The battle for second place in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2009 comes to a head this weekend with Kazakhstan welcoming Hong Kong to Almaty with both knowing that victory will also see them climb in the IRB World Rankings.
Korea currently occupy second behind champions Japan with 13 points – three more than Kazakhstan with Hong a further two points adrift on 8 in fourth spot – but have already finished their campaign with two wins and two defeats, including a surprise loss to Kazakhstan.
Hong Kong won the pair’s only previous encounter, 23-17 on home soil last year, but for Kazakhstan the chance to finish second behind Japan would be proof that they are a side benefitting from playing the region’s elite, having finished fourth in the inaugural competition in 2008.
The two sides are separated by four places and 1.35 rating points, Kazakhstan (29) having climbed above Hong Kong (33) since the competition began on the back of their 30-27 win over Korea in Almaty in round two.
A win for Kazakhstan will see them climb above Belgium, while a win by more than 15 points and they would rise to 27 at the expense of Brazil with Hong Kong swapping places with Morocco in the event of a heavy defeat.
However if Hong Kong were to repeat their 2008 win then the two sides would swap places, taking the victors back into the top 30. A win by more than 15 points and Hong Kong would climb to 27 and Kazakhstan fall to 34.
Chance to climb with upsets
The other match on the final weekend of the Top 5 sees Japan, who were crowned champions after beating Korea last weekend, travel to the already relegated Singapore for a first meeting between the sides since the Brave Blossoms won 120-3 in the 1992 Asian Championship.
With Japan ranked significantly higher than Singapore – 16th to 50th – even a high-scoring victory like the 80-9 (Korea), 59-6 (Hong Kong) and 87-11 (Kazakhstan) they have enjoyed in this year’s competition will have no impact on either side’s IRB World Ranking.
The same is true were Ireland (4) to retain their unbeaten record against Canada (15) with victory when the sides meeting in Vancouver on Saturday. Ireland won their most recent meeting, 55-0 at Thomond Park in Limerick last November.
Canada have come close to victory before, their best result being a 27-27 draw in June 2000, and if they were able to claim a first win then they would climb two places at the expense of Georgia and Tonga with Ireland sliding one beneath Argentina.
New high for Israel?
The weekend’s other match is the second of the European play-offs that form part of the region’s qualifying process for Rugby World Cup 2011 with round one winners Israel entertaining Lithuania, the side who sit top of Division 3A at the halfway point of the European Nations Cup 2010.
Israel, who beat the higher ranked Slovenia 26-19 in round one earlier this month, have never recorded a victory over their visitors, having lost home and away – 60-7 and 53-0 – in Rugby World Cup 2007 qualifiers back in October 2004.
They are currently ranked 35 places and 12.04 rating points behind Lithuania and as a result the visitors to Netanya must win by more than 15 points to climb one place to 41st above Moldova and cause Israel to fall one beneath St Lucia to 80th.
However if Israel can repeat their round one heroics in the first match to be televised live in the country, then they will climb to a new high in the IRB World Rankings with a five or six place rise with Lithuania sliding potentially as low as 47th with a first loss to Israel.
The IRB World Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 UK time.
