An untimely torrential rain saved Hong Kong's bid against Japan during the finals of the inaugural Asia Rugby Championship held at the Aberdeen Sports Ground in Hong Kong, May 23.

Even if the match was pronounced a draw by Asia Rugby Championship officials, undefeated Japan was still declared the champion of the tournament with an unreachable score of 21 points. Hong Kong settled for second place with 11 points, while South Korea was third with 8 points, as reported by Hebe Chung of Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's official website.

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The Japanese were leading 3-0 with 13 minutes gone in the contest when a sudden downpour filled the paddock with ankle-deep water. This forced referee Chris Linwood of UAE to stop the game and call the players off the pitch.

Officials called for a 10-minute rain delay, which was then stretched to an additional 20 minutes before administrators resolved to cancel the game altogether and pronounce it tied. The draw gave Hong Kong three advantageous points to clearly move ahead of South Korea in the overall standings, according to Alvin Sallay of South China Morning Post. If they had lost the contest, there was a possibility of ending up tied for second place with the Koreans.

Hong Kong needs to prevent Japan from beating them with a lead of 29 points or more to hold on to second place via point differential system.

Hong Kong head coach Andy Hall said that the officials made the right decision to stop the game because the rainy conditions might put the safety of the players at risk. Hall added that Japan "wouldn't have got 29 points on us so we would have finished second anyway."

Meanwhile, Japan head coach Eddie Jones was not happy with the decision, saying that it affected their preparations for the coming 2015 Rugby World Cup in England this September.

"We had guys out there playing for World Cup spots and it is quite disappointing in terms of individuals and what the team wanted to achieve. It is going to be hard for me to cut guys who haven't been given the opportunity," Jones said in an interview.

In a report from Asian Rugby Football Union's official website, Hall acknowledged that the championship game against the Japanese is a "great test" of their ability to perform at a high level, which will prepare them to qualify "for the next World Cup in 2019."

Apparently, the game didn't exactly test them. 

TagsRugby, Rugby 2015, Asia Rugby Championship, Japan Rugby Football Union, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, Rugby News, Rugby News 2015