The Carlton 7s were held on 27–29 November 2008 at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, involving 12 teams from the Asian rugby playing nations of Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, China, Thailand, Iran, Jordan, Brunei, Pakistan and Malaysia, together with the host nation, Sri Lanka. In the Cup final Japan defeated Malaysia 26 points to 7, with Thailand winning the Plate and Pakistan the Bowl.
There was also a separate championship for six invited international teams, in addition to the annual schools tournament. The schools event was won by St Peter’s College, who defeated Royal College 17 points to 14. In the final of the Invitational International tournament, Fiji, who fielded the Fiji Dijicel were victorious over the South African Vipers, 38 points to 12. In the third place play-off the Western Samoa Barbarians beat the New Zealand Legends by 14-5 whilst the Australian Legends recorded a 24-5 win over Papua New Guinea in the fifth place play-off.