Asia Rugby Championship Division III West Kicked off In Tashkent Uzbekistan, with Host Uzbekistan taking On Iran at the Dustlik Stadium in Tashkent
In a match dominated by the home side in the first half, Iran’s Mehdi Golnari scored the visitors second try from sustained forward pressure with two minutes left on the clock in the match to draw Iran level at 13 – 13 and give their captain, Jalal Jahanbakhsh the opportunity to steal the most unlikeliest of wins with his conversion attempt in the final play. But the conversion attempt fell agonisingly short and spared the home sides blushes.
Uzbekistan slowly asserted their dominance in the first half through a penalty to captain, Maxim Lofontov before a try by half back Doston Arzikulov and the successful conversion by Lifontov saw the home side going into the half time break with a healthy 13 – 3 lead.
And the dominance continued for the home side early in the second half as they continued to find gaps in the Iran’s defence. But unfortunately, the last pass on a number of occasions was either knocked on or went forward causing frustrations for the home side as they searched for that ultimate nail in the coffin.
With time elapsing, Iran found another gear and decided to chance their arm more moving the ball wider to their speedy backs, retained possession and through their winger, Ali Yaghoti, scored in the corner, and give the visitors a sniff.
The 13 – 13 result now sees the tournament move to match day 2 where Iran will take on Lebanon as Uzbekistan sit aside and watch with interest before the final match of the round-robin tournament versus Lebanon next Friday.
#ARC2017
Asia Rugby Championship Division 3W
Dustlik Stadium Tashkent
| Time | Event | Score |
| 1st Half – 4 mins 46 Secs | Penalty by Maxsim LIFONTOV of Uzbekistan | UZB 3-0 Iran |
| 1st Half – 10 mins 55 Secs | Maxsim LIFONTOV of of Uzbekistan received a Yellow Card | UZB 3-0 Iran |
| 1st Half – 20 mins 30 Secs | Drop Goal by Jalal JAHANBAKHSH of Iran | UZB 3-3 Iran |
| 1st Half – 22 mins 36 Secs | Penalty by Maxsim LIFONTOV of Uzbekistan | UZB 6-3 Iran |
| 1st Half – 22 mins 16 Secs | Maxsim LIFONTOV of of Uzbekistan received a Yellow Card Return | UZB 3-3 Iran |
| 1st Half – 25 mins 42 Secs | Try by Azamat PARDAEV of Uzbekistan | UZB 5-0 Iran |
| 1st Half – 26 mins 48 Secs | Conversion by Maxsim LIFONTOV of Uzbekistan | UZB 7-0 Iran |
| 1st Half – 32 mins 50 Secs | Try by Doston ARZIKULOV of Uzbekistan | UZB 11-3 Iran |
| 1st Half – 34 mins 00 Secs | Conversion by Maxsim LIFONTOV of Uzbekistan | UZB 13-3 Iran |
| 2nd Half – 5 mins 39 Secs | Try by Ali YAGHOTI of Iran | UZB 13-8 Iran |
| 2nd Half – 37 mins 19 Secs | Try by Mehdi Golnari. of Iran | UZB 13-13 Iran |
