| 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 |
←2007 2009 → | |
The2008 Asian Five Nations, known as the2008 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship byHSBC, was the inaugural series of the newly formatted Asianrugby union tournament, theAsian Five Nations. It is the flagship competition devised by theInternational 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.
The teams involved, with their world rankings pre tournament, were:
Hong Kong (30) Japan (18) Kazakhstan (33) South Korea (23)| 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 |
| Date | Match | Result | Venue |
| 2008-04-26 | Korea –Japan | 17–39 | Munhak Stadium,Incheon |
| 2008-04-26 | Arabian Gulf –Hong Kong | 12–20 | Al Ain |
| 2008-05-03 | Japan – Arabian Gulf | 114–6 | Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium,Osaka |
| 2008-05-03 | Hong Kong – Kazakhstan | 23–17 | Hong Kong |
| 2008-05-09 | Arabian Gulf –Korea | 20–43 | Al Arabi Stadium,Doha |
| 2008-05-11 | Kazakhstan –Japan | 6–82 | Almaty |
| 2008-05-18 | Japan – Hong Kong | 75–29 | Tohoku Denryoku Big Swan Stadium,Niigata |
| 2008-05-18 | Korea – Kazakhstan | 40–21 | South Korea |
| 2008-05-24 | Kazakhstan – Arabian Gulf | 56–27 | Taldykorgan |
| 2008-05-24 | Hong Kong –Korea | 24–50 | King's Park,Hong Kong |
