HSBC’s commitment to developing the game is greater than ever.

At the heart of every rugby sponsorship is a commitment by the bank to work with local communities around the world to help develop and grow the sport. HSBC has invested in rugby coaching programmes, staging festivals, providing coaching and using ambassadors to inspire the next generation of players.

John Kirwan, Coach of Japan and former All Black, said, “I would like to thank HSBC for their continued support of the Asian 5 Nations as more so than ever this year it will be hugely important for our organisation leading into the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, where we are determined to show the world how much Asian rugby has improved.”

Jonah Lomu, arguably one of the greatest rugby legends of all time and a former All Black, was a special guest of HSBC at the Dubai Sevens in 2010 and said, “I saw first-hand the great commitment HSBC is making to develop the game when I was in Dubai with a real focus on encouraging children to play rugby.  It was fantastic to see so many youngsters having fun playing the game and being coached by the HSBC Penguins – something that will hopefully lead to more children watching and playing rugby in the future.”

Bryan Habana, current Rugby World Cup winner with South Africa, has supported HSBC in South Africa with their grassroots programme.  He said, “HSBC were extremely active in helping develop the game in South Africa for the British Lions Tour and have maintained that commitment of investing in community rugby through all of their sponsorships. I was fortunate to be able to assist their programme around the George Sevens in December last year and saw the excitement of the children who were treated to a day at the Sevens, and played a curtain raiser on the pitch in front of 10,000 fans.  It was a special moment for them and a fantastic way for HSBC to inspire children who would not otherwise have such opportunities.”

HSBC and Rugby

Our rugby sponsorships help to build our business and support our vision and values. They generate corporate exposure within key markets through unique touch points and provide opportunities for target customers to experience our brand philosophy and connect with our business through shared passions.

The renewed commitment to rugby in Asia through the HSBC Asian 5 Nations and new HSBC Asian Sevens Series will allow HSBC to continue building long lasting relationships with its key stakeholders and also to allow HSBC to further engage and motivate its employees.

HSBC has a long association with the sport of rugby around the world. Key programmes have included:

Naming sponsor of the HSBC Waratahs from the state of New South Wales in Australia - one of the leading teams in the southern hemisphere’s Super 15’s competition. HSBC has sponsored the Waratahs since 2001.

HSBC has also been a sponsor and long term supporter of the Penguin International Rugby Football Club, since 1997. The Penguins have been fostering the development, goodwill and camaraderie of Rugby Union worldwide though coaching and playing since 1959.

HSBC is the title sponsor of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations competition. Launched in 2008, the tournament in 2010 featured 31 matches staged across 28 countries/territories in the region, with the Top 5 competition acting as qualifiers for the 2011 RWC.

HSBC was the Principal Partner to the British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa in 2009 – one of the most prestigious teams in world rugby, and last year renewed that investment for the 2013 Tour to Australia, which will include a historic game in Hong Kong.

Last October HSBC was appointed the first ever title sponsor of the IRB Sevens World Series. The announcement represented a further boost for Rugby Sevens as the sport marked the one-year anniversary of being voted onto the Olympic Games programme. The Series is now known as the HSBC Sevens World Series.

International rugby players from each of the Top 5 countries competing in the 2011 HSBC Asian 5 Nations including UAE, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka (Left to Right), attend the launch of this year’s HSBC Asian 5 Nations and the announcement of the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series at the HSBC Main Building in Hong Kong.

(Left to Right) Simon Leung Ho Yam of Hong Kong and Ayumu Goromaru of Japan, tussle over the HSBC Asian 5 Nations trophy at today’s announcement that HSBC has committed to a further three-year sponsorship of the tournament.  Japan are the defending champions.

Asian Rugby Football Union Backgrounder

The launch of the HSBC Asian Sevens series marks the latest chapter in the long history of the Game in Asia, one of the fastest growing regions in world rugby. The membership of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) has nearly tripled from ten members in 1998 to 28 unions today.

The history of rugby in Asia dates back nearly as long as that in England, where the world’s first rugby football union, the RFU, was established in 1871. In 1879, the first Asian union was founded in the Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, RFU. Rugby was also being played in Hong Kong and Japan before the turn of the century. The game maintained its appeal through the post-colonial era and on 15 December, 1968, ARFU was founded with eight original members: Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The first Asian Rugby Football Tournament (ARFT) was held in April 1969 in Tokyo. It has been played (initially annually and then bi-annually) ever since. The HSBC Asian Five Nations (HSBC A5N) Top 5 competition (launched in 2008) takes the place of the ARFT. The original ARFT trophy is now contested by teams in the HSBC A5N Division I competition.

Asia has been represented at every Rugby World Cup since 1987 with Japan the only Asian team to have qualified for the competition. In 2009, Japan became the first Asian nation to be awarded the right to host the Rugby World Cup (in 2019).

The HSBC Asian Sevens marks the first time that an annual ranking competition for Sevens has been mounted by ARFU. In 2011, four events will be held as part of the HSBC Asian Sevens. HSBC Asian Sevens will further increase the profile of the game and play an invaluable role in preparing the continent’s teams for HSBC Sevens Series participation and eventual qualification for the Olympic Games starting in 2016.

Today, ARFU spans a vast territory from Kazakhstan in the north to Indonesia in the south and Lebanon in the west to Guam in the east. Of ARFU’s 28 member unions, 14 are full members of the International Rugby Board: China, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. There are a further 6 associate IRB members of in Asia: Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Laos, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Lebanon and the UAE are the two newest ARFU associate members as of December 2009.

HSBC A5N and Asian Sevens Series Launch

World Cup-bound Japan will be the centre of attraction at this year’s Asian Five Nations tournament as title sponsors HSBC extended their reach to cover a rapidly growing Asian Sevens Series too.

 The tournament received a major boost today with HSBC renewing its commitment for another three years, from 2011 to 2013. In addition, the world’s global bank will also add its weight by sponsoring the Asian Sevens Series which has expanded from two to four tournaments this year.

Defending champions Japan, who once again will represent Asia at the Rugby World Cup to be played in New Zealand in September and October, will figure prominently in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations Top Five competition. Three of their four games will be televised across Asia, and Japan will also take on last year’s runners-up Kazakhstan on neutral soil in Bangkok, a move that will help showcase the Division Two tournament played in the same week.

 In a bid to promote the game in other destinations outside the Top Five venues, the organisers have decided for the first time to stage an elite match-up in a neutral venue. But the John Kirwan coached Japan will still feel at home due to the large number of Japanese expatriates living in Thailand.

 Japan will be favourites to once again win the Top Five competition in April/May with Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in the running for second-best. The tournament will also include Sri Lanka for the first time.

 The islanders won Division One last year and have taken the place of South Korea who was demoted for finishing bottom at the elite level last time. The other change will see the United Arab Emirates take the place of the Arabian Gulf, which was disbanded in line with the IRB’s move away from regional unions after the Dubai Sevens in December.

 The Top 5 will be televised regionally along with the HSBC A5N Division I tournament, which will be broadcast for the first time ever in 2011

Asian rugby received another fillip today with the announcement of the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series. Shanghai and Borneo will play host to the two opening legs of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series in September while two non-ranking tournaments will be staged in Thailand and India later in the year. The ensuing two years will see an increase in ranking events from three in 2012 to all four Series events in 2013. Rankings will be used to determine invitations to HSBC World Sevens Series events as well as seedings for Asian Games and other multi-sport competitions.

 Speaking on today’s double announcement of rugby investment, Mark McCombe, chief executive of HSBC Hong Kong said: “Today is another important and exciting day for HSBC as we cement our commitment to developing rugby in Asia.”

 "The Asian 5 Nations has developed massively since its inception and is growing in popularity around the region. By investing in the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series, in addition to the HSBC Sevens World Series, HSBC hopes to encourage more people to become involved with rugby union through the shortened form of the game in the build up to the 2016 Olympic Games,” McCombe said.

Trevor Gregory, vice-president of the Asian Rugby Football Union, welcomed HSBC’s involvement and pinpointed it as proving vital to the development and growth of the game in Asia.

 "I would like to thank HSBC for their continued support. The A5N has been vital to the development and expansion of rugby in Asia at both the elite and grassroots level and we are excited to renew our association,” Gregory said.

 Gregory added: “The advent of the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series promises to extend this remarkable growth even further. We have made tremendous strides in our sport since the launch of the A5N in 2008 and we look forward to what the next three years will bring for Asian rugby.”

PRESS RELEASE

HSBC Extends Commitment to Asian Rugby with HSBC Asian 5 Nations Renewal and New HSBC Asian Sevens Series

[Hong Kong, 19 January 2011]: HSBC and Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) today announced the continuation of their partnership in support of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N), Asia’s premier fifteen aside rugby competition. HSBC and ARFU also today announced the inception of a new rugby property, the HSBC Asian Sevens Series. Both sponsorships will run for the next three years from 2011 – 2013.

Mr Mark McCombe, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong and Mr Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship for HSBC Holdings plc joined Mr Trevor Gregory, Vice-President of ARFU for today’s announcement. Mr Dean Herewini, HSBC Penguin International Coaching Academy coach and the coach of Malaysia 15s was also in attendance. Also present were players from each of the 2011 HSBC A5N Top 5 nations: Ayumu Goromaru of Japan; Timur Mashurov of Kazakhstan; Simon Leung of Hong Kong; Cyrus Homayoum of the new UAE Rugby Association and Sean Wijesinghe of Sri Lanka, Asia’s newest Top 5 team after promotion from Division I in 2010.

China 15s and 7s player and member of the China 7s coaching team Zhang Zhiqang was also on hand to represent nations participating in the HSBC Asian Sevens Series.

Speaking on today’s double announcement, Mark McCombe, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong said, “Today is another important day for HSBC as we cement our commitment to developing rugby in Asia through both the HSBC Asian 5 Nations and the HSBC Asian Sevens Series. The HSBC Asian 5 Nations has grown massively since its inception and is increasing in popularity around the region. By investing in the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series, in addition to the HSBC Sevens World Series, we aim to encourage more people to become involved with rugby union through the shortened form of the game in the build up to the 2016 Olympic Games.”

Alongside the HSBC A5N, the HSBC Asian Sevens will extend ARFU’s international rugby footprint from April through November each season. The 2011 HSBC A5N Top 5 will again be held on consecutive weekends from 23 April to 21 May. Although identified by the elite Top 5 competition, HSBC A5N offers international competition or development support for all eligible ARFU unions. Outside of the Top 5, the tournament features five divisions, (up from four in 2010), offering test match rugby for 25 ARFU teams this season.

The HSBC Asian Sevens Series consists of four events in 2011, with two ranking events, the Shanghai and Borneo Sevens, staged in September 2011. Two other events will be held in Thailand and India next year. The ARFU international window for sevens competition runs from September through November. The rankings will be used to determine eligible spots for invitations to HSBC Sevens World Series tournaments including the Hong Kong Sevens, as well as potentially serving as qualifiers for multi-sport competitions such as the Asian and Olympic Games.

“On behalf of ARFU, I would like to thank HSBC for their continued support. The HSBC Asian 5 Nations has been vital to the development and expansion of rugby in Asia at both the elite and grassroots level and we are very excited to renew our association. The advent of the new HSBC Asian Sevens Series promises to extend this remarkable growth even further. We have made tremendous strides in our sport since 2008 and we look forward to what the next three years will bring for Asian rugby,” said Trevor Gregory, Vice President of ARFU.

One constant for the coming years will be the commitment by both HSBC and ARFU to introducing rugby to new audiences through a Coaching Tour. This concept, first launched last year in conjunction with the HSBC Penguins International Coaching Academy, offered youth rugby clinics for over 3,000 youth across 10 countries in 2010. HSBC and ARFU are committed to growing this programme in the year ahead.

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship for HSBC Holdings, explained the reason the bank continues to invest in rugby.  “Quite simply, rugby union works for HSBC in terms of enabling HSBC to communicate directly with so many target customers in key regions around the world. Rugby union shares many of the same values as HSBC as the world’s local bank – bringing together people from different cultures and communities with a shared passion, and it has proved to be a successful fit for our business.

“At the heart of every HSBC sponsorship is a commitment to the local community and the HSBC Asian 5 Nations in particular has a major community programme integrated with the sponsorship. To ensure a legacy, as well as coaching children, adults involved in this year’s coaching tour will be trained to IRB Level One enabling them to continue teaching youngsters to play the game in future years. It is the biggest investment in the growth of the sport of its kind in Asia.”

HSBC ambassador and Coach of Japan, John Kirwan, will join part of the coaching tour and is looking forward to engaging more audiences.  He said, “As a professional coach and a former player I am fortunate to have helped coached youngsters around the world, but I am genuinely excited about being part of the coaching tour later this year. To travel to countries where rugby is only just emerging as a sport, but that in the long term could be competing in the Asian 5 Nations or even the Olympic Games is a fantastic opportunity and I can’t wait to inspire people of all ages and all cultures to pick up a rugby ball and run, but most importantly to have fun.”

About HSBC:

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a principal member of the HSBC Group which, with around 8,000 properties in 87 countries and territories and assets of US$2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

CONTACTS: For information on:

ARFU and the HSBC A5N and HSBC Asian Sevens, contact Sean Moore at sean.moore@elitestep.com  or on +852 9095 8889; Chinese language enquiries to Andy Yeung at andy.yeung@elitestep.com.

HSBC’s support to the HSBC A5N and HSBC Asian Sevens Series, contact Ophelia Quach at opheliaquach@hsbc.com.hk  or on +852 2822 3420.

HSBC Penguins, contact Sally Price at sally.price@fasttrackagency.com

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2011 Schedule

TOP 5

Division I

Division II

Division III

Division IV

Division V