Japan Rugby and Hong Kong China Rugby Sign MoU
The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hong Kong China Rugby (HKCR) to further strengthen cooperation through rugby and support the growth of both unions and the sport across Asia.
Under the MOU, the two unions will enhance collaboration by fostering exchanges between their national teams, competitions, players, and staff. They will also explore opportunities for joint initiatives to promote and develop rugby, including high-performance programmes.
Proposals under consideration between the two unions include the holding of regular matches between their men’s and women’s national fifteens teams, joint training sessions for national sevens teams, and regular age-group fixtures. Additionally, both unions will support inter-club exchanges and initiatives to enhance player welfare, including advancements in technical and medical support.
This agreement reaffirms the shared values of rugby and aims to contribute to the sport’s continued development across Asia, building on the partnership and friendship between the two unions that has existed since the founding of Asian Rugby in 1968.
Commenting on the announcement, President of the Japan Rugby Football Union, Masato Tsuchida said:
“We have a long history of collaboration with Hong Kong China Rugby and we are delighted to formalise future partnership opportunities through this MOU.
“Both Japan and Hong Kong have actively supported the growth of rugby in Asia since the foundation of Asia Rugby over 50 years ago. We will continue to leverage our respective Development and High Performance systems and expertise to strengthen the relationship between our Unions, and explore additional opportunities to enhance the technical assistance that we provide to Unions in the Asia Region.”
James Farndon, CEO of Hong Kong China Rugby, expressed his excitement at the opportunities created by the agreement:
“Firstly, on behalf of everyone at Hong Kong China Rugby, I’d like to thank the JRFU delegation, the JRFU President and Chairman for their continued support leading up to today’s announcement.
“Our two Unions have been working successfully together for a significant period of time, and this was the opportunity to formalise our historical work and look ahead to what can be achieved moving forwards.”