With all the international rugby on telly over the last weekend, it was easy to have missed the final match of the Asian 5 Nations tournament between Japan and Hong Kong.  Luckily, here in Hong Kong the Tokyo-match was at a favourable time-slot on Saturday (1pm) which was before the first ball was kicked in the England Sevens or even the two Super14 Semi-finals later on Saturday evening (Bulls vs. Crusaders/Stormers vs. Waratahs).

I found myself in Happy Valley on Saturday morning and popped into The Canny Man in Wanchai where I watched the Asian 5 Nations game.

Asian powerhouse Japan qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with an emphatic 94-5 victory over Hong Kong in the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five competition in Tokyo on Saturday.

A slick Japanese outfit went on a 14-try rampage in their final game in the qualifying campaign to grab the solitary direct entry for the World Cup given to Asia.

I must say that I was really disappointed in the Hong Kong effort as they weren’t in the game at any time during the match.  I posted the final score on my FaceBook page and a friend who works for SA Rugby rightly asked: “Is rugby in Asia that bad that Japan could post such a big score?  Wasn’t Hong Kong 2nd on the log going into this game? “

Fair question and one that administrators in Asia should find an answer for. 

More heartache

There was more heartache for Hong Kong as Kazakhstan clinched the runner-up spot with a 32-25 win over South Korea in Incheon to claim the berth in the cross-continental play-off for RWC 2011 against Uruguay. Flanker Anton Rudoy scored a hat-trick as Kazakhstan scored four tries to secure the crucial bonus point that saw them edge ahead of Hong Kong in the standings.

Having posted half-century victories over all its opponents – South Korea (71-3), the Arabian Gulf (60-5) and Kazakhstan (101-7) – Japan continued in their merry fashion as they out-muscled Hong Kong at the breakdown, and pushed their opponents off their own ball in the scrums to stitch together another convincing victory.

“We have achieved our first goal this year which was to qualify for the World Cup,” said a pleased Japan coach John Kirwan. “The players have worked very hard and that was our best performance in the competition so far. But there is a long way to go.”

Japan will play in Pool A at the World Cup alongside hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

Always the joker

“It is an easy pool,”joked Kirwan. “But really, this is a fantastic opportunity for the players whose dream is to play at a World Cup. Hopefully we can show the Japanese style of rugby.”

Kirwan went on to thank the Japanese crowd for their support in fluent Japanese. 

                 Match captain Hitoshi Ono prepares to receive the impressive HSBC A5N trophy

With one foot already in the door, high-flying Japan is confident of sealing its berth at IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 when they take on Hong Kong in their final game of the HSBC Asian Five Nations (HSBC A5N) Top Five competition in Tokyo on Saturday.

In the second match of the weekend, Kazakhstan finds itself in the unique position of either finishing as A5N runners-up and entering the cross-continental play-off for RWC 2011 or facing relegation to Division I against Korea.

 Japan only need a point from their final match and as such, even a draw will do. But this will be furthest from the mind of coach John Kirwan who is demanding a complete 80-minute performance from his team.

Kirwan made three changes to the team that thrashed Kazakhstan 101-7 last week for the HSBC Asian Five Nations finale against Hong Kong on Saturday. Ryu Holani returns at No. 8, Alisi Tupuailei is named on the wing and Shinsuke Nakamura starts at tighthead as Japan look to maintain their perfect record in the A5N and, more importantly, qualify for next year’s Rugby World Cup.

“We wanted to make sure Holani was 100 percent right and we need to see how Nakamura has improved,” Kirwan said of the changes.

Holani’s return at No. 8 – his last cap was in November 2008 – means Masakazu Toyota shifts from No. 8 to No. 6. Elsewhere the team is pretty much the side that started against South Korea and Kazakhstan.

“We want to go to the World Cup so we have picked the best team,” Kirwan said.

Shota Horie lines up at hooker with Hisateru Hirashima and Nakamura either side of him. Hitoshi Ono, who will again lead the side, pairs up with Luke Thompson in the engine room with Touetsu Taufa at openside. Fumiaki Tanaka and Shaun Webb carry on at halfback with the Suntory pair of Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira in the centres, Kosuke Endo on the wing and Goshi Tachikawa at fullback.

Japan goes into the game needing just a point to book its place in Pool A in New Zealand. But that didn’t stop Kirwan from having a few harsh words for his team after what he believed was a less-than-satisfactory captain’s run on Friday.

“I am not happy with the quality of training. I just hope we play better than we train,” he said.

Hong Kong still in with a chance

Hong Kong arrives in Tokyo with high hopes of grabbing the runner-up spot and keeping the dream alive of qualifying for the World Cup through the cross-continental play-offs.

Hong Kong is currently on 12 points and need to beat Japan or grab a bonus point by scoring four tries or finishing within a seven-point margin of defeat to secure the runner-up slot. Failing this, they will have to hope that Kazakhstan either lose to South Korea in the other game on Saturday in Incheon, Korea, or if they win, fail to pick up a bonus point.

“It will be all about us performing in Tokyo and not about how others are playing,” said Hong Kong head coach Dai Rees. “Our problem so far has been that we are underachieving in terms of ball retention. As far as defence goes, I’m happy. We have conceded only two tries so far this season.”

One of those tries was an intercept try which earned the Arabian Gulf a 16-9 victory that put paid to Hong Kong’s plans of going to Tokyo with the runner-up slot secured.

Hong Kong defeated South Korea 32-8 in their opening game and defeated Kazakhstan 19-15 two weeks ago. Both wins came at home.

“If someone at the beginning of the tournament had said you would beat South Korea and Kazakhstan and you would be disappointed, I wouldn’t have believed him,” Rees said after Hong Kong’s win over Kazakhstan.

Hong Kong have made a number of changes to that side due to injury and the absence of veteran forward Nigel Clarke who will be getting married in England on Saturday.

In the front row, an injury in training to tighthead prop Nigel Hobler has resulted in youngster Alex Ng Wai-shing being drafted into the hot seat. James Stokes comes in at lock to replace Clarke while in the backrow Kwok Ka-chun will replace the injured Nick Hewson at blindside.

Up-and-coming youngster Kenneth Hsieh Chun-hang will win his first cap and start at scrum-half with regular Tim Alexander on the bench. Alexander has been in the wars, and Rees wants to give him as much time as possible to recover. The rest of the backline will be the same, but on the bench, there will be a few new faces including flanker Renaud Chavanis, centre Tsang Hing-hung and winger Adam Raby who gets his first opportunity this season.

Japanese counterpart Kirwan will have the luxury of selecting from a full squad. He has given every player in an extended squad a run this season, and is happy with what he has seen so far.

“When we get over the advantage line early and get quick ball we are pretty hard to stop,” Kirwan said.

This will be the worry for Hong Kong as they bid to clinch second spot in the Top Five.

But Hong Kong isn’t the only team with worries heading into the final week’s action. In Incheon, a disappointed Korea team will be throwing everything into a last-ditch effort to repel visiting Kazakhstan and avoid what would have been unthinkable just four weeks ago – relegation to next year’s Division I championship.

Kazakhstan meanwhile face a conundrum: how to approach the match against Korea where a bonus point will see them off to Uruguay for the RWC repechage while a loss and conceding a bonus point will see them relegated to Division I.

The game is “win or die” according to Kazakhstan captain and No. 8 Timur Mashurov, “Korea will fight for every ball, for every cm of the pitch”.

Fortunately for the hosts, Korea have star lock You Young Nam back after his four-week match ban was reduced to three weeks on appeal. You was named the top player in his position in Japan’s professional Top League last season. You’s appearance could be decisive in a match that is likely to be won or lost up front.

Kazakhstan coach Evgeniy Zuev’s objective is for his side “to play more with the ball. We need to get more share of the ball from scrums and lineouts than we have so far in the competition. But most importantly in the last week of the A5N I want the team to demonstrate what they can do and show how people from Kazakhstan can play rugby.”

Kazakhstan will be relying on Mashurov and star flanker Anton Rudoy this weekend in what promises to be a tense encounter in Incheon.

“It is still too far to qualify for World Cup even if we get second place there is a long process for us to navigate. But as for relegation, it is just behind the corner”, added captain Mashurov, indicating the focus for this weekend in Incheon is firmly on retaining a spot in Asia’s top tier rugby competition, the HSBC Asian 5 Nations.

Starting Line-ups:

Japan:

1. Hirashima, Hisateru 2. Horie, Shota 3. Nakamura, Shinsuke 4. Ono ©, Hitoshi 5. Thompson, Luke 6. Toyota, Masakazu 7. Taufa, Touetsu 8. Holani, Ryukoliniaishi 9. Tanaka, Fumiaki 10. Webb, Shaun 11. Endo, Kosuke 12. Nicholas, Ryan 13. Taira, Koji 14. Tupuailei Alisi 15. Tachikawa, Goshi 16. Yuhara, Hiroki 17. Kawamata, Naoki 18. Toshizumi Kitagawa 19. Leitch, Michael 20. Yoshida, Tomoki 21. Arlidge, James 22. Matsushita Kaoru

Hong Kong

1. Spizziri, Peter 2. Abel, Jon 3. NG, Alex Wai Shing, 4. Stokes, James 5. French, Charles 6. Kwok, Ka Chun 7. Wright, Mark 8. Leung, Simon Ho Yam © 9. Hsieh, Chun-Hang Kenneth 10. Robertson, Keith 11. McQueen, Alex 12. Hempel, Simon 13. Varty, Rowan 14. Yiu, Salom Kam Shing 15. Bisley, Colin 16. Baddeley, Alex 17. Bennett, Jack 18. Chavanis, Renaud 19. Hussey, Rory 20. Alexander, Tim 21. Tsang, Hing Hung 22. Raby, Adam

Yebo Yes! Not only does Saturday May 22, 2010 see the start of the England Sevens at Twickenham, back home there’s also the Semi-finals of the 2010 Super 14 featuring TWO South African teams in the Stormers & Bulls,while locally our Hong Kong Boys also has a crunch-match in the Asian5Nations Top 5 Competition.

Hong Kong’s rugby warriors will take on the might of Japan in the final game of the HSBC Asian5Nations.  That game takes place at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo around 1pm (Hong Kong time).

Victory for Japan’s Brave Blossoms will confirm their entry into Pool A of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup alongside hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

Japan only needs a point from their final match and as such, even a draw will do. But this will be furthest from the mind of coach John Kirwan who is demanding a complete 80-minute performance from his team.

However, all is not lost for Hong Kong as they can still, mathematically clinch the RWC automatic entry spot from the Japanese team.  All the Hong Kongers have to do to finish top of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations standings, and gain automatic entry to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year, is to defeat Japan with a bonus point and deny their hosts a losing or try scoring bonus point.

That’s it. Done. Alles oor. Finish & Klaar.

How’s that for a reason to travel to The-Land-of-the-Silver-Fern next year but to (1) support the Springboks as well as the (2) Boys representing your home-away-from-home!

Now THAT’S Ayoba!

Howzit-HongKong.com will be checking out Hong Kong taking on Japan in this crunch-game at The Canny Man tomorrow.  If you’re in the area, do join us?!  We’ll be at the table enjoying the sponsor’s brew and haggis! S’true!

The Canny Man

B/1 Wharney Guang Dong Hotel

57-73 Lockhart Road

Wanchai

A week after they pulled off a rugby upset of their own when they overcame Asian Rugby powerhouse South Korea in the Asian5Nations competition, Hong Kong suffered the same fate, this time at the hands of the Arabian Gulf.

The Arabian Gulf claimed its first ever HSBC Asian Five Nations victory with a 16-9 win over Hong Kong on Friday evening at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club.

James Love scored 11 points to take the tournament’s top scorer honours in week two, while scrumhalf Jonny MacDonald scored the game’s sole try. Hong Kong’s Keith Robertson accounted for all nine of the visitors’ points through three penalties.

The Arabian Gulf jumped out to a 13-3 lead at halftime courtesy of 8 first half points to Love, who plays his club rugby for Bahrain RFC and was basking in the affection of this evening’s 1800 spectators. Later, Jonny Macdonald snuck through for the only try of the game, with Love’s conversion giving the hosts a 10 nil lead. Hong Kong flyhalf Keith Robertson secured Hong Kong’s first points with a penalty to bring the score to 10-3 with only a minute left in the half.

Smell my boots! Rugby in Asia is blossoming in the Asian5Nations Competition! 

The Arabian Gulf quickly closed the door on any potential momentum that Hong Kong could take from Robertson’s penalty through stifling defence. In the final minute of the half, Love slotted a second penalty to send the Gulf into halftime up 13-3.

Despite running agains play for large parts of the match, the Arabian Gulf defence held strong and they took their chances well. They could only muster three more points in a tense second half but it would be enough to seal a historic win for Arabian Gulf rugby.

Robertson added two penalties for Hong Kong to claw the game back within a converted try but the Arabian Gulf did enough to hold on for an historic victory to mark its promotion to the A5N Top 5 in 2010 after being relegated to Division I last season.

An ecstatic Arabian Gulf captain Michael Cox-Hill applauded his team saying, “It was a great effort from the boys. They could not have given any more than they did.”

Another great effort will be required by the Arabian Gulf as they travel away to Tokyo next week to open this year’s A5N action in Japan at the legendary Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium.

Japan opens its HSBC A5N account on the road today with a match against archrivals South Korea, who lost last week to Hong Kong 32-8 at the Hong Kong Football Club. Initially targeting this match as a must win, Hong Kong will look to right its Rugby World Cup 2011 qualification campaign with a titanic clash against Kazakhstan next weekend in Happy Valley.

When you’re on a roll, there’s no guessing where you’ll end up.  For Hong Kong’s fifteens rugby side, there’s no guessing involved in their quest to top the log of the Top 5 competition of the Asian 5Nations rugby competition. 

Hong Kong stunned South Korea 32-8 in the opening game of the 2010 HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 competition to take a massive step forward in their IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying campaign.

A brace of tries from tireless forward Nigel Clarke plus one try each by fly-half Keith Robertson and substitute winger Tom McQueen enabled Hong Kong to seal a magnificent victory in front of a capacity crowd of over 3,000 at the Hong Kong Football Club.

Hong Kong captain Simon Leung tries to evade a Korean defender in their clash at HKFC on Saturday.

South Korea began strongly, posting eight points on the board in the opening 10 minutes courtesy of a penalty by fly-half Oh Youn-hyung and a try by winger Choi Si-won, but then played second fiddle to Hong Kong whose forwards set the foundation for victory – which was aided by a superb defence.

“This is an awesome start, and just what we wanted,”said delighted captain and No.8 Simon Leung. “It was a great squad effort, but we have to keep our feet on the ground as we still have another three games to go.”

Despite trailing 8-0, it was Hong Kong who held the upper hand, with Keith Robertson making up for an uncharacteristically poor half with the boot with some incisive line-breaks. The centres pairing of Rowan Varty and Simon Hempel also regularly exposed holes in the Korean defence as both forwards and backs began to move the ball around, retaining possession well and making deep inroads into Korean territory. 

Robertson missed two early penalties, but Hong Kong nerves were settled just before halftime when Clarke grabbed the first of his two tries after picking up from a ruck inches from the try-line and smashing his way over. That try was converted by Robertson who also knocked over a penalty to see Hong Kong take a 10-8 lead into the break. 

Hong Kong began the second half strongly and were rarely threatened thereafter with Korean offensive efforts further blunted with the loss of fullback Kim Won-Yong, a back-line stalwart and Korean sevens star side, through injury. 

Robertson missed another easy penalty early in the second stanza but he made up for it by creating and converting the team’s second try, helped by a lovely exchange of passes with wing Alex McQueen, to score under the posts. The scoreline was extended to 22-8 when Clarke notched his second try from close range capping some solid lead up work by brothers Tom and Alex McQueen and captain Leung.

Tom McQueen then gave Hong Kong a crucial bonus point – for scoring four tries – when he finished off another flowing move that was started by Robertson and involved Rowan Varty, who drew the defence and off-loaded beautifully to McQueen to score. Robertson knocked over the conversion to take his personal tally to 14 points for the day. Alex McQueen then put the icing on Hong Kong’s cake with a late penalty to give Hong Kong a comprehensive 32-8 victory. 

Korea’s fullback Kim Wong Yong is wrapped up by the determined Hong Kong defence

“The dream lives on,” said elated Hong Kong coach Dai Rees. “Nobody expects us to win, and that is why this is a dream. There is now a strong possibility that we can at least finish second.”

If Hong Kong finish as runners-up, (defending HSBC A5N champions Japan – who had a bye today – are favourites to book the direct berth to the World Cup next year) they will meet Uruguay in a play-off with the winner moving on to a final home-and-away repechage against a side from either Europe or Africa.

In today’s other match between Kazakhstan and the Arabian Gulf in Almaty, the visitors jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, extending it to 13 before Kazakhstan, last year’s runners-up in the HSBC A5N, asserted its dominance with its first try to claw back to a 13-7 deficit. Kazakhstan scored another in the last moments of the first half to edge ahead to 14-13 at halftime.

The excitement didn’t let up in the second half either as the game went down to the wire with both teams trading tries. With 15 minutes remaining, the score was 33-28 and both teams were in contention for the bonus point for scoring four tries or more. Paced by a raucous home crowd of over 4,000 spectators, Kazakhstan made home advantage tell, finding its stride in the waning minutes of the game to pull away for good 43-28. 

After today’s victories, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong both earned a bonus point along with five points for a win, bringing them to equal first on the table with six points each and setting up a colossal encounter in Hong Kong on May 8. But first, Hong Kong will have to overcome what promises to be a stiff challenge from a rapidly improving Arabian Gulf XV in Bahrain. Hong Kong now face a short week and will travel to Bahrain on Thursday for a match on Friday evening April 30th, while Kazakhstan are on a bye in week 2.

Read more about the HSBC Asian 5Nations on their website

While I am typing this, Victoria Harbour seen through my window, is awash with billowing sails where the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is hosting their annual Spring Regatta.  Judging from the trees below and the sails in the harbour, the Regatta is is full swing. 

Across the harbour at the Hong Kong Football Club, the Asian 5Nations rugby tournament is also in full swing with Hong Kong taking on South Korea on the hard HKFC pitch.

The respective skippers appeared at a press conference at the HKFC yesterday:

Korea captain Kim Jeong Min and his HK counterpart Simon Leung Ho Yam at the HKFC yesterday.

The CEO of HSBC Hong Kong (middle) presented gifts to the Korean and Hong Kong coaches.

A drop-kick competition for U16 players to win a trip to Tokyo was held at HKFC

Asia’s elite rugby competition, the 2010 HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N) Top 5 tournament will kick off tomorrow with matches between Hong Kong and South Korea and Kazakhstan and Arabian Gulf. Defending champions Japan are on a bye in week 1.

2011 Rugby World Cup

After 22 Rugby World Cup qualification matches played since 2008, it comes down to the 10 matches of this year’s HSBC A5N Top 5 to determine Asia’s sole direct entry to Rugby World Cup 2011. The Top 5 winner will enter Pool A as Asia 1 alongside New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

Hong Kong vs. Korea (Saturday April 24)

Hong Kong will take inspiration from last year’s performance against Korea in Seoul. Trailing 31-3 at half-time, Hong Kong looked well beaten but fought back to come within an inch of pulling off a miraculous victory before losing 36-34. Hong Kong coach Dai Rees will use that tremendous feat to motivate his side in a game he has already labelled a “must-win”. 

“This will be a massive game for us. We have to target this as a must-win game if we are to have any chances of finishing in the top two and keep alive our World Cup hopes,” HK coach Dai Rees said.

“To be realistic, Japan is the outright favourites to win the championship and grab the Asian berth at the World Cup,” added Rees. “Our aim will be to finish second and make it through to the repêchage.” 

But first-up will be the tough Koreans, a team which Hong Kong has beaten only twice in the last seven meetings. South Korea will field a mix of old and new players, and will be a formidable threat, especially if they are given a head start as was the case last year when they stormed to a 24-0 lead in the first 17 minutes of play with outstanding No 8 Han Kun-kyu leading the charge with a brace of tries. 

Han is back again as is excellent second-row forward You Young-nam, who was named the best player in his position last year in Japan’s professional Top League – but there are many new faces in the 22-man squad. 

“We have changed half the squad from last year,” said Korea’s coach Kim Myoung Joo. “They might be new faces but I believe they have the potential to win any match and we are giving them the opportunity. Our aim is to win this tournament. Japan [Korea’s opponents in Daegu, Korea next weekend] will be difficult opponents but we will do our best.”

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Kazakh challenge

Korea will not be looking past Hong Kong after last year’s thriller, nor can they afford to overlook the challenge from Kazakhstan. After a stirring victory in last year’s A5N clash in Almaty where Kazakhstan beat Korea 30-27, the Nomads claimed second spot in Asian rugby for the first time in the 42-year history of the Asian Rugby Football Union.

Kazakhstan will be intent on resuming where they left off and have been spending the long winter nights in Almaty improving their strength and conditioning levels – a fact that will not set their competitor’s minds at ease as the Kazakhs are already one of the most physically impressive teams in Asian rugby. The Nomads return primarily the same side that was so successful in 2009 and are intent on capturing the repêchage spot behind the inspirational leadership of no. 8 Timur Mashurov who is fully fit after being plagued by knee injuries in recent seasons and towering flanker Anton “the horse” Rudoy. Full back Maxim Lifontov returns as well looking to add to his impressive points tally of the past few seasons (Lifontov was the tournament’s top points scorer in 2008).

Last hurrah for Arabian Gulf

Kazakhstan opens its account against the Arabian Gulf on their return to the Top 5 as Division I champions in 2009. The Arabian Gulf XV have completed an intensive training period with recent matches against Tunisia and the Kandy Sports Club from Sri Lanka, most of whose players made up the successful Sri Lanka XV that won last week’s Division I in Singapore to become the newest side to experience Top 5 rugby in 2011.

The game plan for the Arabian Gulf will be tested from the outset in Almaty as Kiwi coach Bruce Birtwhistle has targeted his forward pack as one of the strengths of Gulf rugby.

“Primarily our key players will be up front and defence is a key to our campaign. It is important that we meet teams head on in the set pieces and breakdowns to provide sufficient ball for our halfback pairing of Jonny MacDonald (born in the UAE and studying in Cardiff University) and former Wales schoolboy and Gloucester Academy player Duncan Murray.”

With this being the last hurrah for the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union before ceding to individual unions in 2011, Coach Birtwhistle is setting the team’s sights high. 

“Qualification for the Rugby World Cup is our ultimate aim and all of our preparation is focused on achieving that goal, starting this weekend against Kazakhstan. It is a big ask but with a new squad and the confidence gained from last year’s Division I victory we feel it is a realistic aim.”

With all of the Top 5 teams eyeing Rugby World Cup qualification and the reigning champions Japan waiting in the wings the action over the next five weeks of Asian rugby pitches promises to be the most exciting in the short history of the HSBC A5N.

Captains of Korea (Kim Jeong Min) and Hong Kong (Simon Leung Ho Yam) ahead of tomrorow’s HSBC A5N match

Follow all the Asian Rugby action on their website

At the recent Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens, the local team caused Hong Kong hearts to beat just a little faster when they won their first-ever silverware at the world’s premier Sevens tournament.  This milestone followed close on their Sevens silver medal at the East Asian Games in December last year.

Following on this achievement, there are already encouraging signs that the Hong Kong Government is coming to the party by supporting the development of the game and it’s top local athletes financially.

On a broader scale, rugby in Asia is also undergoing a blossoming with the winner of the 2010 Asian 5Nations Top Five automatically gaining entry into the 2011 Rugby World Cup, to be hosted by New Zealand.

For the game to grow in the region, it has to have strong financial and management support and in this regard, Asian Rugby is fortunate to have the support of one of the powerhouses in world finance, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) who, at the end of March 2010, launched this season’s Asian 5Nations competition.

L TO R: Frank Hadden, former Scotland coach, Mr Nobby Mashimo, Vice Pres, JRFU & IRB council member, Mr Sandy Flockhart, Group Executive Director, ARFU’s Dermot Agnew and Rory Underwooddemonstrate the expanse of Asian rugby and identify the Top 5 teams for this year’s A5N (Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and the Arabian Gulf) at last month’s press launch in Hong Kong by writing the word rugby in each of these 5 languages.

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In 2010, the elite Top 5 competition is doubling as the culmination of a three-year, 32-match Rugby World Cup qualification process and will be played across a five-week, single round robin, home and away format. The Top 5 teams (by 2009 rankings) are Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Hong Kong and the Arabian Gulf. Test matches will be held on consecutive weekends throughout 24 April to 22 May, 2010.

“Over the past two years, the HSBC A5N has become a key fixture in the international rugby calendar. With Asia’s sole direct qualification spot for the 2011 Rugby World Cup up for grabs, there is even more to play for this season,” said Sandy Flockhart, Group Executive Director, Chairman of Commercial, Personal Banking and Insurance, HSBC Group.

The 2010 HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N) Top 5 tournament will kick off on Saturday April 24 with matches between Hong Kong and South Korea (GMT +8.00) and Kazakhstan and Arabian Gulf (GMT +6.00). Defending champions Japan are on a bye in week 1.

Former Scotland Coach Frank Hadden and England’s top try scorer Rory Underwood were in attendance at the recent HSBC Asian 5 Nations 2010 Press launch in Hong Kong.

Go Hong Kong!