Rugby union is making its first big push to expand the game into the huge and largely untapped Asian market with a new annual tournament involving 25 nations and – for the first time – a large television audience.

The region’s top five teams – Japan, South Korea, Arabian Gulf, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan – will compete in the inaugural Asian Five Nations tournament next month. The Asian Rugby Football Union, the contest’s organiser, said it was close to clinching a deal for regional satellite broadcasts of the five-week round robin competition.