South Korea secured their first points in the HSBC Asian Five Nations when they defeated hosts Arabian Gulf 43-20 in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
Unbeaten Japan, led by new captain Tomokazu Soma, also continued their domination as they swept to an 82-6 victory over Kazakhstan in Almaty. Soma, a tighthead prop, led the side for the first time in place of regular captain Takuro Miuchi who started on the bench.
Japan top the standings (18 points) in the five-team competition with three wins out three followed by Hong Kong in second place (10 points from two matches). Korea ran in seven tries as they warded off spirited opposition from the Gulf who trailed 24-20 before fading in the final quarter at the venue where the rugby sevens competition at the 2006 Asian Games was held.
Korean fullback Jay Young-chae was the pick, scoring a brace of tries for the winners, whose superior fitness was the decisive factor at the end. The Arabian Gulf's tries were scored by prop Mike Riley and flyhalf Josef Czerpak.
'After last week's result in Japan (114-6 loss), there were a lot of questions asked. Today we demonstrated that we do deserve to be in the top tier of this tournament,' said Arabian Gulf coach Wayne Marsters.
