Asia Rugby (AR) have unveiled a revised competition schedule for the rest of the year, which sees the Asia Championships pushed to the fourth quarter as well as the introduction of a new format for sevens competition.
The Asian meet, scheduled for last month, will be held in November with Malaysia playing Hong Kong on Nov 19 and South Korea on Nov 23.
The venues for the matches are yet to be confirmed though it is believed that they will be played in one location instead of its usual home-and-away format.
The dates for the Asian Sevens Series (men's and women's) remain unchanged with Incheon set to host the first leg on Aug 28-29 followed by the second round in Huizhou (Sept 11-12) and final in Colombo (Sept 26-28).
The Asian Under-18 boys Sevens has been scheduled for Aug 21-22 while the Under-20 Sevens men's and women's events are set for early October with the venues yet to be confirmed.
The Asian Sevens Trophy (men's and women's), men's division three, women's division one, as well as the under-19 (15s) boys' division one and two competitions have been cancelled due to Covid-19.
Asian Rugby competitions committee chairman Asanga Seneviratne feels the changes were necessary considering the current circumstances.
"Due to the ongoing global situation, the AR competitions committee had to reassess the current competitions calendar for 2021," said Asanga on the AR website.