Fitness First, the premium fitness and gymnasium provider has renewed their support for the Philippine Volcanoes after recently signing on for another two seasons with the Philippine national rugby team.

“We are truly proud of their achievements the past year and we continue to support the whole team as they advance further in the sport of rugby, at both the regional and international arenas” shared Mark Ellis, Country Manager for Fitness First Philippines”.

The Volcanoes will continue with their strength and conditioning programs alongside Fitness First utilising the extensive number of equipment options the gymnasium offers. “Having access to Fitness First provides the cutting edge equipment  our athletes require to perform at their best. They can train at their closest Fitness First gymnasium and know they have everything they need to improve and maintain what it takes to become better, faster and stonger” shared Jake Letts of Philippine Rugby.

The Volcanoes and Fitness First have been partners since 2016 and since have improved their rankings in both Asia and the world. With the consistent strength and fitness training it has allowed each player to develop and perform for the Philippine national rugby team. The women's recently finished with a silver medal at the Southeast Asian Games with the men bagging the gold. 

​The Volcanoes will have a number of international competitions for 2020, mainly the Asia Rugby Championships in April to June and the Asia Sevens Series from August to September where Fitness First will play a crucial role in their preparations. 

​After the highs of the sevens Rugby in the SEA Games last December, Philippine Rugby alongside headline partner JML Philippines will launch the 2020 JML Luzon Cup at Club United this Saturday. The upcoming season will feature a total of 12 teams across three divisions for both the men and women.

For the first time Philippine Rugby have adopted an all national Philippine 15s division that will be implemented to help foster the development of local talent, as well as provide a pathway to play the countries most experienced players who will be featured in the Premiership Shield. The JML Luzon Cup shapes up to be a competitive season, the opening round will see the Santos Knight Frank (SKF) Mavericks take on Eagles RFC with the newly led Makati Chiefs facing the Albay Bulkans. The newly formed Nomads Kalabaws team will have the first bye round of the season. For the women’s division prominent clubs SKF Mavericks, Eagles RFC, Nomads Rogues and the Makati Chiefs will be vying for the title in another tightly contested competition.

The domestic competitions for Philippine Rugby are not only weekly features for local teams to participate in, they will also act as scouting grounds for up and coming talent. The competition runs for a total of 16 weekends from February to first week of July. Some of the competitions top talent will be on show this weekend with national reps Lyndon Adlao, Mike Llanera, Jovic Paypon, Ryan Padilla, Ian Pausanos and Reymarc Bustillo representing their local teams.

“Overall, the competition is going to be exciting for 2020, focusing on pathways and competitive matches this year. Last year we had one division, this year it is catered to development and ensuring matches are played competitively with the spirit of Rugby in mind. Rugby has come leaps and bounds since it was first introduced, it’s going to be great to see how far it’s come and witness the players in action. Not only for the JML Luzon Cup, but to see these players progress to the Premiership Shield in years to come” shared Jake Letts of Philippine Rugby.

The matches tomorrow will be played at Club United, Merville. The gates will open at 10:00am and encourages all local Rugby supporters to join in for what looks to be a family friendly Saturday. The women’s match kicks off at 10:00am between the Nomads Rogues and SKF Mavericks. The men’s division follows with the Eagles and SKF Mavericks at 11:30 am and the Makati Chiefs taking on the Albay Bulkans at 1:30 PM. Entry is free. 
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