Korea Secures First Points on Asian Five Nations Table - Arabian Gulf Delight Fans in Doha with Strong Showing
May 09, 2008

[Friday, 9 May 2008, Al Arabi Stadium, Doha, Qatar]: Korea has secured its first points on the HSBC Asian Five Nations table with a 43-20 victory over hosts Arabian Gulf at the marvellous Al Arabi Stadium in Doha, Qatar, site of the rugby sevens competition at the 2006 Asian Games.

The win, bookended by opening and closing tries from Korean full-back Jae Young Chae, sees Korea move into 3rd place in the overall standings behind Japan and Hong Kong. Japan is away to Kazakhstan at Almaty on Saturday 10 May 2008 while Hong Kong is on its Asian Five Nations bye week.

After a 6 - 114 rout last weekend in Osaka, the Arabian Gulf proved their mettle today in front of an appreciative crowd in Doha scoring their first tries of the tournament through prop Mike Riley and fly-half Josef Czerpak.

In Friday's match action, Korea jumped to an early 19 - 0 first half lead in Doha with Chae opening the scoring in the 3rd minute. Korea added two more tries in the 12th and 14th minute through flanker Kwon Woo Youn and winger Hyun Woo Kim, before the Arabian Gulf got on the board with two penalties to Arabian Gulf full-back Paul Beard to take the teams into the half-time at 19 - 6.

An exciting second half saw the Arabian Gulf claw their way back to within 7 points after prop Mike Riley capped some strong forward play to dive over the line from close range in the 50th minute. His try was successfully converted by Beard.

As it would throughout the second half, Korea responded well to the pressure with Jung Min Kim scoring in the 58th minute, just six minutes after entering the match as a substitute. In the 73rd minute Arabian Gulf again closed the gap through a try by fly-half Josef Czerpak. His try was converted by centre Stuart Gibb to bring the score to 24 - 20 in favour of Korea.

The Arabian Gulf's dreams of securing a historic upset over the Koreans, ranked 26 places ahead of the Gulf in the IRB World Rankings in 23rd, faded when Korea added anther fivepointer through Sang Yong Moon in the 75th minute to widen its lead to 31 - 20 after the successful conversion.

Korea, a team with several professional players on contract in the Japan league,
demonstrated its superior fitness in the closing quarter of the game, scoring two more tries in the 80th and 84th minute through Ji Seon Kim and Jae Young Chae.

Arabian Gulf Wayne Marsters said his team could take a lot of positives from the match:

“After last week's result in Japan, there were a lot of questions asked and we asked questions of ourselves. Today we demonstrated that we do deserve to be in the top tier of the Asian Five Nations and that we can be competitive. Our planning for Kazakhstan started with the final whistle of tonight's game.”

The Arabian Gulf will enjoy a well-deserved bye in Week 4 of the Asian Five Nations before a crucial away match to Kazakhstan in Almaty.

In other Week 3 action, Kazakhstan host Japan at the Almaty International Stadium on Saturday, 10 May 2008, (kick-off at 3.00pm local time).

ENDS

For enquiries please contact:
Sean Moore
Tournament Operations Manager, Asian Five Nations
T: +852 9095 8889
E: asian5nations@gmail.com