​MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Hapon Jets and Alabang Eagles kick off their 2017 SPI 15s League campaign with convincing wins over Albay Vulcans and Manila Nomads, respectively.
 
After a successful 2016 season, Alabang Eagles continue to show their hunger for silverware in the Philippine Rugby Football Union domestic 15s league. 
 
Clark Jets have joined forces with Manila Hapons for this campaign, forming the Hapon Jets, and comfortably beat Albay Vulcans 57-14 in the plate division, whilst Alabang Eagles shut out Manila Nomads 36-0 in the cup competition.
 
The remaining games saw closer competition.  The Alabang Ibons narrowly beat Mavericks ‘A’ 27-22 in the cup division. Whilst in the plate division Manila Carabaos defeated Mavericks ‘B’ 27-18 and Subic Sharks overcame Makati Chiefs 36-24.
 
“A disappointing start for a couple of teams in the opening round of the 2017 SPI 15s League but I am sure they will have revaluated their strategies and will look to narrow the gap over the forthcoming rounds,” claims Jovan Masalunga, PRFU Rugby Development Manager. 
 
Round two of the 2017 SPI 15s League takes place this Saturday 25th February from 12.00pm at Southern Plains field, Canlubang. 

Philippine Rugby are inviting all past and present Philippine heritage rugby and rugby league players to an open training session in Sydney, Australia.

The session will be run with members of the Philippine Volcanoes national team and coaching staff.

The aim of the program is to identity, nurture, retain and develop players to play international rugby for the Philippines!

Open to players aged 14 years and above, men and women.

Tag a friend or register your name below, you can also send your name to nationalteams@prfu.com
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See you there!

Manila, Philippines:  The national women’s rugby team, more commonly known as the Lady Volcanoes, have their eyes set for this weekend in Vientiane, Laos.
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The Transcom Lady Volcanoes currently sit third in Southeast Asia; a promotion will boost the national team’s confidence ahead of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. 

“A Trophy Series promotion would be amazing for the Women’s program. I have witnessed their progress since their outstanding Bronze medal finish at the 2015 SEA Games. I have all the confidence in the world if the girls play to the best of their ability they can secure a top two finish at the Trophy Series. This will be a boost ahead of the 2017 SEA Games’ shared Jake Letts, National Teams Head of Philippine Rugby. 

The Asia Trophy Series will be a round robin format. The Philippines face Malaysia, India, Laos, Korea, Nepal and Pakistan across two days of competition. The Volcanoes recorded a loss to India back in 2015 however have seen success over Korea, Laos and Malaysia in the past, whereas Nepal and Pakistan are new opponents. The top two gain promotion to Asia’s elite, solidifying a top 8 ranking in in all of Asia. The top 8 teams compete each year in the Asian Sevens Series to be held in Hong Kong, Korea and Sri Lanka though September and October.

Team Philippines have been boosted by Fil-foreigners Ada Milby, Trixie Pacis and Tanya Bird; all three players have been selected to boost the Lady Volcanoes size and experience on the rugby 7s pitch. All other athletes are locally homegrown and developed under Head Coach Shirley Russell, Aiden Ng and Chris Everingham.

“Aiden, Chris and Shirley have worked extensively with the women’s team, they all bring a wealth of experience and I look forward to seeing the women execute all their newly found skills and knowledge of Rugby 7s” Letts added. 

The Philippines women’s rugby program has been financially backed by lead sponsor Transcom and HMR Philippines Inc. along with the support of both Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.

BACOLOD, PHILIPPINES: 3 February 2017: Pass It Back, an innovative sport for development program managed by ChildFund, is heading to a third country this month as a collaboration with the Philippines Rugby Union (PRFU) gets underway in Negros Occidental. This will be the program’s third country after Laos and Vietnam, which have seen more than 2,500 players take part in regular rugby and life-skills learning over the past 18 months, with girls making up over 50 per cent of the players and coaches. 

This collaboration has come together under ChildFund’s Pass it Back program, which promotes the right to play in communities where children have little or no access to organised sport. Using a fully integrated rugby and life-skills curriculum, Pass it Back not only supports young people’s health and wellbeing but provides important learning opportunities around leadership, life skills and gender equality to help them overcome challenges, inspire positive change and ‘pass it back’ to their communities. 

As part of this collaboration, the program will work with the PRFU to train 12 Coaches to deliver the Pass It Back curriculum, which builds on World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby program, by also delivering life-skills learning opportunities. Eighteen new teams will pick up a rugby ball during this collaboration, which will run from February to September. 

This collaboration is supported by the Australian Government’s aid program through its Asia Sports Partnerships (ASP) initiative, which was established to foster links between Australia and Asia that promote community health, disability inclusion, gender equality and social cohesion. 

“ChildFund’s Pass it Back program was set up for disadvantaged children living in communities across Asia, who face significant challenges around poverty and inequality,” said ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence. 

“As the program develops, it is wonderful to deepen our relationship with the PRFU to further build the knowledge and skills of players and coaches, and to inspire them to be strong leaders and role models within their communities.” 

“The PRFU is excited to continue our collaboration with ChildFund and to add another string to our bow by integrating our existing rugby development work with life skills education,” said PRFU Secretary General Ada Milby. “We are particularly excited to build on Pass It Back’s successes to date by getting more girls and young women playing rugby in the Philippines.” 

ChildFund Japan Philippine Office Country Director, Rina Munsayac, said “This partnership with the PRFU is an exciting step in our work in the Philippines to use sport as a tool to ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop to their full potential.” Pass It Back activities during this initial collaboration will run from February to August 2017. Photos and footage available upon request. 


About Pass it Back 
Pass It Back is an innovative Sport for Development program led by ChildFund in partnership with World Rugby, Asia Rugby and Women Win. The program aims to equip children and young people in Asia to overcome challenges, inspire positive social change and ‘pass it back’ to their communities. Using Get Into Rugby, a World Rugby program to grow the Game globally, the program gets children and youth to Try, Play and Stay in the Game. It is a part of the Impact Beyond Rugby World Cup 2019 programme (‘Impact Beyond 2019’), which will increase awareness and sustainable growth of rugby in Asia. Pass It Back delivers an integrated rugby and life-skills curriculum in a safe environment that promotes the values of the Game and builds a new generation of leaders in disadvantaged communities across Asia. 

About ChildFund 
ChildFund Australia is an independent and non-religious international development organisation that works to reduce poverty for children in the developing world. We work in partnership with children and their communities to create lasting change by supporting long-term community development, responding to humanitarian emergencies and promoting children’s rights. ChildFund Australia is a member of the ChildFund Alliance – a global network of 11 organisations which assists more than 14 million children and families in 63 countries – and is also a registered charity, a member of the Australian Council for International Development, and fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages the Australian Government’s overseas aid program. ChildFund Australia is the Alliance lead for the Pass It Back program and is working closely with ChildFund Japan in the Philippines. 

About the Philippine Rugby Football Union
The Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) is the official governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in the Philippines. The PRFU was founded in 1999 and was granted full World Rugby membership in 2008. The PRFU is a non-profit national sports association registered with Philippines Security and Exchange Commission and is focused on growing and developing the sport of Rugby Union in the Philippines. The PRFU is a registered and accredited member of both World Rugby and Asia Rugby, as well as being recognised by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.