Kazakhstan scored seven tries to successfully defend their ARFU Women’s Championship title with a 39-3 defeat of Japan in the final on home soil at the Locomotive Stadium in Taras on Saturday.
The tournament favourites have been the dominant force in the region for the last decade and played at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2006, and enjoyed a more convincing win over Japan than in last year’s competition.
Then Kazakhstan needed a late try to claim a 10-6 semi-final victory before beating China in the final, but this time tries from wings Irina Amossova and Natalya Yessembekova and centre Valentina Nezbudey securing a 15-3 half time lead.
Further scores from Amossova, Nezbudey, fly half Tatyana Tur and scrum half Anastassiya Khamova wrapped up the victory for Kazakhstan in the picturesque city of Taras, about 500km from the financial hub that is the capital Almaty.
Kazakhstan had beaten tournament newcomers Uzbekistan 64-3 in the semi-final after Japan had confirmed their place in the final with a 17-10 victory over Singapore, the two losing semi-finalists having beaten Hong Kong 8-6 and Kyrgyzstan 38-0 on day one.
Uzbekistan certainly left their mark on the third ARFU Women’s Championship, bouncing back from their heavy loss to Kazakhstan to beat Singapore 15-0 to finish an impressive third overall, while fellow debutants Kyrgyzstan lost 49-0 to Hong Kong.
The performances of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were positives to come out of the tournament, while Singapore and Hong Kong will surely bounce back next year when China, the 2006 champions, and Thailand are both expected to return to contest the title and try to unseat Kazakhstan.
Placings:
1st - Kazakhstan
2nd - Japan
3rd - Uzbekistan
4th - Singapore
5th - Hong Kong
6th – Kyrgyzstan
