| Rugby union at the 2002 Asian Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Ulsan Public Stadium |
| Dates | 30 September – 13 October |
| Competitors | 151 from 8 nations |
Rugby (Sevens and Union) was one of the many sports which was held at the 2002 Asian Games in Ulsan, South Korea. All games played at the Ulsan Public Stadium. The competition included only men's events.
| ● | Round | ● | Last round | P | Preliminary round | ½ | Semifinals | F | Finals |
| Event↓/Date → | 30th Mon | 1st Tue | 2nd Wed | 3rd Thu | 4th Fri | 5th Sat | 6th Sun | 7th Mon | 8th Tue | 9th Wed | 10th Thu | 11th Fri | 12th Sat | 13th Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's union | ● | ● | ● | ||||||||||||
| Men's sevens | P | ½ | F | ||||||||||||
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 |  | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 |  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 |  | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 nations) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
The teams were drawn into two groups of four teams for sevens competition, rugby union competitions were played in round robin format.
|
|
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
 |  | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
 |  | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 |  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
|  | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 |  | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 |  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 |  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Rugby union, widely known simply as rugby, is a full contact team sport that originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
Super Rugby is a professional men's rugby union international club competition involving teams from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, the Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from 3 nations: Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAAR after the sport became professional in 1995. With the top players from nations that represent 16 of the 24 top-three finishes in the history of the Rugby World Cup, the competition is widely regarded as rugby union's toughest provincial competition.
Rugby sevens, and originally known as seven-a-side rugby, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40 minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
The Japan national rugby league team, nicknamed the Samurais, represents Japan in rugby league football. Japan have played some international competition since 1994. A regular domestic amateur competition has not been held in Japan for several years.
The Canada national rugby sevens team competes at several international tournaments — the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Pan American Games and the Commonwealth Games.
The South Korea national rugby union team, recognized as Korea by World Rugby, has yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup.
The China national rugby union team represents the People's Republic of China in international rugby union. China have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, but attempted to qualify in both 2003 and 2007.
Rugby sevens was contested by nine teams at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar on December 10 and 11. All games played at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
Rugby union in Iran is a growing sport.
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.
Rugby union in Hong Kong is long established, partly as a result of its being a British colony. In contrast to the People's Republic of China, it has had a continuous existence dating back over a hundred years, and is most notable for the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, the most well known of the rugby sevens tournaments. The top domestic club competition is the HKRFU Premiership.
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 103,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.
Rugby union in South Korea is a minor but growing sport. Of the two Korean nations, the game tends to be mostly played in South Korea; North Korea's mostly small rugby union presence is limited to Koreans in Japan.
Rugby union in Malaysia is a sport with a long history, and a significant participation. There are 41,050 registered players, and the country is currently ranked 47th. There are sixteen unions, associations and councils affiliated to the Malaysian Rugby Union, more than 300 clubs, and 600 schools which teach the game. Malaysian rugby's most notable contribution to the game at large is the invention of rugby tens.
Rugby union is not a major sport in Singapore. Singapore is currently ranked 58th in the world and 6th in Asia. As of February 2015, there over 12,000 registered players, with more than 2,000 women playing the sport. There are also 15 formally organised clubs with 4 registered Women's sides.
Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics was played for the first time at the 2016 Summer Olympics with both men's and women's contests. Rugby sevens was added to the Olympics following the decision of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. The champions for the inaugural rugby sevens tournament in 2016 were Fiji for the men and Australia for the women.
Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over six days in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics was the debut for rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, though rugby union was last played at the 1924 games.
The 2012 AFC Champions League Final was a football match which was played on Saturday, 10 November 2012, to determine the champion of the 2012 AFC Champions League. It was the final of the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title.
The men's rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Brazil. It was hosted at the Deodoro Stadium, a temporary outdoor stadium constructed as part of the Deodoro Modern Pentathlon Park in Rio de Janeiro. The tournament was held from 9 August to 11 August 2016, starting with group matches before finishing with the medal ceremony on 11 August. The 2016 Games marked the first time that rugby sevens has been played at the Olympics, and the first time since 1924 that any form of rugby had been played at the Olympics.
