2018 Asia Rugby Championship
# 2018 Asia Rugby Championship

The 2018 Asia Rugby Championship was the fourth annual rugby union series for the top-level Asia Rugby nations. The Asia Rugby Championship in 2018 formed part of the World Cup qualifying process and, as such, did not include Japan who had already qualified as the 2019 Rugby World Cup host. Hong Kong and South Korea were joined by Malaysia, promoted from Division 1, to compete in the 2018 series. Other Asian nations played in the lower division tournaments.

The format of the tri-nations series is a double round-robin where the three teams play each other twice on a home and away basis. The team finishing on top of the standings at the end of the series is declared the winner. The 2018 series winner Hong Kong advanced to a cross-regional play-off series against Oceania 4, Cook Islands, to earn a berth in the repechage tournament.

## Teams

The teams involved, with their world rankings prior to the 2018 tournament in brackets:

| Nation | Home stadium | City | Head coach | Captain |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Hong Kong (22) | Hong Kong Football Club Stadium | Hong Kong | Leigh Jones | James Cunningham |
| South Korea (31) | Incheon Namdong Asiad Rugby Field | Incheon | Choi Changryul | Lee Yong-seung |
| Malaysia (45) | National Stadium | Kuala Lumpur | Lee Nyuk Fah | Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli |

## Standings

* Advances to Cross-regional play-off series

| Pos | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Bonus points | Total points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos | Nation | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff | Bonus points | Total points |
| 1 | Hong Kong | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 227 | 44 | +183 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 | South Korea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 91 | +37 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 260 | -220 | 0 | 0 |
| Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points 4 or more tries - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points |

## Fixtures

Source: asiarugby.com

### Week 1

* 28 April 2018 16:30 MST (UTC+8)

| Malaysia | 10–35 | South Korea |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Vunimoku 61' c Con: Bin Sudin 62' Pen: Bin Sudin 70' | Report | Try: Jang Jeong-min 9' m, 48' c Penalty try 25' Kim Kwang-sik 80' c Con: Oh Youn-hyung 49', 80' (2/3) Pen: Oh Youn-hyung 3', 21', 37' |

* National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Attendance: 15000 Referee: Tim Baker (Hong Kong)

| FB | 15 | Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin |
| OC | 13 | Vatimio Rabebe |
| IC | 12 | Sakiusa Terence Gavidi |
| LW | 11 | Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin |
| FH | 10 | Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c) |
| SH | 9 | Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin |
| N8 | 8 | Timoci Vunimoku |
| OF | 7 | Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin |
| BF | 6 | Sae Faalupega |
| RL | 5 | Nathanael Tan Aik Ming |
| LL | 4 | Aporosa Duwailea |
| TP | 3 | Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Kari |
| HK | 2 | Amirul Mukminim Amizan |
| LP | 1 | Amirul Sani | 41' to 51' |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Mohd Nurazman Ramli |
| | 17 | Mohd Farid Sujari |
| | 18 | Lawrence Petrus |
| | 19 | Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey |
| | 20 | Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin |
| | 21 | Mohammad Rosmanizam Roslan |
| | 22 | Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi |
| | 23 | Mohamad Sofian Mohd Kamil |
| Coach: ||
| Lee Nyuk Fah ||
| FB | 15 | Lee Jae-bok |
| RW | 14 | Jang Jeong-min |
| OC | 13 | Lee Jin-kyu |
| IC | 12 | Kim Nam-uk |
| LW | 11 | Kang Jin-gu |
| FH | 10 | Oh Youn-hyung |
| SH | 9 | Lee Myung-jun |
| N8 | 8 | Lee Yong-seung (c) |
| OF | 7 | Jang Seok-hwan |
| BF | 6 | Kim Hyun-soo |
| RL | 5 | Lee Jin-seok |
| LL | 4 | Kim Ho-bum |
| TP | 3 | Kang Tae-hyeon |
| HK | 2 | Kim Jeep |
| LP | 1 | Na Kwan-young |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Seok Dong-hee |
| | 17 | Kim Kwang-sik |
| | 18 | Park Jong-yeol | 66' to 76' |
| | 19 | Cha Sung-kun |
| | 20 | You Ji-hoon |
| | 21 | Shin Ki-cheol |
| | 22 | Kim Jin-hyeok |
| | 23 | Jang Seong-min |
| Coach: ||
| Choi Chang-ryul ||

### Week 2

* 5 May 2018 16:30 MST (UTC+8)

| Malaysia | 8–67 | Hong Kong |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Saukuru 36' m Pen: Bin Sudin 77' | Report | Try: Lamboley 15' m, 28' m Neville 32' c Slatem 40' c Yiu 43' c, 48' m Pincott 51' c Hartley 61' c J Parfitt 67' c Keith 69' c Con: Rosslee 33', 40', 44', 52', 62', 68' 71' (7/10) Pen: Rosslee 23' |

* National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Attendance: 15000 Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

| FB | 15 | Samuela Tamanisau |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin |
| OC | 13 | Vatimio Rabebe |
| IC | 12 | Sakiusa Terence Gavidi |
| LW | 11 | Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin |
| FH | 10 | Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c) |
| SH | 9 | Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin |
| N8 | 8 | Etonia Vaqa Saukuru |
| OF | 7 | Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey |
| BF | 6 | Timoci Vunimoku |
| RL | 5 | Sae Faalupega |
| LL | 4 | Aporosa Duwailea | 13' to 23' |
| TP | 3 | Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim |
| HK | 2 | Amirul Mukminim Amizan |
| LP | 1 | Amirul Sani |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Mohd Nurazman Ramli |
| | 17 | Mohd Farid Sujari |
| | 18 | Lawrence Petrus |
| | 19 | Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin |
| | 20 | Syahmi Afiq Edan |
| | 21 | Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin |
| | 22 | Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi |
| | 23 | Asyraf Norudin |
| Coach: ||
| Lee Nyuk Fah ||
| FB | 15 | Jack Neville |
| RW | 14 | Salom Yiu Kam Shing |
| OC | 13 | Tyler Spitz |
| IC | 12 | Max Woodward |
| LW | 11 | Max Denmark |
| FH | 10 | Matthew Rosslee |
| SH | 9 | Liam Slatem |
| N8 | 8 | Thomas Lamboley |
| OF | 7 | Toby Fenn |
| BF | 6 | Nicholas Hewson |
| RL | 5 | Jamie Pincott |
| LL | 4 | James Cunningham (c) |
| TP | 3 | Dylan Rogers |
| HK | 2 | Benjamin Roberts |
| LP | 1 | Daniel Barlow |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Alexander Harris |
| | 17 | Adam Fullgrabe |
| | 18 | Jack Parfitt |
| | 19 | Kyle Sullivan |
| | 20 | Michael Parfitt |
| | 21 | Conor Hartley |
| | 22 | Robert Keith |
| | 23 | Jamie Lauder |
| Coach: ||
| Leigh Jones ||

### Week 3

* 12 May 2018 16:30 KST (UTC+9)

| South Korea | 21–30 | Hong Kong |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Jang Jeong-min 10' c Lee Yong-seung 49' c Lee Jae-bok 61' c Con: Oh Youn-hyung 12', 50', 61' (3/3) | Report | Try: Spitz 24' m Slatem 37' c Con: Rosslee 38' (1/2) Pen: Rosslee 4', 19', 31', 44', 58', 68' |

* Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium, Incheon Attendance: 1000 Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

| FB | 15 | Lee Jae-bok |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Jang Jeong-min |
| OC | 13 | Kim Jin-hyeok |
| IC | 12 | Kim Nam-uk |
| LW | 11 | Kang Jin-gu |
| FH | 10 | Oh Youn-hyung |
| SH | 9 | Lee Myung-jun |
| N8 | 8 | Lee Yong-seung (c) |
| OF | 7 | Jang Seok-hwan |
| BF | 6 | Cha Sung-kun | 35' to 45' |
| RL | 5 | Lee Jin-seok |
| LL | 4 | Kim Ho-bum |
| TP | 3 | Kang Tae-hyeon |
| HK | 2 | Kim Jeep |
| LP | 1 | Na Kwan-young |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Seok Dong-hee |
| | 17 | Kim Kwang-sik |
| | 18 | Park Jong-yeol |
| | 19 | Han Kun-kyu |
| | 20 | Kim Jeong-min |
| | 21 | Shin Ki-cheol |
| | 22 | Park Hong-sik |
| | 23 | Jang Seong-min |
| Coach: ||
| Choi Chang-ryul ||
| FB | 15 | Jack Neville |
| RW | 14 | Salom Yiu Kam Shing |
| OC | 13 | Tyler Spitz |
| IC | 12 | Max Woodward |
| LW | 11 | Max Denmark |
| FH | 10 | Matthew Rosslee |
| SH | 9 | Liam Slatem |
| N8 | 8 | Thomas Lamboley |
| OF | 7 | Toby Fenn |
| BF | 6 | Nicholas Hewson |
| RL | 5 | Kyle Sullivan |
| LL | 4 | James Cunningham (c) |
| TP | 3 | Dylan Rogers |
| HK | 2 | Benjamin Roberts |
| LP | 1 | Daniel Barlow |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Alexander Harris |
| | 17 | Adam Fullgrabe |
| | 18 | Jack Parfitt |
| | 19 | Jamie Pincott |
| | 20 | Kane Boucaut |
| | 21 | Conor Hartley |
| | 22 | Ben Rimene |
| | 23 | Jamie Lauder |
| | 24 | Michael Parfitt |
| Coach: ||
| Leigh Jones ||

### Week 4

* 19 May 2018 16:30 KST (UTC+9)

| South Korea | 67–12 | Malaysia |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Jang Seong-min 6' c, 18' c Kim Ho-bum 24' c Kim Nam-uk 29' c, 70' c Lee Jae-bok 34' c Jang Jeong-min 56' c Kim Jeong-min 64' m Kim Jin-hyeok 75' c Con: Oh Youn-hyung 7', 19', 26', 30', 35', 57', 71', 76' (8/9) Pen: Oh Youn-hyung 47' Drop: Oh Youn-hyung 68' | Report | Try: Tamanisau 42' c Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin 73' m Con: Kamsol 43' (1/2) |

* Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium, Incheon Referee: Stephen Copeman (Hong Kong)

| FB | 15 | Lee Jae-bok |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Jang Jeong-min |
| OC | 13 | Kim Jin-hyeok |
| IC | 12 | Jang Seong-min |
| LW | 11 | Kim Nam-uk |
| FH | 10 | Oh Youn-hyung |
| SH | 9 | Shin Ki-cheol |
| N8 | 8 | Lee Yong-seung (c) |
| OF | 7 | Hwang In-jo |
| BF | 6 | Cha Sung-kun |
| RL | 5 | Jang Seok-hwan |
| LL | 4 | Kim Ho-bum |
| TP | 3 | Park Jong-yeol |
| HK | 2 | You Ji-hoon |
| LP | 1 | Na Kwan-young |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Noh Ok-gi |
| | 17 | Seok Dong-hee |
| | 18 | Kang Taehyeon |
| | 19 | Lee Kwang-ho |
| | 20 | Kim Jeong-min |
| | 21 | Lee Myung-jun |
| | 22 | Kim Kun-hui |
| | 23 | Shin Min-su |
| Coach: ||
| Choi Chang-ryul ||
| FB | 15 | Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol |
| RW | 14 | Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin |
| OC | 13 | Samuela Tamanisau |
| IC | 12 | Vatimio Rabebe |
| LW | 11 | Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin (c) |
| FH | 10 | Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli |
| SH | 9 | Muhd Nur Ikqwan Nordin |
| N8 | 8 | Etonia Vaqa Saukuru |
| OF | 7 | Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey |
| BF | 6 | Timoci Vunimoku |
| RL | 5 | Sae Faalupega |
| LL | 4 | Muhammad Danial Noor Hamidi | 20' to 30' |
| TP | 3 | Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim |
| HK | 2 | Amirul Mukminim Amizan |
| LP | 1 | Lawrence Petrus |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Mohd Nurazman Ramli |
| | 17 | Mohd Farid Sujari |
| | 18 | Nas Affie Mohd Salleh |
| | 19 | Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin |
| | 20 | Hamizan Rosli |
| | 21 | Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin |
| | 22 | Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi |
| | 23 | Asyraf Norudin |
| Coach: ||
| Lee Nyuk Fah ||

### Week 5

* 26 May 2018 16:00 HKT (UTC+8)

| Hong Kong | 91–10 | Malaysia |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Pincott 3' c Denmark 6' c Hartley 16' c, 19' c, 43' c Lauder 20' c, 75' c Penalty try 26' Tsang 30' c Delaforce 53' c Neville 57' c Keith 66' c Fullgrabe 80' c Con: Rimene 4', 17', 20', 21', 31', 44', 54', 58', 67', 76', 80' (11/11) Rosslee 7' (1/1) | Report | Try: Saukuru 33' c Con: Bin Sudin 34' Pen: Kamsol 61' |

* Hong Kong Football Club Stadium, Hong Kong Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

| FB | 15 | Robert Keith |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Conor Hartley |
| OC | 13 | Tyler Spitz |
| IC | 12 | Matthew Rosslee |
| LW | 11 | Max Denmark |
| FH | 10 | Ben Rimene |
| SH | 9 | Jamie Lauder |
| N8 | 8 | Kane Boucaut |
| OF | 7 | Philip Whitfield |
| BF | 6 | Nicholas Hewson |
| RL | 5 | Jack Delaforce |
| LL | 4 | Jamie Pincott |
| TP | 3 | Jack Parfitt |
| HK | 2 | Jamie Tsang (c) |
| LP | 1 | Adam Fullgrabe |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Edward Soppet |
| | 17 | Callum McFeat-Smith |
| | 18 | Ronan Donnelly |
| | 19 | Thomas Lamboley |
| | 20 | Michael Parfitt |
| | 21 | Cris Pierrepont |
| | 22 | Henry Poon Yau Him |
| | 23 | Jack Neville |
| | 24 | Kyle Sullivan |
| Coach: ||
| Leigh Jones ||
| FB | 15 | Mohamad Aiman Jamaluddin |
| RW | 14 | Samuela Tamanisau | 13' to 23' |
| OC | 13 | Vatimio Rabebe |
| IC | 12 | Atunasia Lacadamu Takubu |
| LW | 11 | Mohd Azmir Zanul Abdin |
| FH | 10 | Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli (c) |
| SH | 9 | Aliff Sazrie Bin Azmi |
| N8 | 8 | Etonia Vaqa Saukuru |
| OF | 7 | Mohamad Syarif Saiful Aazwan Bin Sudin |
| BF | 6 | Timoci Vunimoku |
| RL | 5 | Sae Faalupega |
| LL | 4 | Mohd Aliff Al Hafiz Abdul Karim | 50' to 60' |
| TP | 3 | Lawrence Petrus |
| HK | 2 | Amirul Mukminim Amizan |
| LP | 1 | Mohd Farid Sujari |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Mohd Nurazman Ramli |
| | 17 | Hamizan Rosli |
| | 18 | Nas Affie Mohd Salleh |
| | 19 | Syarif Nurhidayat Muzhaimey |
| | 20 | Mohamad Amin Jamaluddin |
| | 21 | Muhammad Danial Noor Hamidi |
| | 22 | Muhamad Amirul Aqil Kamsol |
| | 23 | Asyraf Norudin |
| Coach: ||
| Lee Nyuk Fah ||

### Week 6

* 2 June 2018 16:00 HKT (UTC+8)

| Hong Kong | 39–5 | South Korea |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Rosslee 13' c Slatem 24' c, 38' c Yiu 30' c Lauder 75' m Con: Rosslee 14', 25', 31', 39' (4/5) Pen: Rosslee 8', 50' | Report | Try: Lee Yong-seung 54' m |

* Hong Kong Football Club Stadium, Hong Kong Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Japan)

| FB | 15 | Robert Keith |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Salom Yiu Kam Shing |
| OC | 13 | Jack Neville |
| IC | 12 | Max Woodward |
| LW | 11 | Conor Hartley |
| FH | 10 | Matthew Rosslee |
| SH | 9 | Liam Slatem |
| N8 | 8 | Thomas Lamboley |
| OF | 7 | Toby Fenn |
| BF | 6 | Nicholas Hewson |
| RL | 5 | Kyle Sullivan |
| LL | 4 | James Cunningham (c) |
| TP | 3 | Dylan Rogers |
| HK | 2 | Ben Roberts |
| LP | 1 | Daniel Barlow |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Jamie Tsang |
| | 17 | Adam Fullgrabe |
| | 18 | Jack Parfitt |
| | 19 | Michael Parfitt |
| | 20 | Kane Boucaut |
| | 21 | Cris Pierrepont |
| | 22 | Jamie Lauder |
| | 23 | Max Denmark |
| | 24 | Tyler Spitz |
| Coach: ||
| Leigh Jones ||
| FB | 15 | Lee Jae-bok |
| RW | 14 | Jang Jeong-min |
| OC | 13 | Jang Seong-min | 73' to 80' |
| IC | 12 | Kim Seongu |
| LW | 11 | Kim Nam-uk |
| FH | 10 | Oh Youn-hyung |
| SH | 9 | Shin Ki-cheol |
| N8 | 8 | Lee Yong-seung (c) |
| OF | 7 | Hwang Injo |
| BF | 6 | Cha Sung-kun |
| RL | 5 | Lee Jin-seok |
| LL | 4 | Jang Seok-hwan |
| TP | 3 | Kang Tae-hyeon | 34' to 44' |
| HK | 2 | You Ji-hoon |
| LP | 1 | Na Kwan-young |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Noh Ok-gi |
| | 17 | Seok Dong-hee |
| | 18 | Park Jong-yeol |
| | 19 | Lee Kwang-ho |
| | 20 | Kim Jeong-min |
| | 21 | Lee Myung-jun |
| | 22 | Park Hong-sik |
| | 23 | Kim Jinhyeok |
| Coach: ||
| Choi Chang-ryul ||
