The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the Men's 15s squad for the upcoming Asian 5 Nations Premier Division Tournament.

Jarred Hodges (Head Coach)
Jarred has been coaching the Philippine Volcanoes for the last three years and has been instrumental in getting us to the Premier Division.

Phil Gittus (Team Manager)
Phil has been involved with rugby since 1976, initially in the UK and since 1999 in the Philippines. Phil’s passion and years of experience in the sport in both countries have been pivotal in the team’s progress since inception.
 
Matt Cullen (Tournament Manager)
Matt Cullen is our tournament manager for the A5N. Matt brings with him years of experience in the sport, and has been the driving force in promoting and developing rugby union in the Philippines.
 
Stuart Woodhouse (Assistant backs coach)
More fondly called, “Stu”, Stu was a former Australian schoolboy &Waratahsrugby player who eventually became coach in 2005. In his 7 years of coaching, Stu handled winning premiership clubs in Queensland &New South Wales (NSW). Stu was also the backs coach of Eastwood—during the said period, he was able to elevate the team to minor premiers in 2011 &Shute Shield winners in 2012.
 
Damian Raper (Team Physiotherapist)
Damo has been the team’s physiotherapist since 2009. He is a Post Graduate Scholar for Physical Therapies at the Australian Institute of Sport. Prior to his role with the Volcanoes, Damian was team physiotherapist to some of Australia’s best rugby squads such as the NSW Schoolboys.
 
Joe Matthews (Strength & Conditioning Coach)
“Joey” has been a 7’s & 15’s player for many years.  Since 2005, Joey has been lecturing at the Australian Institute of Fitness and is currently the principal of “ACT Barbell”, an organization specializing in strength and conditioning for high performance athletes in Australia.

The Asian 5 Nations Tournament

The Asian 5 Nations is an annual international Rugby Union competition held between the top five Asian national rugby sides. The Philippines will face Japan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and South Korea in a round-robin competition over five consecutive weekends throughout April and May 2013.

The Volcanoes will play two away games and two home games at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

The Asian 5 Nations represents the highest tier of international rugby in Asia and in 2014, is Asia's qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup 2015.

This year, we welcome the opportunity for the Philippine Rugby Football Union to leap to new heights in the country's Rugby history. We enter 2013 with two milestones for the team in the first 6 months of the year. 

• This April/May our Men's 15s team will be competing against Asia's best in the Premier Division of the Asian 5 Nations tournament
• This June, our Men's 7s team will be competing in Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow, Russia

To fully prepare the team for this remarkable journey, we are pleased to announce that for the A5N, we have appointed Jarred Hodges as Head Coach. Jarred has been coaching the Philippine Volcanoes for the last three years and has been instrumental in getting us into the Premier Division. Moreover, we have appointed Phil Gittus as our A5N Team Manager. Phil's passion for the sport and years of Rugby experience in both the UK and the Philippines has been pivotal in the team's progress since its inception.

Alongside these two men, the Board is pleased to announce the full A5N Organizing Committee and Philippine National Team Committee for 2013. 

Secondly, the Board is pleased to announce the selection of Al Caravelli as the Head Coach for the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Further details on the Team Manager, Organizing Committee and NTC are to follow.

Please join me in congratulating the aforementioned managers, coaches and committee members. We look forward to working with you.

All the best,


RICK SANTOS
President
PHILIPPINE RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION