ASIA NATIONS TEST RUGBY TOURNAMENT: Div.4

Qatar and Lebanon set up HSBC A5N Division IV Final rematch

[Dubai, April 25, 2012]:  Qatar made a strong statement of its intent to defend its HSBC A5N (HSBC A5N) Division IV title by posting 12 tries and seven conversions in its 74-13 opening semi final win over Uzbekistan.  In the earlier semi final, Lebanon squeaked past Jordan 25-19 to set up a rematch of last year’s HSBC A5N Division IV final with Qatar.

Third seeds Jordan will face bottom ranked Uzbekistan in the 3^rd/4th place playoff on Friday, April 27 (15.30) ahead of the Division IV final (17.45) at The Sevens grounds in Dubai.

Jordan pushed Lebanon to the edge in a see-saw match that saw the Jordanians dominate the early possession and jump out to an 11-3 lead midway through the first half. Lebanon then reasserted itself to dominate the second part of the first half and pull back to a 15-11 lead at half-time.

The difference came down to a series of second half sin-bins, one for each team, with Lebanon the first offender. Jordan used their numerical advantage to pull ahead at 19-15 but then lost its own player to the bin. Handed its own man advantage, Lebanon scored 10 unanswered points to pull into the lead at 25-19. Despite camping out in the Lebanese 22 for the last five minutes of the match, Jordan was unable to cross the line and were relegated to the 3^rd/4^th place play-off.

Jordan flyhalf Jamal Masri paced all scorers in the first semi final with 14 points on a try and three penalties.  Lebanese flyhalf Karim Jammal led his team on ten points from two penalties and two conversions.

Lebanon coach Steve Wrigglesworth commented on the win saying, “It was very tight. Too close really, nip and tuck throughout, but we said at halftime that we had it within us to play good rugby and we just needed to control the game better. We did that when it counted and I’m proud of the lads. We've seen Qatar and they look well drilled and are in good shape. We now need to reflect on our own game, do our homework and come back ready to go,” concluded Wrigglesworth.

In tonight’s second semi final, defending champions Qatar continued to stamp their imprint on Division IV after winning the competition on their HSBC A5N debut last year. Qatar made a strong statement in its semi final, quickly putting the match out of reach and never looking back as they went on to post 12 tries and overwhelm their opponents.

Former Arabian Gulf international Paul Beard paced the Qatar XV from flyhalf today with 14 points on seven conversions. Qatar captain Liam Frost was joint top try scorer in the second semi final with two, tied with Qatari winger Mubarak Al Malik who scored his own brace.

Frost credited the Uzbekistanis saying, “Those guys are hard. They are tough and the score line was a bit harsh on them. But we know we have a good side, a better side than we had last year. We are confident and it means a lot to us.

 

“We want the win and it was great to see our Qatari nationals on the wing score. I’m confident we can pip Lebanon but it’s going to be a great game on Friday,” added Frost.

The semi finals results set up a rematch of last year’s HSBC A5N Division IV championship and 3^rd/4^th matches. Jordan will again face Uzbekistan, whom they narrowly defeated in last year’s 3^rd/4^th play-off 17-14. In last year’s final, Qatar outlasted Lebanon 29-14.

The HSBC A5N Division IV will be played as a curtain raiser to the opening match of the 2012 HSBC A5N Top 5 competition as UAE hosts Hong Kong in week one.  That match will kick off at 20.00.

Adding to the festival of rugby in store at The Sevens on Friday is an exhibition sevens series between Afghanistan, who mark their debut ARFU competition in 2012, and the UAE Shaheen, UAE Rugby’s all-Emirati development team.  Those games will be played between the Division IV and Top 5 games. 

Entrance to Friday’s matches is free.  The Top 5 match between UAE and Hong Kong will be televised LIVE across Asia on ESPN Star Sports, locally on Dubai Sports Channel, and regionally throughout the Middle East and North Africa on Al Jazeera.

For more information on the HSBC Asian 5 Nations please visit www.asian5nations.com or like us on Twitter @asian5nations and Facebook at www.facebook.com/HSBC.A5N.

About HSBC and Rugby

HSBC is a long-term investor in Rugby in Asia and around the world. As well as being the title sponsor of the Sevens World Series, Asian 5 Nations and Asian Sevens Series, the bank is co-title sponsor of the Hong Kong Sevens from 2012. HSBC is the Principal Partner of all the Hong Kong rugby teams, and the British & Irish Lions, who will play in Hong Kong in 2013 en route to Australia. The bank is also the title sponsor of the Waratahs Super 15 team in Australia, the Penguin International Coaching Academy and the Cobra 10s tournament in Malaysia.

 

Match Statistics

HSBC Asian 5 Nations Division IV 2012

Semi Final 1:                 Lebanon vs  Jordan

Half- time score:            15 – 11             Full- time score:            25 – 19

Jersey	Team	Name	Event	Score
10	JOR	Jamal Masri	Penalty	0-3
10	JOR	Jamal Masri	Penalty	0-3
10	LEB	Karim Jammal	Penalty	3-6
3	JOR	Faisal Soudun	Try	3-11
15	LEB	Thomas Saliba	Try	8-11
10	LEB	Karim Jammal	Conversion	10-11
12	LEB	Jad Al Hachem	Try	15-11
Second Half
10	JOR	Jamal Masri	Try	15-16
10	JOR	Jamal Masri	Penalty	15-19
22	LEB	Jamie Grey	Try	20-19
10	LEB	Karim Jammal	Conversion	22-19
10	LEB	Karim Jammal	Penalty	25-19

 

Scoring Leaders

Name	Country	Try	Conversion	Penalty	DG	Total
Jamal Masri	JOR	1		3		14
Karim Jammal	LEB		2	2		10
Faisal Soudun	JOR	1				5
Thomas Saliba	LEB	1				5
Jad Al Hachem	LEB	1				5
Jamie Grey	LEB	1				5

 

Semi Final II:   Qatar vs  Uzbekistan

Half- time score:            38 – 10             Full- time score:            74 –13

Jersey	Team	Name	Event	Score
14	QTR	Mubarak Al Malik	Try	5-0
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	7-0
3	QTR	Aaron Salmon	Try	12-0
13	UZB	Akbar Sattaev	Penalty	12-3
7	QTR	Tom Featherstone	Try	17-3
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	19-3
15	QTR	Adam Beadon	Try	24-3
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	26-3
4	QTR	Aaron Palmer	Try	31-3
8	UZB	Sergey Komarin	Try	31-8
13	UZB	Akbar Sattaev	Conversion	31-10
14	QTR	Mubarak Al Malik	Try	36-10
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	38-10
Second Half
1	QTR	Darshan Goontiellke	Try	43-10
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	45-10
11	QTR	Abdul Karrem Al Muhanndi	Try	50-10
16	QTR	Jaco De Jager	Try	55-10
2	QTR	Shane Kelly	Try	60-10
12	QTR	Liam Frost	Try	65-10
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	67-10
9	UZB	Radik Talipov	Drop Goal	67-13
12	QTR	Liam Frost	Try	72-13
10	QTR	Paul Beard	Conversion	74-13

Scoring Leaders

Name	Country	Try	Conversion	Penalty	DG	Total
Paul Beard	Qatar		7			14
Mubarak Al Malik	Qatar	2				10
Liam Frost	Qatar	2				10
Aaron Salmon	Qatar	1				5
Tom Featherstone	Qatar	1				5
Adam Beadon	Qatar	1				5
Aaron Palmer	Qatar	1				5
Sergey Komarin	Uzbekistan	1				5
Darshan Goontiellke	Qatar	1				5
Abdul Karrem Al Muhanndi	Qatar	1				5
Jaco De Jager	Qatar	1				5
Shane Kelly	Qatar	1				5
Akbar Sattaev	Uzbekistan		1	1		5

Ends

 

For inquires or to arrange interviews please contact Sean Moore, Tournament Operations Manager of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations on on sean.moore@elitestep.com or +852 9095 8889.