# 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series

The 2021 Asia Rugby Sevens Series was a rugby sevens tournament held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in late November 2021. Following the cancellation of the 2020 series due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the twelfth edition of Asia's continental sevens circuit. The event acted as a qualifier for the 2022 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in Chile and the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa. Hong Kong and South Korea qualified for both events.
Incheon, Huizhou and Colombo were originally scheduled as legs of the 2021 series, but all were eventually cancelled due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced by two events in the United Arab Emirates. This was eventually changed again to a single sevens event held in Dubai.

## Qualification

Five teams from West Asia played in a qualification tournament over two days to make up the eighth place at the Asia Rugby Sevens Series. The event was played as a round-robin and knockout, hosted by Qatar. Previous attendees United Arab Emirates won the tournament on 9 October.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances | Previous best performance |
| United Arab Emirates | Asia Rugby Trophy winner | 9 October 2021 | 2 (2015, 2019) | Sixth place (Bangkok 2015, Colombo 2019) |

## Teams

There were eight teams competing in the tournament, which only had one change from the previous one (2019):
* China
* Hong Kong
* Japan
* Malaysia
* Philippines
* South Korea
* Sri Lanka
* United Arab Emirates

## Pool stage
### Pool A

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| Hong Kong | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 12 | +85 | 9 | Advance to Cup playoffs |
| South Korea | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 21 | +72 | 7 | Advance to Cup playoffs |
| Philippines | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 87 | –68 | 5 | Advance to Plate playoffs |
| Malaysia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 113 | –89 | 3 | Advance to Plate playoffs |
* 19 November 13:58 GST (UTC+4)
| South Korea | 7–14 | Hong Kong |
* Dubai
* 19 November 14:20 GST (UTC+4)
| Philippines | 19–12 | Malaysia |
* Dubai
* 19 November 17:08 GST (UTC+4)
| South Korea | 46–0 | Philippines |
* Dubai
* 19 November 17:30 GST (UTC+4)
| Hong Kong | 54–5 | Malaysia |
* Dubai
* 19 November 20:18 GST (UTC+4)
| South Korea | 40–7 | Malaysia |
* Dubai
* 19 November 20:40 GST (UTC+4)
| Hong Kong | 29–0 | Philippines |
* Dubai

### Pool B

| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 33 | +51 | 9 | Advance to Cup playoffs |
| China | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 7 | Advance to Cup playoffs |
| United Arab Emirates | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 63 | +2 | 5 | Advance to Plate playoffs |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 92 | –71 | 3 | Advance to Plate playoffs |
* 19 November 14:42 GST (UTC+4)
| Japan | 31–14 | Sri Lanka |
* Dubai
* 19 November 15:04 GST (UTC+4)
| China | 29–17 | United Arab Emirates |
* Dubai
* 19 November 17:52 GST (UTC+4)
| Japan | 26–0 | China |
* Dubai
* 19 November 18:14 GST (UTC+4)
| Sri Lanka | 7–29 | United Arab Emirates |
* Dubai
* 19 November 21:02 GST (UTC+4)
| Japan | 27–19 | United Arab Emirates |
* Dubai
* 19 November 21:24 GST (UTC+4)
| Sri Lanka | 0–32 | China |
* Dubai

## Knockout stage
### Plate playoffs

| Plate Semi-finals | Plate Semi-finals | Plate Final | Plate Final |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| Philippines | 26 |
| Philippines | 26 | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| Sri Lanka | 28 | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| Sri Lanka | 28 | Sri Lanka | 10 |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai | | Sri Lanka | 10 |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 29 |
| United Arab Emirates | 31 | United Arab Emirates | 29 |
| Malaysia | 14 | | |
| Malaysia | 14 | 7th place Final | 7th place Final |
| | | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| | | Philippines | 19 |
| | | Malaysia | 28 |
Semi-finals
* 20 November 16:28 GST (UTC+4)
| Philippines | 26–28 | Sri Lanka |
* Dubai
* 20 November 16:50 GST (UTC+4)
| United Arab Emirates | 31–14 | Malaysia |
* Dubai
Seventh place
* 20 November 18:44 GST (UTC+4)
| Philippines | 19–28 | Malaysia |
* Dubai
Fifth place
* 20 November 19:06 GST (UTC+4)
| Sri Lanka | 10–29 | United Arab Emirates |
* Dubai

### Cup playoffs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| Hong Kong | 24 |
| Hong Kong | 24 | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| China | 0 | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| China | 0 | Hong Kong | 33 |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai | | Hong Kong | 33 |
| 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai | South Korea | 7 |
| Japan | 14 | South Korea | 7 |
| South Korea | 21 | | |
| South Korea | 21 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 20 November – Dubai | 20 November – Dubai |
| | | China | 19 |
| | | Japan | 26 |
Semi-finals
* 20 November 17:12 GST (UTC+4)
| Hong Kong | 24–0 | China |
* Dubai
* 20 November 17:34 GST (UTC+4)
| Japan | 14–21 | South Korea |
* Dubai
Third place
* 20 November 20:04 GST (UTC+4)
| China | 19–26 | Japan |
* Dubai
Final
* 20 November 20:48 GST (UTC+4)
| Hong Kong | 33–7 | South Korea |
* Dubai

## Final standings

| Legend |
| | Qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens |
| Pos | Team |
| 1 | Hong Kong |
| 2 | South Korea |
| 3 | Japan |
| 4 | China |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates |
| 6 | Sri Lanka |
| 7 | Malaysia |
| 8 | Philippines |