The 2008 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2008 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the inaugural series of the newly formatted Asian rugby union tournament, the Asian Five Nations. It is the flagship competition devised by the International Rugby Board to develop the sport in the Asian region. Ten matches were played over five weekends from 26 April to 24 May, with Japan winning all four of their games to become the first Asian Five Nations champions on 18 May 2008.
Scoring system: 5 points for a win, three for a draw, one bonus point for being within seven points of the winning team, and one for four tries.
Teams The teams involved, with their world rankings pre tournament, were:
(43) (30) (18) (33) (23)
Final table Position Nation Games Points Table points Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference Tries Bonus Points Points1440031058+2524842424301150104+46143183420296154−581111144103100172−7211275400465233−139611
Bottom team, Arabian Gulf, are relegated to Division One for 2009 edition.
Fixtures DateMatchResultVenue2008-04-26Korea – Japan17–39Munhak Stadium, Incheon2008-04-26Arabian Gulf – Hong Kong12–20Al Ain2008-05-03Japan – Arabian Gulf114–6Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka2008-05-03Hong Kong – Kazakhstan23–17 Hong Kong2008-05-09Arabian Gulf – Korea20–43 Al Arabi Stadium, Doha2008-05-11Kazakhstan – Japan6–82 Almaty2008-05-18Japan – Hong Kong75–29 Tohoku Denryoku Big Swan Stadium, Niigata2008-05-18Korea – Kazakhstan40–21 South Korea2008-05-24Kazakhstan – Arabian Gulf56–27 Taldykorgan2008-05-24Hong Kong – Korea24–50 King's Park, Hong Kong
Report on JRFU website
References
External links
Japan Rugby Football Union
Asian 5 nations on itsrugby.co.uk