Day One Results of Borneo Sevens

Japan, Hong Kong and China top Pools after Day One of Borneo Sevens

[ARFU.COM]: Japan, Hong Kong and China topped their respective pools after the first day’s play in the Borneo Sevens in sunny Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
Japan finished the day with an unblemished record of three games, three wins, scoring 105 points and conceding none in today’s play. The Brave Blossoms were particularly impressive in blanking an in-form Malaysia 22 – nil in today’s final Pool A game. Malaysia went two and one from its three matches on the way to posting a points for and against of 66 to 22, good for second place in the pool.

The loss was Malaysia’s first of the day after both of the top two Pool A seeds surpassed Thailand and Indonesia. Thailand took its revenge for going winless throughout the day with a 41-0 victory over Indonesia, a side that is competing in its first Asian Rugby Sevens Series event of the year and its first sevens tournament as a national team in several years.

An injury racked Hong Kong topped Group B today after edging Korea 14-12. Korea was the winners of the Shanghai Sevens, the other ranking event on this year’s Asian Rugby Sevens Series, in September. The Koreans can take solace by the fact that in Shanghai they also lost to Hong Kong in the pool round before going on to win the tournament, beating Japan in the final. The thrilling win put Hong Kong into clear first place with an undefeated record and a plus +83 points total for the day.

Another team making its debut on the new Asian Rugby Sevens Series today, Guam put in a highly creditable performance today. Guam ran Korea close in the first Pool B match losing just 14-19. Guam also put points on the board against Hong Kong losing 38-14 and beat Brunei 38-5 in its 3rd/4th seed pool match to make its way into tomorrow’s Cup competition.

Top seed in Pool C China neatly dispatched its main opponents in the pool Chinese Taipei with a 40-14 win. Both teams made short work of their pool mates, beating India and Philippines easily.

Philippines, the runners-up in the Brunei Sevens a week ago (losing in the finals to Malaysia) continued their strong form giving up just 14 points to China in its opening match. The Philippines Volcanoes then nearly upset the formbook today as they were leading third seed India 7-nil until letting the Indians cross over for the game winner deep in injury time to concede the draw.

The performances from Guam, the Philippines and Malaysia, (winners of last week’s Brunei Sevens), all of whom are participating in their first Asian Rugby Sevens Series ranking event continue to point out the parity in Asian Sevens and bode well for the continued development of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series.

At the end of day one, Japan, China and Hong Kong topped the points table with perfect records and nine points, followed by Korea and Malaysia on seven. Philippines occupied sole position on 6 points with its draw against India while Guam, Thailand and Chinese Taipei finished with five points. India ended on four points and Indonesia with three. Thailand advanced to the Cup competition ahead of Chinese Taipei with a +2 points differential.

The results see Japan and Thailand in the first Cup Quarterfinal that will kick off at 10.00 tomorrow (Malaysia time). Korea take on the Philippines, Hong Kong face Guam and China meets Malaysia in the other three Quarterfinals which will be held at 10.20, 10.40 and 11.00 respectively.

Chinese Taipei will face Indonesia and Brunei and India meet in the Bowl Semifinals.
In today’s women’s competition, Thailand, the second ranked team in Asian women’s sevens overpowered India and Malaysia 39-0 and 52-0. In their game, India beat Malaysia 21-10.
Borneo Sevens Day One results

Chinese Taipei 24 India 0
China 14 Philippines 0
Korea 19 Guam 14
Hong Kong 62 Brunei 5
Malaysia 34 Thailand 0
Japan 57 Indonesia 0
Chinese Taipei 5 Philippines 24
China 45 India 0
Korea 56 Brunei 0
Hong Kong 38 Guam 14
Malaysia 32 Indonesia 0
Japan 26 Thailand 0
India 7 Philippines 7
China 40 Chinese Taipei 14
Guam 38 Brunei 5
Hong Kong 14 Korea 12
Thailand 41 Indonesia 0
Japan 22 Malaysia 0

Asia Sevens marches on, next stop Kota Kinabulu

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ASIAN RUGBY SEVENS SERIES VISITS BORNEO
Competitive new Series will be even tighter with inclusion of Malaysia
[Hong Kong, October 28 2009]: The Asian Rugby Sevens Series rolls into Malaysian Borneo this weekend. The Borneo Sevens is hosted by the Malaysian Rugby Union at the Likas Stadium in Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, 2009. Borneo is the second ranking event on the Series after the Shanghai Sevens in September.
Borneo is the world’s third largest island and an important natural refuge for a tremendous array of plant and animal life including Orangutans, Asian Elephants, Sumatran Rhinoceros, and Bornean Clouded Leopards; the rugby action promises to be equally wild this weekend as 12 of Asia’s top sevens nations contest the final ranking event in the inaugural year of the series.
The success of the Shanghai Sevens in September proved the viability of an Asian sevens series concept as in China all of the top five teams were in with a strong chance of winning, producing a thrilling weekend of rugby. The Series has also been given a significant boost by the IOC's decision to include Sevens in the Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020.

In Borneo, the challenge will be even greater as the top teams from Shanghai return to action alongside a rampant Malaysian team that swept last weekend’s Brunei Sevens without a loss and is hitting peak form for their home event.
The participating teams in Borneo are Japan (1st seed), Hong Kong (2), China (3), Chinese Taipei (4), Korea (5), Malaysia (6), Thailand (7), Guam (8), India (9), Philippines (10), Brunei (11) and Indonesia (12). The seedings for Borneo are the same as those for the Shanghai Sevens and are based on the results from the Asian Rugby World Cup Sevens Qualifiers in October 2008.
The teams have been grouped into three pools of four with a round robin pool round followed by knockout matches. The pools for Borneo see Japan, runners-up in Shanghai, squaring off against Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in Pool A. Pool B is headed by Hong Kong, bronze medallists in Shanghai, with Korea, gold medal winners in Shanghai, Guam and Brunei. Pool C sees third seed China taking on fourth seed Chinese Taipei, India and the Philippines.
One of the key objectives of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series is to provide a sevens-specific ranking of Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) nations. This ranking will be used for future ARFU tournaments and multi-sport events when applicable and will be a major factor in identifying participating teams from Asia for IRB World Sevens Series events. In the first year of the Series only the Shanghai and Borneo Sevens have been awarded ranking status.
Asian Rugby Sevens Series rankings are based on 12-team tournaments. The rankings see the gold medal winners receive 12 points, silver medallists 11 points, bronze medalists ten points and so on down to the last placed team that receives one point.
Mr Jarrad Gallagher, IRB General Manager for Asia said, "The Series started with a bang and the interesting thing that came out of Shanghai was that there were five teams who could have won it. Right from the start it has been extremely competitive and now Malaysia has thrust itself into the mix in Brunei and represents an unknown quantity for the teams that played in Shanghai. We are expecting another exciting tournament this weekend in Borneo.”
"We've already got five events in 2009. Next year we'll have India knocking on the door with their test event for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, so we're providing a great platform for our Asian teams to have competitive matches on a regular basis. I believe that in the space of one or two years we will see a marked improvement.”

The Asian Rugby Sevens Series event at the Borneo Sevens will be played concurrently within a wider club based tournament that also features women’s rugby. Match results and photos will be distributed at end of day Malaysia Time.

About the Asian Rugby Sevens Series:
The Asian Rugby Sevens Series was launched in September 2009 with the first event being in Shanghai in September. Two of the five events on the inaugural calendar (Shanghai and Borneo) have been awarded official Rankings Status. The Asian Rugby Sevens Series is sanctioned by the Asian Rugby Football Union and International Rugby Board.
2009 Asian Rugby Sevens Series Schedule
Shanghai Sevens, China - September 12-13
Brunei Sevens - October 24-25
Borneo Sevens, Kota Kinabalu - October 31 - November 1
Kish Island Sevens, Iran - November 20-22
Sri Lanka Sevens, November 28-29

Asia Sevens marches on, next stop Kota Kinabulu

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ASIAN RUGBY SEVENS SERIES VISITS BORNEO
Competitive new Series will be even tighter with inclusion of Malaysia
[Hong Kong, October 28 2009]: The Asian Rugby Sevens Series rolls into Malaysian Borneo this weekend. The Borneo Sevens is hosted by the Malaysian Rugby Union at the Likas Stadium in Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, 2009. Borneo is the second ranking event on the Series after the Shanghai Sevens in September.
Borneo is the world’s third largest island and an important natural refuge for a tremendous array of plant and animal life including Orangutans, Asian Elephants, Sumatran Rhinoceros, and Bornean Clouded Leopards; the rugby action promises to be equally wild this weekend as 12 of Asia’s top sevens nations contest the final ranking event in the inaugural year of the series.
The success of the Shanghai Sevens in September proved the viability of an Asian sevens series concept as in China all of the top five teams were in with a strong chance of winning, producing a thrilling weekend of rugby. The Series has also been given a significant boost by the IOC's decision to include Sevens in the Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020.

In Borneo, the challenge will be even greater as the top teams from Shanghai return to action alongside a rampant Malaysian team that swept last weekend’s Brunei Sevens without a loss and is hitting peak form for their home event.
The participating teams in Borneo are Japan (1st seed), Hong Kong (2), China (3), Chinese Taipei (4), Korea (5), Malaysia (6), Thailand (7), Guam (8), India (9), Philippines (10), Brunei (11) and Indonesia (12). The seedings for Borneo are the same as those for the Shanghai Sevens and are based on the results from the Asian Rugby World Cup Sevens Qualifiers in October 2008.
The teams have been grouped into three pools of four with a round robin pool round followed by knockout matches. The pools for Borneo see Japan, runners-up in Shanghai, squaring off against Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in Pool A. Pool B is headed by Hong Kong, bronze medallists in Shanghai, with Korea, gold medal winners in Shanghai, Guam and Brunei. Pool C sees third seed China taking on fourth seed Chinese Taipei, India and the Philippines.
One of the key objectives of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series is to provide a sevens-specific ranking of Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) nations. This ranking will be used for future ARFU tournaments and multi-sport events when applicable and will be a major factor in identifying participating teams from Asia for IRB World Sevens Series events. In the first year of the Series only the Shanghai and Borneo Sevens have been awarded ranking status.
Asian Rugby Sevens Series rankings are based on 12-team tournaments. The rankings see the gold medal winners receive 12 points, silver medallists 11 points, bronze medalists ten points and so on down to the last placed team that receives one point.
Mr Jarrad Gallagher, IRB General Manager for Asia said, "The Series started with a bang and the interesting thing that came out of Shanghai was that there were five teams who could have won it. Right from the start it has been extremely competitive and now Malaysia has thrust itself into the mix in Brunei and represents an unknown quantity for the teams that played in Shanghai. We are expecting another exciting tournament this weekend in Borneo.”
"We've already got five events in 2009. Next year we'll have India knocking on the door with their test event for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, so we're providing a great platform for our Asian teams to have competitive matches on a regular basis. I believe that in the space of one or two years we will see a marked improvement.”

The Asian Rugby Sevens Series event at the Borneo Sevens will be played concurrently within a wider club based tournament that also features women’s rugby. Match results and photos will be distributed at end of day Malaysia Time.

About the Asian Rugby Sevens Series:
The Asian Rugby Sevens Series was launched in September 2009 with the first event being in Shanghai in September. Two of the five events on the inaugural calendar (Shanghai and Borneo) have been awarded official Rankings Status. The Asian Rugby Sevens Series is sanctioned by the Asian Rugby Football Union and International Rugby Board.
2009 Asian Rugby Sevens Series Schedule
Shanghai Sevens, China - September 12-13
Brunei Sevens - October 24-25
Borneo Sevens, Kota Kinabalu - October 31 - November 1
Kish Island Sevens, Iran - November 20-22
Sri Lanka Sevens, November 28-29

They don't look Japanese

But the Koreans look like they might be from Korea!!

Touch in Incheon

Looks like touch rugby is starting in Incheon http://www.koreatouch.com/news/3-general/42-social-touch-in-incheon
Let's go!!

Introducing rugby in Goyang City, Korea

To take a look at
- the pitch in Goyang City
- Henry and other 5 volunteers
You may visit http://cafe.daum.net/CouncilofRugbyKorea

and click '동영상보기'
You may find the first session on 17th October, at a brand new pitch with Henry and the other instructors.
Henry (with black trainers, beared) and Casey (upper red, blue trainers).
You are welcome to visit this pitch at any time.
Their next session is on 24th Oct, at 3 PM.

Beijing rugby comes to Seoul

The Oakwood Seoul Survivors RFC take on the Beijing Devils in this clash of old rivals on the banks of the Han River, Saturday 24th of October.We're aiming for an early afternoon kickoff. It'll be a great opportunity to enjoy the mild Fall weather. All family and friends welcome.Details may change. Stay tuned.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157768431015

Rugby is in the Olympics!!

2016 and the carnival in Rio beckons….a festival of rugby in the world’s party town….it won’t get a better start than this!! Will the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympics be the wake-up call that Korea needs? Will it be the focal point that allows the disparate factions gather around one common cause and to put their petty differences aside and go for glory together? Of course, Korea are a long way from the medal slots but seven years is plenty of time to narrow the differences and the football team was even further down the rankings when they reached the semis of the world cup in 2002.

Goyang City is a rugby city

The mayor of Goyang (Koyang) has made a bold step for Rugby and English by making available a pitch for the development of rugby. Smart move! He’s catching two important trends in one; every child in Korea is striving to learn English and what better way to do that than through sport.

Secondly, with rugby now in the Olympics, it will be an up and coming sport in Korea and as every rugby fan knows, the teamwork and discipline it brings is also a nice plus for kids to learn all about as they grow up.

Details are below;

The first permanent Rugby Pitch in Koyang City.

Location ; Baik Shin High School in Koyang City ( Metro Line 3, North bound, 400 meters from Baik Suck Stn exit 3. )

Dimension ; 75m x 65m Surface; artificial lawnopens exclusively for Rugby ; a half day every week-end ( offered Sunday afternoon – negotiable) and full days occasionally ( in case of tournament )

No fee!!

Shanghai Touch in Korea

The Shanghai Scary Dragons made it over to ITS and are now really looking forward to the Korea Touch Association bringing a team to Shanghai for their tournament on October 31 (Haloween!!). The Shanghai tournament will be very big; as many as 40 teams coming from all over Asia...get down to Jamwon on Saturday to book your place on the Korean team!!

ITS 2009 another big success for Touch Korea

Beautiful weather, good crowd, great facilities and a load of fun as Tokyo Masters won the main title and the Mixed was shared between Tits for Hands and Three Alley Dutch Rudders....hmmm!

This weekend, the selection will be made for the representative team to go to Shanghai at the end of October...so anyone keen to play should be at the Jamwon pitch on Saturday morning.