2008 Asian Five Nations Explained

2008 Asian Five Nations
Date:26 April 2008 –
Countries:Arabian Gulf



Champion:JPN
Count:16
Matches:10
Preceded By:2007
Succeeded By:2009

For divisional competitions, see: 2008 Asian Five Nations division tournaments

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:

Final table

PositionNationGamesPointsTable points
PlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainstDifferenceTriesBonus PointsPoints
1440031058+25248424
24301150104+4614318
3420296154−5811111
44103100172−721127
5400465233−139611

Fixtures

DateMatchResultVenue
2008-04-26Korea – Japan17–39Munhak Stadium, Incheon
2008-04-26Arabian Gulf – Hong Kong12–20Al Ain
2008-05-03Japan – Arabian Gulf114–6Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka
2008-05-03Hong Kong – Kazakhstan23–17Hong Kong
2008-05-09Arabian Gulf – Korea20–43Al Arabi Stadium, Doha
2008-05-11Kazakhstan – Japan6–82Almaty
2008-05-18Japan – Hong Kong75–29Tohoku Denryoku Big Swan Stadium, Niigata
2008-05-18Korea – Kazakhstan40–21South Korea
2008-05-24Kazakhstan – Arabian Gulf56–27Taldykorgan
2008-05-24Hong Kong – Korea24–50King's Park, Hong Kong

Report on JRFU website

External links