HSBC ASIAN 5 NATION (A5N) RUGBY TOURNAMENT

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Week Five Preview

A tense three-way battle for second place between South Korea, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan is lighting up the final weekend of the 2009 HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 competition.

After being routed by Japan, who sealed first place in the Asian Five Nations for a second consecutive year, South Korea exited the Top 5 last weekend after mixed results that saw them finish with two wins and two losses. Korea currently lies in second place on the series table with 13 points but Kazakhstan and Hong Kong both have a game in hand.

Kazakhstan lies in third place on the table with 10 points from wins over Singapore and Korea and will play host to Hong Kong this Sunday (24 May) at the Almaty Central Stadium. Hong Kong is in fourth place on 8 points after its big win over Singapore last weekend and three bonus points.

The results give Kazakhstan a slight edge in the hunt for second place as a straight win will see them take the runners-up honours after finishing fourth in 2008. Hong Kong needs a win plus a bonus point for scoring four tries or more to overtake Korea as runners-up. Should Hong Kong win but fail to take the bonus point, Korea will take second place after their 36-34 win over Hong Kong in the head to head match-up in Seoul.

Kazakhstan is quietly confident with their home advantage this weekend and rugby in Almaty enjoying new popularity after the big home win over Korea in Week 2. Key to their hopes as ever will be the talented trio of captain and flanker Timur Mashurov, Anton "the horse" Rudoy who slots into the No. 8 spot this weekend, and the prodigious boot of fullback Maxim Lifontov.

Long-serving Kazakhstan coach Valeriy Popov is pleased with the team's results to date:

"We are confident after the win against Korea and playing at home gives us a slight advantage. Hong Kong are a good side similar to Kazakhstan in a lot of ways. They play a much more intelligent brand of rugby and have players at 9 and 10 who can control the game well. Most of all, they will be prepared to an almost professional level. They have strength in depth and good technique across the park. It should be a cracker of a game," said Popov.

For the Hong Kong match-up the Kazakhs are fortunate to have had the help of a few key support staff including former Argentina prop Fernando Diaz who is now based in Almaty, former Ireland scrum-half Steven McIvor, ex-Irish wing Denis Hickie (in town for a rugby dinner) and Murat Umbayev (a former Russia sevens star and Beziers player of Kazakh descent), all of whom have been assisting the team to prepare for the massive encounter with Hong Kong.

"If we come second it will be great for us," added Popov, "however, it is still second place and our aim is to be the top team in Asia one day so this is only a step in the right direction."

Hong Kong head coach Dai Rees is also looking forward to the clash against Kazakhstan and the conclusion of a successful first Top 5 campaign with his new charges. He has been able to draw on the return of a few of his local stars from injury for the crucial final match, particularly in sevens stars Ricky Cheuk and Keith Robertson who will further bolster a dangerous backline that accounted for nine tries against Singapore last weekend including seven tries through wing Adam Raby (4) and centre Rowan Varty (3).

Rees commented on the upcoming tie saying: "This weekend I want us to concentrate on performance and the result will look after itself. Kazakhstan will be physical and robust at the set piece and contact area. We must play our own game and take away the physical element of their game, which they rely on heavily. We must improve on and extend our performance from last week, make fewer mistakes and be more clinical when we create openings and scoring chances."

"It has been a very enjoyable first international competition for me. The improvement has been enormous over the last seven weeks and that has been down to the hard work, dedication of all the players and support staff, 95% of which hold down full time jobs away from rugby. This has translated into weekly improvement in each game and has given us the opportunity to finish 2nd behind Japan in the HSBC Asian Five Nations 2009," said Rees.

"I have really enjoyed my first season in Hong Kong, I can see areas that we will continue to improve, both on and off the field, which will go a long way to making us a prominent and consistent force in Asian rugby."

In the week's other match-up, a brave Singapore XV will bow out of the tournament by hosting Japan on Saturday at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore (kick off at 17.00 Singapore time). As the only fully amateur team in the Top 5, Singapore can look back with pride on some good performances and will rue the narrow loss against Kazakhstan at home two weeks ago that would have helped ensure promotion.

The Arabian Gulf will replace Singapore in next year's Top 5 competition as the winners of the Division I Tournament in Dubai in April, 2009. Unfortunately Singapore's Rugby World Cup dream will come to an end with their relegation to Division I in 2010. The winner of the 2010 Top 5 competition will be Asia's sole entry to the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. The second placed finisher in next year's Top 5 competition will enter the repechage process for RWC 2011.

The Kazakhstan versus Hong Kong match will be televised live on Eurosport Asia (check local listings) and will air Monday and Tuesday evenings on STAR Sports throughout Asia.

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