2018 Asia Rugby Championship Explained

2018 Asia Rugby Championship
Date:28 April – 2 June
Countries:

Champion:Hong Kong
Count:1
Matches:6
Tries:51
Top Scorer: Matthew Rosslee (58)
Most Tries: Conor Hartley (4)
Jang Jeong-min (4)
Liam Slatem (4)
Preceded By:2017
Succeeded By:2019

The 2018 Asia Rugby Championship was the fourth annual rugby union series for the top-level Asia Rugby nations. The Asia Rugby Championship in 2018 formed part of the World Cup qualifying process and, as such, did not include Japan who had already qualified as the 2019 Rugby World Cup host. Hong Kong and South Korea were joined by Malaysia, promoted from Division 1, to compete in the 2018 series. Other Asian nations played in the lower division tournaments.

The format of the tri-nations series is a double round-robin where the three teams play each other twice on a home and away basis. The team finishing on top of the standings at the end of the series is declared the winner. The 2018 series winner Hong Kong advanced to a cross-regional play-off series against Oceania 4, Cook Islands, to earn a berth in the repechage tournament.

Teams

The teams involved, with their world rankings prior to the 2018 tournament in brackets:[1]

NationHome stadiumCityHead coachCaptain
(22)Hong Kong Football Club StadiumHong Kong Leigh JonesJames Cunningham
(31)Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby FieldIncheon Choi Changryul Lee Yong-seung
(45)National StadiumKuala Lumpur Lee Nyuk Fah Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli

Standings

Advances to Cross-regional play-off series
PosNationGamesPointsBonus
points
Total
points
PlayedWonLostDrawnForAgainstDiff
1440022744+183319
2422012891+37210
3404040260-22000
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
4 or more tries - 1 point
Loss within 7 points - 1 point
Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Fixtures

Source: asiarugby.com[2]

Week 1

FB 15Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol
RW 14Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin
OC 13Vatimio Rabebe
IC 12Sakiusa Terence Gavidi
LW 11Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin
FH 10Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c)
SH 9 Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin
N8 8 Timoci Vunimoku
OF 7 Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin
BF 6 Sae Faalupega
RL 5 Nathanael Tan Aik Ming
LL 4 Aporosa Duwailea
TP 3 Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Kari
HK 2 Amirul Mukminim Amizan
LP 1 Amirul Sani
Replacements:
16Mohd Nurazman Ramli
17Mohd Farid Sujari
18Lawrence Petrus
19Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey
20Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin
21Mohammad Rosmanizam Roslan
22Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi
23Mohamad Sofian Mohd Kamil
Coach:
Lee Nyuk Fah
FB 15Lee Jae-bok
RW 14Jang Jeong-min
OC 13Lee Jin-kyu
IC 12Kim Nam-uk
LW 11Kang Jin-gu
FH 10Oh Youn-hyung
SH 9 Lee Myung-jun
N8 8 Lee Yong-seung (c)
OF 7 Jang Seok-hwan
BF 6 Kim Hyun-soo
RL 5 Lee Jin-seok
LL 4 Kim Ho-bum
TP 3 Kang Tae-hyeon
HK 2 Kim Jeep
LP 1 Na Kwan-young
Replacements:
16Seok Dong-hee
17Kim Kwang-sik
18Park Jong-yeol
19Cha Sung-kun
20You Ji-hoon
21Shin Ki-cheol
22Kim Jin-hyeok
23Jang Seong-min
Coach:
Choi Chang-ryul

Week 2

FB 15Samuela Tamanisau
RW 14Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin
OC 13Vatimio Rabebe
IC 12Sakiusa Terence Gavidi
LW 11Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin
FH 10Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c)
SH 9 Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin
N8 8 Etonia Vaqa Saukuru
OF 7 Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey
BF 6 Timoci Vunimoku
RL 5 Sae Faalupega
LL 4 Aporosa Duwailea
TP 3 Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim
HK 2 Amirul Mukminim Amizan
LP 1 Amirul Sani
Replacements:
16Mohd Nurazman Ramli
17Mohd Farid Sujari
18Lawrence Petrus
19Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin
20Syahmi Afiq Edan
21Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin
22Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi
23Asyraf Norudin
Coach:
Lee Nyuk Fah
FB 15Jack Neville
RW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing
OC 13Tyler Spitz
IC 12Max Woodward
LW 11Max Denmark
FH 10Matthew Rosslee
SH 9 Liam Slatem
N8 8 Thomas Lamboley
OF 7 Toby Fenn
BF 6 Nicholas Hewson
RL 5 Jamie Pincott
LL 4 James Cunningham (c)
TP 3 Dylan Rogers
HK 2 Benjamin Roberts
LP 1 Daniel Barlow
Replacements:
16Alexander Harris
17Adam Fullgrabe
18Jack Parfitt
19Kyle Sullivan
20Michael Parfitt
21Conor Hartley
22Robert Keith
23Jamie Lauder
Coach:
Leigh Jones

Week 3

FB 15Lee Jae-bok
RW 14Jang Jeong-min
OC 13Kim Jin-hyeok
IC 12Kim Nam-uk
LW 11Kang Jin-gu
FH 10Oh Youn-hyung
SH 9 Lee Myung-jun
N8 8 Lee Yong-seung (c)
OF 7 Jang Seok-hwan
BF 6 Cha Sung-kun
RL 5 Lee Jin-seok
LL 4 Kim Ho-bum
TP 3 Kang Tae-hyeon
HK 2 Kim Jeep
LP 1 Na Kwan-young
Replacements:
16 Seok Dong-hee
17 Kim Kwang-sik
18 Park Jong-yeol
19 Han Kun-kyu
20 Kim Jeong-min
21 Shin Ki-cheol
22 Park Hong-sik
23 Jang Seong-min
Coach:
Choi Chang-ryul
FB 15Jack Neville
RW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing
OC 13Tyler Spitz
IC 12Max Woodward
LW 11Max Denmark
FH 10Matthew Rosslee
SH 9 Liam Slatem
N8 8 Thomas Lamboley
OF 7 Toby Fenn
BF 6 Nicholas Hewson
RL 5 Kyle Sullivan
LL 4 James Cunningham (c)
TP 3 Dylan Rogers
HK 2 Benjamin Roberts
LP 1 Daniel Barlow
Replacements:
16Alexander Harris
17Adam Fullgrabe
18Jack Parfitt
19Jamie Pincott
20Kane Boucaut
21Conor Hartley
22Ben Rimene
23Jamie Lauder
24Michael Parfitt
Coach:
Leigh Jones

Week 4

FB 15Lee Jae-bok
RW 14Jang Jeong-min
OC 13Kim Jin-hyeok
IC 12Jang Seong-min
LW 11Kim Nam-uk
FH 10Oh Youn-hyung
SH 9 Shin Ki-cheol
N8 8 Lee Yong-seung (c)
OF 7 Hwang In-jo
BF 6 Cha Sung-kun
RL 5 Jang Seok-hwan
LL 4 Kim Ho-bum
TP 3 Park Jong-yeol
HK 2 You Ji-hoon
LP 1 Na Kwan-young
Replacements:
16 Noh Ok-gi
17 Seok Dong-hee
18 Kang Taehyeon
19 Lee Kwang-ho
20 Kim Jeong-min
21 Lee Myung-jun
22 Kim Kun-hui
23 Shin Min-su
Coach:
Choi Chang-ryul
FB 15Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol
RW 14Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin
OC 13Samuela Tamanisau
IC 12Vatimio Rabebe
LW 11Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin (c)
FH 10Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli
SH 9 Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin
N8 8 Etonia Vaqa Saukuru
OF 7 Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey
BF 6 Timoci Vunimoku
RL 5 Sae Faalupega
LL 4 Muhammad Danial Noor Hamidi
TP 3 Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim
HK 2 Amirul Mukminim Amizan
LP 1 Lawrence Petrus
Replacements:
16Mohd Nurazman Ramli
17Mohd Farid Sujari
18Nas Affie Mohd Salleh
19Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin
20Hamizan Rosli
21Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin
22Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi
23Asyraf Norudin
Coach:
Lee Nyuk Fah

Week 5

FB 15Robert Keith
RW 14Conor Hartley
OC 13Tyler Spitz
IC 12Matthew Rosslee
LW 11Max Denmark
FH 10Ben Rimene
SH 9 Jamie Lauder
N8 8 Kane Boucaut
OF 7 Philip Whitfield
BF 6 Nicholas Hewson
RL 5 Jack Delaforce
LL 4 Jamie Pincott
TP 3 Jack Parfitt
HK 2 Jamie Tsang (c)
LP 1 Adam Fullgrabe
Replacements:
16Edward Soppet
17Callum McFeat-Smith
18Ronan Donnelly
19Thomas Lamboley
20Michael Parfitt
21Cris Pierrepont
22Henry Poon Yau Him
23Jack Neville
24Kyle Sullivan
Coach:
Leigh Jones
FB 15Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin
RW 14Samuela Tamanisau
OC 13Vatimio Rabebe
IC 12Atunasia Lacadamu Takubu
LW 11Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin
FH 10Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c)
SH 9 Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi
N8 8 Etonia Vaqa Saukuru
OF 7 Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin
BF 6 Timoci Vunimoku
RL 5 Sae Faalupega
LL 4 Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim
TP 3 Lawrence Petrus
HK 2 Amirul Mukminim Amizan
LP 1 Mohd Farid Sujari
Replacements:
16Mohd Nurazman Ramli
17Hamizan Rosli
18Nas Affie Mohd Salleh
19Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey
20Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin
21Muhammad Danial Noor Hamidi
22Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol
23Asyraf Norudin
Coach:
Lee Nyuk Fah

Week 6

FB 15Robert Keith
RW 14Salom Yiu Kam Shing
OC 13Jack Neville
IC 12Max Woodward
LW 11Conor Hartley
FH 10Matthew Rosslee
SH 9 Liam Slatem
N8 8 Thomas Lamboley
OF 7 Toby Fenn
BF 6 Nicholas Hewson
RL 5 Kyle Sullivan
LL 4 James Cunningham (c)
TP 3 Dylan Rogers
HK 2 Ben Roberts
LP 1 Daniel Barlow
Replacements:
16Jamie Tsang
17Adam Fullgrabe
18Jack Parfitt
19Michael Parfitt
20Kane Boucaut
21Cris Pierrepont
22Jamie Lauder
23Max Denmark
24Tyler Spitz
Coach:
Leigh Jones
FB 15Lee Jae-bok
RW 14Jang Jeong-min
OC 13Jang Seong-min
IC 12Kim Seongu
LW 11Kim Nam-uk
FH 10Oh Youn-hyung
SH 9 Shin Ki-cheol
N8 8 Lee Yong-seung (c)
OF 7 Hwang Injo
BF 6 Cha Sung-kun
RL 5 Lee Jin-seok
LL 4 Jang Seok-hwan
TP 3 Kang Tae-hyeon
HK 2 You Ji-hoon
LP 1 Na Kwan-young
Replacements:
16Noh Ok-gi
17Seok Dong-hee
18Park Jong-yeol
19Lee Kwang-ho
20Kim Jeong-min
21Lee Myung-jun
22Park Hong-sik
23Kim Jinhyeok
Coach:
Choi Chang-ryul

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Men's Rankings World Rugby. 2018-04-30. 2018-09-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20180925040423/http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru. dead.
  2. Web site: Calendar 2018 Asia Rugby Calendar of Tournaments and Meeting for 2018. Asia Rugby. 19 February 2018.