Japan reaffirms position as Asia's number one
As 2008 draws to a close, we take a look back at the first year of the HSBC Asian Five Nations competition.
There were no surprises when it came to the inaugural HSBC Asian Five Nations champions with Japan lifting the distinctive trophy after sweeping aside the competition, claiming four bonus point victories over Korea, Arabian Gulf, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong, scoring 49 tries in the process.
Japan, the only Asian side to ever play on the Rugby World Cup stage, were simply too strong for their opponents, the superior skills and fitness of John Kirwan’s side ensuring that even matches which had been close at one stage had turned into convincing margins of victory by the final whistle.
However Kirwan was not interested in simply confirming Japan’s status as Asia’s number one side. His philosophy that the tournament was the perfect tool to develop the next generation of players was precisely the reason the Asian Five Nations, with its four tiers of competition involving all 25 Member Unions in the region, was introduced.
Kirwan’s intentions were clear from his squad selection with a third of the 30 players uncapped, a further eight boasted caps in single figures with RWC 2007 captain Takuro Miuchi the most experienced with 40 caps, not to mention one of only four players aged 30 or over.
“It is very important that we win it, but is very important that we also have a good mix,” Kirwan admitted at the time. “It is really a chance also to blood some younger players. We are really excited because this year is an important year for us from a transition point of view. We want to be able to back up our performance in the World Cup, but to do that we have to keep one eye on the next World Cup so the Asian competition is great for us. We can play a mixture of old and new.”
This blend of experience and exciting young talent headed to the Korean city of Incheon on the opening weekend of the Top Five competition – as the top tier of the Asian Five Nations is known – in late April. The tournament, which received funding in the form of a US$500,000 grant from the International Rugby Board, was played as a round robin over five consecutive weekends.
Japan sealed the Asian Five Nations title with an emphatic defeat of Hong Kong
Korea had lost their last encounter with Japan 82-0, but this side were far more tenacious and, despite being outscored seven tries to two, kept the final score to a respectable 39-17. Japan had established a 29-0 lead by half-time with Go Aruga, James Arlidge, Hirotoki Onozawa, Bryce Robins and Hiroki Yoshida all touching down, so when another try followed soon after the break a runaway victory seemed likely.
However Korea were rewarded for their determination with two tries either side of another Japanese score, the final try of the match coming from an interception in their own 22 that ultimately saw Kim Sung Yoo cross to the delight of the crowd. Kirwan wasn’t pleased with the overall performance of his side, but Japan still ended the opening round on top of the standings, after Hong Kong triumphed 20-12 over Arabian Gulf in the United Arab Emirates.
Kazakhstan, one of the most improving nations in Asia, entered the fray in round two with a 23-17 defeat by Hong Kong, although they did salvage a losing bonus point thanks to replacement hooker Ivan Ossikovskiy’s late try. However for Kazakhstan coach Valeriy Popov, the opportunity to play against Asia’s elite nations can only be beneficial for rugby’s development in the country.
“The quality of our game leaves much to be desired. We felt we were like students and this was a learning experience for us,” Popov admitted afterwards. “This is the first time we have participated in this kind of tournament. Playing against strong Asian teams such as Hong Kong, Japan and Korea will help to raise the status of Kazakhstan and motivate us to play better.”
Hong Kong remained unbeaten ahead of their third round bye, but it was Japan who strengthened their title credentials with an emphatic 114-6 defeat of Arabian Gulf in Osaka. Kirwan had asked his players to play for the full 80 minutes, which they duly did with Onozawa claiming a hat-trick among the 18 tries Japan scored.
Next stop for Japan was the Kazakhstan capital Almaty and, despite playing at 900 metres above sea level, they emerged 82-6 winners with nine players scoring tries. In the round’s other match, Korea’s superior fitness told with three late tries sealing a 43-20 victory over Arabian Gulf in Doha, Qatar.
Singapore scored two injury time tries to win Division I and secure promotion to play in the Top Five in 2009 with Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan
Japan’s final match was at home in Niigata against the only other unbeaten side Hong Kong. Sixteen minutes passed with no score as Hong Kong made life difficult for Japan, but by the final whistle the champions had been crowned following a 75-29 victory. Japan had scored 11 tries, but lapses in concentration had enabled Rowan Varty to score a hat-trick for Hong Kong.
The title may have been decided, but there was still plenty at stake in the final round with Hong Kong battling Korea for second place and Kazakhstan facing Arabian Gulf with the loser relegated to Division I next year and replaced by Singapore, who won that competition this year after snatching last gasp tries to draw with Sri Lanka and beat hosts Chinese Taipei in November.
In the end, that turned out to be Arabian Gulf, who suffered a 56-27 defeat by a Kazakhstan side inspired by full back Maxim Lifontov and the 31-point haul which saw him finish as the tournament’s leading point scorer. Korea, meanwhile, scored 24 unanswered points in the opening 13 minutes to lay the foundations for a 50-24 defeat of Hong Kong.
The Asian Five Nations, though, was about more than just the elite nations going head to head with each other – the desire to expand and develop the Game across the region was also a key element behind its introduction, with promotion and relegation between the divisions.
The fact that the Division I and II competitions in 2008 also kick off the region’s qualifying process for Rugby World Cup 2011 was another incentive, one Thailand seized by winning Division II with a 30-7 defeat of Malaysia in Bangkok in June, earning promotion to Division I for 2009.
There were also three regional tournaments below this level with the first one in July seeing the Philippines triumph in Guam by beating the hosts 20-8 and Brunei 101-0. Indonesia then tasted Test success on home soil for the first time, beating Laos 23-11 and Cambodia 55-3 to win the tournament. Finally, Iran came out on top by beating hosts Kyrgyzstan 30-16 and Uzbekistan 8-6.
RESULTS:
TOP FIVE
26/04/2008 Korea 17-39 Japan
26/04/2008 Arabian Gulf 12-20 Hong Kong
03/05/2008 Hong Kong 23-17 Kazakhstan
03/05/2008 Japan 114-6 Arabian Gulf
09/05/2008 Arabian Gulf 20-43 Korea
10/05/2008 Kazakhstan 6-82 Japan
17/05/2008 Korea 40-21 Kazakhstan
18/05/2008 Japan 75-29 Hong Kong
24/05/2008 Kazakhstan 56-27 Arabian Gulf
24/05/2008 Hong Kong 24-50 Korea
DIVISION I
11/11/2008 Singapore 20-20 Sri Lanka
13/11/2008 Chinese Taipei 22-23 Singapore
15/11/2008 Chinese Taipei 35-23 Sri Lanka
DIVISION II
14/06/2008 FINAL: Thailand 30-7 Malaysia
14/06/2008 3rd Place Playoff: India 92-0 Pakistan
11/06/2008 Malaysia 30-5 Pakistan
11/06/2008 Thailand 30-22 India
REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS
GUAM:
28/06/2008 Guam 74-0 Brunei
02/07/2008 Brunei 0-101 Philippines
05/07/2008 Guam 8-20 Philippines
INDONESIA:
12/07/2008 Cambodia 0-33 Laos
15/07/2008 Indonesia 23-11 Laos
19/07/2008 Indonesia 55-3 Cambodia
KYRGYZSTAN:
05/10/2008 Kyrgyzstan 16-30 Iran
08/10/2008 Iran 8-6 Uzbekistan
11/10/2008 Kyrgyzstan 15-15 Uzbekistan
This review appears in the IRB World Rugby Yearbook 2009, to purchase a copy of the Yearbook for the reduced online price of £10.99 visit the publishers' website www.visionsp.co.uk.
