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**dudeabides** · 05-01-2010, 07:27 PM

Japan v Korea:

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Japan made a flying start to the defence of their Asian Five Nations crown with an emphatic 71-13 win over Korea in Kyungsang.

Winger Kosuke Endo was the star of the show with a remarkable five-try effort as Japan laid down an impressive marker to their Asian rivals. In a classic game of two halves, two-time champions Japan started slowly as the Koreans came out with a ferocious intent that saw them push the Japanese to the limits of their defence early on. Unfortunately, fly-half Yoon Hee-Soo missed two of three kickable penalties in the opening period which prevented the Koreans from turning that early momentum into a significant advantage on the scoreboard.

Despite a stuttering start, Japan did just enough to distance themselves over the course of the first half to take a 19-3 lead at half-time thanks to tries from hooker Shota Horie, scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka and winger Endo. The ever-reliable Ryan Nicholas added two conversions in the first half, and would finish with eight on the day.

Korea's defence was characteristically strong early on but the side let themselves down through repeated infringements that saw the inevitable sin-binning - this time to Korean scrum-half Park, Wan-Yong in the 37th minute. The resulting man advantage to Japan put paid to Korea's promising start. By the time Park re-entered the contest early in the second half, Japan had extended its lead to 33-3 and would never look back.

Japan came out firing on all cylinders in the second stanza, paced by a remarkable four more tries by Endo. Japan's Yasunori Nagatomo scored in the 41st minute and from that point on it was virtually one-way traffic as Takashi Kikutani, Hitoshi Ono and Hiroki Yuhara all crossed for tries. Endo's quartet in the second half came in a 22-minute spell with the 29-year-old dotting down in the 58th, 68th, 71st and 80th minutes.

Korea managed a try by Chae Jae Young - who plays his rugby in Japan with Toshiba - and a conversion and penalty by Oh Youn Hyung, but the fact that the last Korean penalty came in the closing stages showed that they had run out of ideas.

With their three remaining games in Tokyo, Japan remain on course to be Asia's automatic entry at next year's IRB Rugby World Cup where they would be seeded in Pool A alongside the hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada. But they will need to improve on their opening 40 minutes if they are to fulfil coach John Kirwan's hopes of winning at least two games next year in New Zealand.

"The first half was not to our level," said Kirwan. "We need to work harder moving forward. But I will take it as a first game and tell the team to start from the second half."

Japan now returns home for three matches at the legendary Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo against the Arabian Gulf, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong. Next up for Korea is a much improved Arabian Gulf in Dubai in two weeks before finishing against Kazakhstan on May 22 in Seoul.

Hong Kong v Korea:

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Hong Kong recovered from a sluggish start to kick off their 2010 Asian Five Nations campaign with a ultimately comfortable 32-8 victory over South Korea on Saturday.

Hong Kong were beaten in Seongnam last year and they appeared in trouble when their visitors moved 8-0 up after an unconverted try from Choi Si-Won. However, Nigel Clarke replied for the home side and his score, allied with five points from the boot of Keith Robertson, saw Hong Kong go in two points to the good at the interval.

Hong Kong, who finished second from bottom 12 months ago, dominated the second half and racked up three further tries through Robertson, Clarke again and Tom McQueen.

"It was a shaky start for us but even in the first 10 minutes they only really had our scraps," Hong Kong captain Simon Leung said. "But we put ourselves under pressure. We spilt a couple of balls we shouldn't have."

Hong Kong coach Dai Rees, meanwhile, was thrilled with his side's display and is now hoping that the territory can either qualify for next year's World Cup by winning the Five Nations outright or at least secure a play-off against Uruguay by finishing as runners-up.

"The World Cup dream lives on. I dream of being there as a coach for Hong Kong and I know a lot of the guys do. I think it is a reality," he is quoted as saying by rugbyweek.com.

"I think it's a case of belief. We stood off them in the first 10-15 minutes. There's that aura around South Korea. We haven't beaten them many times (just two wins in 10 previous meetings). But it was a superb all-round performance in the end and we controlled the game."

Meanwhile, last year's runners-up Kazakhstan came from behind to claim a an exciting 43-28 victory over Arabian Gulf in Almaty in the day's other game.

The home side found themselves 13 points down early on but rallied well to lead by a point by the interval. They stretched their advantage to five points by the 65th minute before finally breaking Arabian Gulf's game resistance in the final quarter as they eventually ran out easy winners.

In front of a crowd of over 4,000 Kazakhstan ensured that their meeting with Hong Kong on May 8 would go a long way to deciding second position. Japan enter the fray in the next round, facing Korea in Gyeonsang on Saturday.

Arabian Gulf v Hong Kong:

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The Arabian Gulf secured their maiden Asian Five Nations win by seeing off the challenge of Hong Kong 16-9 in Bahrain on Friday. Hong Kong's opening win over South Korea had given them confidence heading into the second round but in front of a small yet committed crowd the Arabian Gulf produced the goods. Fly-half James Love slotted 11 points from the boot as they got their campaign back on track after an opening round reversal to Kazakhstan in Almaty.

The only try of the game went to the home side's scrum-half Jonny MacDonald while Hong Kong were limited to three penalties from the boot of pivot Keith Robertson. "It was a great effort from the boys," Arabian Gulf skipper Michael Cox-Hill said. "They could not have given any more than they did."

Next week sees one of the pivotal matches of the entire series as Hong Kong hosts last year's runners-up Kazakhstan.

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**dudeabides** · 05-08-2010, 05:46 AM

Japan v Arabian Gulf:

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Japan have kept up their charge towards the Asian Five Nations title with a crushing 60-5 victory over the Arabian Gulf at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground in Tokyo.

John Kirwan's brave blossoms notched their second bonus point win in as many weeks against a tenacious Arabian Gulf side, who last weekend secured their maiden tournament win by seeing off Hong Kong 16-9 in Bahrain.

Centre Alisi Tupuailei combined with Dragons fly-half James Arlidge for the opener, trading passes on a simple switch move to dive over under the posts. For their second, No.8 Takashi Kikutani latched onto a long pass from Ryo Kanazawa and later turned provider for Arlidge to crash over for the third.

Prop Shinsuke Nakamura saw yellow just before the end of the half but the Gulf were unable to capitalise, instead shipping a fourth try, this time to Kosuke Endo, who scored five in last weekend's demolition of Korea.

The second-half turned into a procession as Japan turned the screw, Kaoru Matsushita beginning the scoring two minutes after the restart. Kanazawa, on debut, added a try to his earlier assist and his fellow debutant Koji Wada soon inked his name onto the scoresheet. Matsushita, Kikutani and Tupuailei all powered over for braces as time elapsed, but the Gulf were able to grab a consolation when Sean Hurley pounced while lock Toshizumi Kitagawa kicked his heels in the sin bin.

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**dudeabides** · 05-15-2010, 02:08 PM

Japan v Kazahkstan:

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Japan racked up a century of points against Kazakhstan in Tokyo on Saturday to move to within touching distance of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Brave Blossoms' 101-7 triumph means that they require only one point from their remaining Asian Five Nations game against Hong Kong next weekend to book their place at the finals.

Coach John Kirwan has lambasted his players for slow starts in their big wins over the Arabian Gulf and Korea but he could not accuse them of that on this occasion as tries from Shota Horie, Sione Vatuvei, Goshi Tachikawa and Koji Taira wrapped up the bonus point after only 17 minutes at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.

Hooker Mihail Soloviyev crossed for Kazakhstan's only try after 20 minutes but skipper Hitoshi Ono scored before the break to extend Japan's advantage, with Soloviyev also seeing yellow for a deliberate offside.

Tachikawa notched his second just over 40 seconds after the restart and Luke Thompson was soon adding the finishing touches to another score as the visitors paid dearly for their man disadvantage. Vatuvei also bagged his brace soon after and fly-half Shaun Webb added a try to his conversions from the restart.

Yasunori Nagatomo scored a quick-fire double either side of a second for Taira and Alisi Tupuailei got in on the act before the end, along with replacement scrum-half Koji Wada, to bring up the century.

Arabian Gulf v Korea:

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In the round's other game, the Arabian Gulf bowed out on a high with a 21-19 win over Korea at the Sevens in Dubai. The Arabian Gulf Rugby Union will now disband, having joined the IRB in 1990.

The home side trailed 14-6 at the break after Korea struck for tries through Park Wan Yong and Han Kun Kyu but fly-half Duncan Murray and centre Tren Eastgate bit back after the restart. James Love slotted three penalties to move the Arabian Gulf clear and despite a late try to Chae Jae Yong they were able to hang on for victory and leave Korea in the relegation zone.

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**dudeabides** · 05-20-2010, 06:44 PM

Japan are one win away from RWC (in possibly the toughest pool)

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Japan can book their place at the 2011 Rugby World Cup and clinch the Asian Five Nations crown by beating Hong Kong in Tokyo on Saturday.

Victory for the Brave Blossoms at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium will see them maintain their proud record of qualifying for every Rugby World Cup with John Kirwan's side set to join Pool A alongside hosts New Zealand, France, Tonga and Canada.

The defending champions go into their final Asian Five Nations game on the back of a huge 101-7 victory over Kazakhstan in Tokyo last weekend which gave them a six point cushion over Hong Kong at the top of the standings. And Kirwan is excited by the prospect of completing the job qualifying for the tournament in his native land.

"[The] Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport," the former Italy coach said. "It is certainly the ambition of this squad to qualify for the 2011 tournament in New Zealand. Everyone understands the importance of winning the match against Hong Kong on Saturday and it certainly has not been hard motivating the team."

It is still mathematically possible for Hong Kong to finish top of the standings if they defeat Japan with a bonus point and deny their hosts a losing or try scoring bonus point, but that prospect looks unlikely. Kazakhstan retain hope of catching Hong Kong for the second spot as they travel to Korea but require a bonus point win.

The second placed team face a cross-continental play-off against Uruguay in July. The winner of that clash will play off against Romania or the winners of Ukraine v Tunisia for the final World Cup spot alongside Argentina, England, Scotland and Georgia in Pool B.

Japan Rugby Football Union Chairman Nobby Mashimo, who presided over his country's successful bid to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup, believes rugby is gaining ground on its rivals in Asia.

"These are certainly exciting times for Rugby in this country," he said. "The awarding of Rugby World Cup 2019 to Japan, the IOC Rugby Sevens decision and the IRB Tours schedule will provide the framework for the sport to continue to grow in popularity, profile and participation across the country and in Asia."

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