The Manila Nomads bounced back to upset the Alabang Eagles in round two of the JML 10s League. After suffering an embarrassing first round defeat, the Nomads went back to the basics and a fired up team ran onto the field at Southern Plains ready to make amends for the first round lost. The Nomads went back to their forward dominated game plan and team Captain Dave Feeney led the relentless pick and drive routine that eventually led to the Nomads first try to Volcanoes player Jon Morales, who dived over from a five meters out. The Eagles struggled up front in the scrums and the larger Nomads pack constantly wheeled the Eagles to retain a glut of possession. When the Eagles backs were able to see some rare ball, they sparked into attack mode with Juan Engelbtrecht streaking down the sideline to link up with Volcanoes player Harry Morris to score the game's second try. Tim Bweheni then converted from outward and the Eagles took a 7 – 5 lead into halftime.

The second half hung in the balance until the assistant referee reported Tim Bweheni for a striking charge that resulted in a red card and this left the Eagles with 9 players.  The Nomads forwards continued to dominate possession. It was only a matter of time before Chris Anderson crossed out wide to give the Nomads a late lead by 10 – 7. The Eagles had a couple of late chances and displayed that even with a depleted side that they are lethal in attack. The Nomads were able to hang on and even the series at 1 – 1. The Cup Final will be played next Saturday March 2nd and the winner of this game will take the upper hand into Manila 10s on March 16/17th.

The Plate Division games saw the Carabaos hit form with their new Fijian contingent led by Saki Tuisolia as they easily beat the Globe Immortals by 39 – 0. The Mavericks proved they will definitely contend for the last spot in the Manila 10s tournament by defeating the Ibons by 17 – 15 in the game of the day. The Ibons squandered several chances including a conversion to even the game. National team u18s player, Ramirez Lito Cruz from the Tuloy Foundation, proved a handful for the Ibons and scored twice for the Mavericks.  These results have now set up two final games in next week’s Plate division with the Carabaos playing the Ibons to win the Plate trophy and the Vipers playing Globe to see who takes the coveted last spot in the Manila 10s team draw.

The Alabang Falcons have proven to be a handful in the Bowl division and won both their games on Saturday by defeating the Clark Rugby Club by 39 - 0 and then backed up to defeat Vipers by 67 – 0. In the other Bowl division game, the Hapons made their debut at the JML 10s and won a hard fought battle over the determined MAAP warriors by 21 – 0. The Falcons have a points majority lead over the rest of the field and the Hapons will need to defeat the Falcons by a large margin to compete for the Bowl Trophy.

The finals of the JML 10s league will be played this Saturday, March 2nd at Nomad Sports Club from 3pm – 8pm.

Saturday, February 23

In atrocious conditions, the team assembled bright and early. Our first game was at 8:40 and despite a rushed warm-up the boys got the job done. While at times it wasn't pretty, the boys worked hard coming from behind and beat the Newcastle All Blacks 17-5. A good start considering we just came together that morning. Luke Matthews, Ben Saunders, and Richard Goodwin were the standout players in game one.

Game 2 saw us play Easts Rugby from Canberra. Having a game under our belts and a full warm-up, we went into this game with confidence. The boys started well and the game was over at half time as we led 17 – nil. In the second half, we made some poor decisions and mistakes crept in. However, we had done enough to run out winners 17-7. This result meant we won our group and moved in to the Cup finals – the knockout stage. Luke Matthews, Chris Hitch, Darren Seeto, and Ben Matthews were the standout players.

Game 3 was a major step up as we played the eventual winners of the tournament in QLD Fiji. This team was made up of six players from the Fiji National team and in their earlier games, had won in comfortable fashion. The game started poorly for us as they kicked off, used their height advantage to re-gather, and score. Down 7-nil inside 20 seconds, this put us on the back foot and had us playing catch up from the get go. Some basic mistakes, inexperience and one-on-one missed tackles saw them dominate the first half and go to the break leading 17-nil. The second half saw us control the ball for longer periods, as well as putting some pressure on them in defence. This pressure resulted in forcing a mistake and leading to our first try. They scored again late in the half making the final score 22-7.

The JML PRFU 10s League kicked off with a bang this Saturday at Southern Plains, Eagles Nest. First up was the women’s division with a battle between the warrior princesses.  It was a tough start with both teams playing on pretty equal terms, with team Xena winning the first game by 24-20.  Team Athena put their foot down in the second game against Xena and ran away with a 22-5 victory.

The first men’s game showed that there are plenty of local talent in the youthful CRC team who defeated the Vipers 66-24. They displayed excellent ball skills and constantly created gaps in the opposition defence. The Vipers on the other hand were focused on their forwards and tried to play the game up the middle of the field, this style of play was not enough to best the fast feet and hands of the youthful CRC team.

The second CBRE Juniors Touch Rugby Tournament of the year was held last Saturday, February 16, 2013, at Eagles Nest in Southern Plains Subdivision, Laguna. The tournament featured the participation of nine teams from various schools, clubs, and foundations. Over 100 players from the PRFU Juniors Development Program came together under the hot sun, vying for the title of best juniors’ team in their age group.

The day also featured the introduction of the new G4S sponsored Childhope teams. G4S Security Company and Mike Ross recently decided to sponsor the Childhope Foundation Rugby Club and the players were delighted to wear their new G4S uniforms in the CBRE Juniors tournament. So far the PRFU have been able to find sponsors for the both Tuloy Foundation (Leighton) and Clark Rugby Club (Pot Bellied Pigs) it is a goal for the PRFU to expand the Foundation Development programs in 2013 and also find new sponsors to help grow and develop the sports of tackle and touch rugby with those less fortunate than ourselves.

As a follow up to the arrangements made for the Premier Division of the A5N  Tournament, the PRFU is pleased to announce this year’s key line up for the Rugby World Cup 7s to be held on in Moscow, Russia.

"This year’s coaching and management team selection is a result of the PRFU Board’s careful deliberation and planning." Says PRFU President, Rick Santos.  "With full recognition of this year’s important milestone in rugby history, we are pleased to announce our line up for the Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWC7s)"
 
The Philippines RWC7s Key Coaching& Management Positions for 2013:

Al Caravelli  (Head Coach): 
Al coached the Philippine Volcanoes through the RWC 7s qualifying tournament and into the 2013 RWC 7s. Al brings with him a wealth of experience in Rugby 7s having coached both the USA Eagles from 2006 to 2012. 

Al managed to transform the US team into a legitimate IRB Sevens World Series contender in his first few years. After several strong performances in tournaments between 2006-08, he was able to steer the US team to "core" status in 2008, making them one of the 12 teams competing in all events on the IRB Sevens World Series.
 
Matt Cullen (Team Manager)
Matt brings years of professional rugby union experience to the team having managed and coached several of the Volcanoes teams in the past. 

As National Sevens Coach in 2011, he steered the Volcanoes to a second place finish in the Borneo 7s which earned the team an invitation to the prestigious Hong Kong 7s in 2012.  

His organizational skills will prove valuable as the Volcanoes travel to Moscow for this historical event.

Al and Matt will be supported by this year’s PRFU RWC 7s Committee Chair Tony Shibley. Tony will be announcing additional members to the committee in the coming days.

The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is contested by the world's top 24 men's national sevens teams every four years.

Rugby Sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of Rugby Union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is now recognized as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics.