teams again in the 2018–19 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. However, after finishing last, they were relegated for the 2019–20 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series (in which they nevertheless featured occasionally as an invitational team).
Asia Rugby Women's Sevens Series China participates in the Asian Women's Sevens Championship. It has won the Series five times, most recently in 2014. In September 2017, it lost the final to Japan 19–14.
Asian Games Rugby Sevens has been contested by women at the Asian Games since 2010. China finished runners-up (to Kazakhstan) in 2010, winners (over Japan) in 2014, and runners-up (to Japan) in 2018.
East Asian Games Rugby Sevens was included in the East Asian Games in 2009 in Hong Kong, and China won the tournament. However, the sport was not retained for the Games in 2013 in Tianjin, reportedly due to budgetary issues, and, in any event, the East Asian Games has now been replaced by an under-18s event.
Men's Sevens Silicon Valley Sevens Tournament The Silicon Valley Sevens was a one-off tournament held a month before the World Rugby Sevens Series season began in December 2017 in Dubai. It was held on 4–5 November 2017 in San Jose, California, USA. China was one of the featured teams, alongside a number of heavyweights like Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and England. China finished 11 out of 12 teams, beating Tonga 34–10 in the play-off for last place.
Shanghai Champions Tournament A Champion of Champions tournament was at one stage planned by Alisports, in conjunction with World Rugby and the Chinese Rugby Football Association.
The first edition was to be played in Shanghai's Yangpu District in late October 2017 with the top eight teams from World Rugby Sevens Series invited to compete, alongside the national team of , for the highest ever prize money seen in rugby sevens. However, the first edition was then pushed back to 2018, and delays in the roll-out of the Alisports rugby funding suggest the tournament has been abandoned.
Olympics Rio 2016 DNQ In November 2015, China attempted to qualify Rio 2016, at the 2015 ARFU Men's Sevens Championships held in Hong Kong. However, it finished fifth, behind Japan (which qualified directly for Rio), and Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka (which went through to the Final 2016 Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament, which would determine the 12th and last team to play at Rio 2016).
Tokyo 2020 DNQ The 2019 Asia Men's Sevens Championship doubled as the Olympic qualifying tournament. China was eliminated after losing (after extra time) in the semi-final against eventual winners South Korea. However, because it finished in the top 4 it qualified for the 2020 Men's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, held in Monaco in June 2021 (postponed from June 2020 due to COVID), from which it could have qualified for Tokyo 2020. China had to withdraw from the tournament (which was won by Ireland) due to constraints caused by the pandemic.
Paris 2024