Singapore will kick off their first campaign in the top tier of the HSBC Asian Five Nations with a visit to Seoul to tackle 2008 runners-up Korea on the opening weekend in April.
Last year’s winners of Division I have replaced bottom side Arabian Gulf in the 2009 Top Five, which begins on 25 April and runs over five consecutive weekends in a round robin format.
Japan, who scored four bonus point victories to claim the inaugural title in 2008, will begin their defence against Kazakhstan at the Hanazono Stadium in Osaka the same day.
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Singapore sit out week two with Hong Kong playing their first match against Japan, while Kazakhstan entertain Korea in Almaty. Hong Kong tackle Korea in week three when Singapore host Kazakhstan in Yio Chu Kang Stadium.
Round four will see a potential title decider played out in Osaka when Japan face Korea – a match the eventual champions won 39-17 last season - on the same weekend as Singapore travel to Hong Kong.
In the final weekend of the Top Five Singapore welcome Japan to Yio Chu Kang Stadium on 23 May, the day before the final match of the 2009 competition in Almaty between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong.
The Top Five, however, is only the pinnacle of a pyramid of three divisional and three regional competitions involving the 26 members of the Asian Rugby Football Union with matches taking place from the Arabian Gulf to Uzbekistan.
Promotion and relegation
Division I, which like the Top Five in 2009 forms part of the region’s qualifying process for Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, will take place at 'The Sevens' in Dubai from 8-11 April.
The venue for last weekend’s Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 showpiece will host two match days, with Chinese Taipei facing Sri Lanka and Arabian Gulf meeting Division II champions Thailand on 8 April.
The two winners of these matches will then contest the final on 11 April with the side that emerges victorious to replace the bottom side in the Top Five competition in 2010. The losers will meet to determine the side relegated.
Four more sides will compete in Division II in Kuala Lumpur from 3-6 June with China, relegated from Division I last year, facing Pakistan and hosts Malaysia meeting India on day one.
The second day will again determine the side promoted to Division I next year and also the side relegated to the new Division III competition, which will involve the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia and Iran in 2009.
Three of the four sides – Guam the exception – each won one of the three regional tournaments which took place in 2008 and while the tournament in Manila in July will feature promotion, there will be no relegation in the first year.
Newcomers to regional level
Beneath this newly introduced level are three further regional round robin tournaments involving nine nations, four of whom will be making their first appearances in the Asian Five Nations competition.
Laos host the first tournament to kick off later this month with Cambodia and Brunei, while Kyrgyzstan and newcomers Jordan will travel to Uzbekistan for the 6-13 June competition.
Macau will host the remaining regional tournament, although the dates are yet to be confirmed for the visit of fellow Asian Five Nations newcomers Mongolia and Qatar.
“The Asian Rugby community is eagerly awaiting the kick-off of the second year of the HSBC Asian Five Nations and is excited about the continued growth of the tournament and ARFU,” said ARFU President Choi Won Tae.
“The Asian Five Nations is a strong platform to showcase the strength of Asian rugby, particularly this year with the decision on the Japan Rugby Football Union’s bid for hosting the Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019 coming up on July 28.”
