TEST RUGBY: Korea reclaims HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5 Spot for 2012

58 – 19 win over Singapore sees Korea rejoin Asian rugby elite

[Ansan, Korea, June 4 2011]

Korea turned in a much improved performance in today’s Division I final to reclaim its traditional spot in Asia’s elite rugby competition, the HSBC Asian Five Nations Top 5, in 2012.

In today’s 3^rd/4^th place playoff the Philippines powered past Malaysia 86 – 20 to maintain its Division I placing, continuing a steady ascent for the Volcanoes who have moved up four divisions since starting the HSBC A5N in regional competition back in 2008.

Korea will play in Asia Five Nations
in 2012.

After conceding an opening minute penalty to Singaporean flyhalf M Suhaimi Amran, Korea replied with a beautifully worked kick-ahead try that was caught on the fly by winger Kim Won Yong for his first of two tries in the opening half. Moments later, Korea added another try to centre Kim, Sung Soo (who also scored a first half brace today) to jump out to a 14-3 lead at the ten minute mark.

Singapore continued to chip away at the lead through another well-taken penalty by Amran before Kim Sung Soo’s second try in the 19^th minute. Kim Won Yong’s second try of the first half came five minutes later to bring the scores to 26-6 after flyhalf Hong Jun Ki’s fourth straight conversion of the half.

Singapore’s Amran added another penalty with ten minutes to go into the half to bring the halftime score to 26-9. Amran’s strong performance with the boot today and in last Wednesday’s opening encounter against Malaysia saw him finish with tournament top scorer honours with 26 points over two matches (7 conversions, 4 penalties).

In the second half, Korean flyhalf Hong Jun Ki opened with a penalty of his own to edge the hosts out front 29-9 before Singapore scored its first try of the game through centre Nicholas Groen. Amran converted the try to bring Singapore’s Rugby Lions within two converted tries at 29-16.

Momentum seemed to be shifting towards Singapore when Korean fullback Choi Si Won was sin-binned for infringement and Singapore converted the resulting penalty to close within ten points. But Korea was not to be undone as backs reserve Kim, Nam Wook scored a crushing blow, touching down in the corner just one minute after Singapore’s penalty. Kim Nam Wook added another try in the second half, becoming the third Korean back to score a brace in a single half today.

Winger Kim Kwang Min then crossed the line, adding to his two tries in the opening semi final versus Philippines to widen the gap to 20 points at 39-19. Kim Nam Wook’s second try brought Korea’s lead to 46-19 and was quickly followed by a try to hard-charging No 8 Han Kun Kyu. Hong Jun Ki’s conversion widened the score to 51-19.

Korean winger Kim, Kwang Min
adding to his tally of tries from
Wednesday.

Kim Kwang Min soon added his second try (bringing the total of Korean backs to score two tries in a single half today to four) and closing out the scoring at a convincing 58-19 in favour of the hosts. Kim Kwang Min finished as the joint top try scorer of the HSBC A5N Division I with four tries alongside the Philippines’ Justin Coveney.

After the match, Singapore coach Des Thornton commented on the result saying, “We were in reach for most of today’s game and I thought that we would come back in the second half but it wasn’t to be.”

“It was important to secure our spot in Division I for another year and I believe we will come back stronger next year. I’m proud of the boys and they should be proud of themselves. They played at a level that is significantly higher than club level in Singapore and I don’t think we are too far off the pace of the Top 5 teams. I am sure there is more to come from Singapore rugby,” added Thornton.

Korea coach Kim Myung Joo commented on his team’s victory saying, “I’m relatively pleased with today’s win. The players gave a good effort, but we still only played to our patterns for short periods. Fortunately this was enough to get the win and achieve our goal of returning to the Top 5. Reaching the Top 5 is important for Korean rugby to regain our confidence after being relegated last year”, added Kim.

“This year we blended our domestic players with those playing professionally in Japan, both in the Top League and in the Kansai league (lower level). Now we want to throw the net a bit wider and look for Japan-born Korean players as well as from other established rugby nations. By bringing the full strength of Korean rugby to bear in the Top 5 we can avoid putting ourselves in the situation of having to win promotion again,” said Kim.

HSBC Asian 5 Nations 2011 Division I Final

Match: Korea vs Singapore

Half- time score: 26 – 9

Full- time score: 58 – 19

Statistics

Name	Country	Try	Conv.	Pen.	DG	Total (pts)
M. Suhaimi Amran	Singapore		1	4		14
Wong Yong Kim	Korea	2				10
Jun Ki Hong	Korea		5	1		13
Sung Soo Kim	Korea	2				10
Nicholas Groen	Singapore	1				5
Nam Wook Kim	Korea	2				10
Kwang Min Kim	Korea	2				10
Kun Kyu Han	Korea	1				5

ENDS

For more information on:

HSBC Asian 5 Nations/ARFU – Sean Moore, Tournament Operations Manager, Mob: +852 9095-8889, Email: sean.moore@elitestep.com