UAE Rugby Union CEO Calls For Rethink To Asian Five Nations Structure

An overhaul of the Asian Five Nations "will be discussed at a meeting" of the Asian Rugby Football Union next month, according to Paul Radley of THE NATIONAL. UAE rugby officials acknowledged that they "might consider turning down promotion" back to the Asian Five Nations, in the case of winning Division I one next year, if the existing competition structure stays the same. Given "the massive disconnect" between the top three sides in the competition -- Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong -- and the rest, it has "proved impossible for developing rugby nations such as the UAE to compete." UAE Rugby Federation CEO Ian Bremner said that Asia's governing body has "to address the disparity in the structure of the competition." Bremner said, "If we go straight back up again we are going to be faced with the same thing: three teams who are very hard to beat" (THE NATIONAL, 5/29).