''For main Top 5 Division, see:
2008 Asian Five Nations
''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 un ...
''
The 2008 Asian Five Nations division tournaments, known as the 2008 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
, refer to the Asian Five Nations divisions played within the tournament. This was the 1st series of the Asian Five Nations, following the merge of the
ARFU Asian Rugby Series
The Asian Rugby Series was an international rugby union competition held between Asian national rugby sides. The tournament started in 2003, initially as an alternative to the ARFU Asian Rugby Championship, but was merged with the ARC in 2008, to ...
and
Asian Rugby Championship
The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...
.
There were two main divisions, with three further regional divisions. The winners of Division 1 would be promoted up to the Top Division for 2009, as will the winner of Division 2 being promoted to Division 1. The loser of Division 1, drops to Division 2.
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:
Division 1
* (48)
* (55)
* (50)
Division 2
* (81)
* (79)
* (NA)
* (65)
South-East Asia Division
* (NA)
* (NA)
* (NA)
Pacific-Asia Division
* (NA)
* (83)
* (NA)
Central Asia Division
* (NA)
* (NA)
* (NA)
Other Regions
* (NA)
* (NA)
* (NA)
Division 1
Standings
*
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
withdrew due to lack of visa availability and were relegated to Division Two.
*Standings were determined according to the same method used in the HSBC Asian Five Nations championship.
*Singapore promoted to main tournament for
2009 edition.
Fixtures
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Division 2
Division Two served as the first round of
qualifying for the
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...
, as the Division Two champion would be promoted to Division One for 2009 and have the opportunity to be promoted to the HSBC Asian Five Nations for the 2010 season. The 2010 HSBC Asian Five Nations will be the final qualifying stage for the
Asian representative at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Fixtures
Semi finals
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Third v Fourth Final
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Final
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*Tournament winner Thailand promoted to Division One for 2009.
*There will be no relegation for fourth placed team Pakistan.
Regional Divisions
South-East Asia
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Pacific-Asia
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Central Asia
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Other Regions
*Cancelled
References
External links
Asian 5 nations
on itsrugby.co.uk
Pakistan Rugby Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Nations
Asian Five Nations division tournaments, 2008
2008 in Asian rugby union
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...