2008 Asian Five Nations

2008 Asian Five Nations

Date	26 April 2008 – 24 May 2008
Countries	Arabian Gulf  Hong Kong  Japan  Kazakhstan  South Korea
Final positions
Champions	Japan (16th title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Website	www.asian5nations.com
← 2007 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:

•  Arabian Gulf (43)
•  Hong Kong (30)
•  Japan (18)
•  Kazakhstan (33)
•  South Korea (23)

Final table

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries	Bonus Points	Points
1	Japan	4	4	0	0	310	58	+252	48	4	24
2	South Korea	4	3	0	1	150	104	+46	14	3	18
3	Hong Kong	4	2	0	2	96	154	-58	11	1	11
4	Kazakhstan	4	1	0	3	100	172	-72	11	2	7
5	Arabian Gulf	4	0	0	4	65	233	-139	6	1	1

• Bottom team, Arabian Gulf, are relegated to Division One for 2009 edition.

Fixtures

Report on JRFU website

References

External links

• Japan Rugby Football Union
• Asian 5 nations on itsrugby.co.uk