Asian5Nations.com: The Philippines maintained their coveted spot in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations (HSBC A5N) Top 5 competition today in Manila after beating the United Arab Emirates in a close-run encounter 24-8.  The Volcanoes outscored the UAE by four tries to one to become one of the few teams to maintain their spot in a higher grade after being promoted as last season’s Division I champions. 

The UAE will be relegated to next year’s Division I competition and be replaced by Sri Lanka, winner of the 2013 Division I tournament.  Next year’s Top 5 will serve as the direct qualifier for Rugby World Cup 2015 with the overall winner advancing to the world championships, while the runners-up will take place in an inter-continental repechage match. 

Playing in front of a record 5,700 people, the highest ever match attendance at a rugby game in the Philippines, the Volcanoes jumped out to a 5-0 lead after flanker Christopher Hitch scored the opening try in the 10th minute crashing over from a scrum at the five-metre line. 

Moments later, winger Gareth Holgate crossed over for the Volcanoes second try of the first half, which was successfully converted by flyhalf Alexander Aronson to bring the scores to 12-0. 

The UAE quickly regained its shape and the momentum subtly shifted to the visitors as they forced the Volcanoes into making mistakes.  The Philippines conceded three penalty chances within three minutes at the mid-way point of the first half, but UAE flyhalf Andrew Russell couldn’t convert on any of the long-range opportunities.

In the 39th minute, UAE captain and openside flanker Renier Els capped off a tireless first half with a well-deserved try to pull UAE back into the fray at 12-5. 

The second half saw UAE continue pressing with positive results as Russell converted a penalty attempt in the41st minute to edge UAE closer at 8-12.  Further opportunity for the visitors was created by a sin-bin to Volcanoes hooker Graeme Hagan but the UAE couldn’t make the man advantage tell.

The game remained tight at 12-8 until the 58th minute when Hagan returned to the field to score a vital try and put the Volcanoes ahead at 19-8 after Aronson’s conversion.

A tense final quarter was disrupted by a temporary power outage in the last five minutes with the game stopped for ten minutes before play could resume. When the match was re-started the Volcanoes closed out the scoring for good with a try in the 79th minute to reserve back Matt Saunders.

UAE coach Duncan Hall commented after the game saying, “We’re disappointed to be relegated for the first time since 2009 but fair play to the Philippines they did well. We suffered in the humid conditions as we are used to a dry heat in Dubai. The ball became hard for us to manage and we turned it over 14 times in the first half through handling errors. We gave them too much possession at the end of the day.
 
“We now need to review where we are at and plan how we return to the Top 5 from Division I next year. But with the average age of our squad at 33 years old, we are still going to face the same challenges we did this year. We will need to identify some new younger players now and work intensively with them over the next 12 months.”

A delighted Volcanoes coach Jarred Hodges credited the crowd for helping to give his team the edge in a tight match, saying: “the atmosphere was electric tonight and that really helped us lift our game. We are thrilled to be staying up in the top flight but most importantly we now know what it takes to compete at this level. We understand that we have a lot to work on in the coming 12 months to see how we can move one win in the campaign to two or three next year.”

Philippines captain and fullback Michael Letts was equally pleased with the result saying, “We did just enough to retain our spot which was the ultimate goal. Now we want to continue to build as a team. With the Volcanoes also taking part in the Rugby World Cup Sevens in June, and being the first Philippines team sport to play in a world championship, the profile and awareness of the game is going to grow from rapidly in the Philippines.”

In today’s other match, South Korea cemented their spot as number two in Asia behind Japan after they stormed to a 43-22 victory over Hong Kong in Ansan on Saturday.  The Philippines will join HSBC A5Nchampions Japan, second placed side South Korea, third seeds Hong Kong and fifth seeds Sri Lanka for the kick-off of the Top 5 next April.

The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the players who have been selected for the HSBC Asian 5 Nations match against the United Arab Emirates.

Head coach: Jarred Hodges
Manager: Phil Gittus
Physiotherapist: Luke Heath
Asst Physiotherapist: Rico Barin

The match will be played at 7:00pm on Saturday, May 18 at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. It will be telecast live on Solar Sports Channel. The winner of the match will remain in the top 5 of the Asian 5 Nations, while the loser will be relegated to Division 1 in 2014.

Ticket information:
Bleachers: FREE OF CHARGE
Grand Stand: P 200 / P500  
available at: http://www.ticketworld.com.ph

Live scoring on: www.twitter.com/PhilippineRugby

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

For more information on the Asian 5 Nations, go to:
http://www.asian5nations.com

Bruised but not broken. The embattled National Men’s Rugby Team, known as the Philippine Volcanoes will face the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, May 18 in the closing match of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations competition. Both teams are winless in the series, making Saturday the battle against relegation, with the winner remaining in Asia’s top 5, and the loser relegated to Division 1.

It has been a challenging debut for the Philippines in the Elite Division after practically cruising through the lower divisions since the Volcanoes began competing in the Asian 5 Nations series. Before 2013, the Volcanoes had lost only once (in 2011 to South Korea), a record bested only by perennial A5N champions and still unbeaten Japan.

Despite the losses, the Volcanoes have shown flashes of brilliance in each match, and have vowed to put the pieces together to get the win against fourth-ranked United Arab Emirates. The past week has seen the arrival of veteran players Phil Abraham, Michael de Guzman and Nick Perry to shore up an injury-plagued forward pack. The lessons learned from their first three matches and extended training time together, a challenge the Volcanoes face with players based in different parts of the world, should also serve the Volcanoes in good stead.

Philippines Coach, Jarred Hodges, maintains that the team has stayed positive and is in good spirits in the lead up to Saturday’s match. “It won’t be easy, as UAE have been in the top 5 for a number of years, but we are quietly confident”.  Hodges added “We are playing in Manila, and the hometown support never fails to lift the boys’ performance.”

The team that finishes fifth after the end of the six-week long competition will be demoted to Division 1, while the top 4 teams’ remain in the Elite Division and continue their quest to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The winner of the Elite Division in 2014 receives outright qualification to the Rugby World Cup 2015, while the Elite Division’s 2nd placer will face the 2nd placers from Africa, Europe and the Americas in a knock-out competition for the 20th & final Rugby World Cup slot.

Where to watch:

Philippines vs. United Arab Emirates
7pm | Saturday, May 18
Rizal Memorial Stadium, Adriatico Ave.
Malate, Manila

Bleachers: FREE OF CHARGE
Grand Stand: P 200 / P500  
available at: http://www.ticketworld.com.ph

The game will be telecast live on Solar Sports channel.

Live scoring on www.twitter.com/PhilippineRugby

As part of the build-up for the past Volcanoes vs Hong Kong game, the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) sent two coaches, Deano Herewini and Ismail Kadir to the Philippines. The two coaches arrived to run an HSBC Asian Grassroots Rugby program as a joint effort by the ARFU and the PRFU.

HSBC Asian Grassroots Tour – Day 1

The program began on a very hot Wednesday morning, May 1st, at the QC Circle. Despite the scorching sun, coaches Deano Herewini and Ismail Kadir tackled training 40 boys and girls from House of Refuge. This orphanage is one of the many orphanages that PRFU supports. Boys and girls ranging from ages four to 16 participated in the program. It was the task of the assisting coaches Acee San Juan, Kaye Llanie Honoras, and Juan Engelbrecht to sort the participants into groups to receive their free T-shirts before training.

Training kicked off with some handling skill drills and progressed with added running lines and rucking techniques. Even though the coaches were faced with a big language barrier, the kids understood the language of rugby and grasped the fine concepts fairly quickly. The kids enjoyed each drill oblivious to the heat of the summer sun. At the end of the day, the coaches completed training with a game of modified touch involving all the participants in an exciting, fun game. Afterwards, everyone finished the day with some merienda and pictures with the coaches, who they so very much appreciated for coaching them.

HSBC Asian Grassroots Tour – Day 2

The following day, the HSBC Asian Grassroots Rugby program kicked off bright and early at the Bulacan Sports Complex. Forty kids from Bulacan Rugby Club, with an age range of five to 18 years old, gathered at the complex, eager to learn new rugby skills under the guidance of coaches Izzy and Deano. The kids were divided into 2 age groups: Under 10s with coach Izzy and those aged 11 and above with Coach Deano. The session began with a warm up game involving quick running, alertness, communication, and training to move as a team.

At training, the younger group was taught ball familiarization, running with the ball, evasion, as well as the basics of catch and pass. Meanwhile, the older children began with basic catch and pass skills, and quickly progressed to more advanced rugby moves like switches, wraps, scrum half passes, and reloads.  The session, which lasted for an hour and a half, ended with a modified rugby game for both groups.  Despite the hot weather condition, all the kids had fun and were eager to learn more of the sport they had just picked up a few months ago.

Later in the day, the Grassroots group travelled up north to head for City of Angeles in Pampanga with Clark Freeport Zone (Clark Jets Rugby Club) as the point of destination. The Clark session was scheduled at 4 pm at the Grand Parade grounds of the Freeport Zone.  As they arrived, a total of 240 enthusiastic kids, with an age range of 4 to 20 years old, were waiting patiently for the coaches. Due to the larger number of participants, the ARFU coaches were assisted by local and regional coaches of PRFU.

Local coaches Juan, Acee, Aye, Lito, and Joemari helped out Izzy and Deano in coaching the different age groups. The kids were divided into 7 groups: girls U10s, girls 11 up, boys 8-10, boys 11-13, boys 14-16, boys 17-18, and boys 19 up. All the participants were taught the basic skills needed in rugby like passing, catching, and running with the ball. At the end of the session, a modified game of rugby was played by all the groups. What made the session even more special was the participation of the kids from a correctional institute based in the province, as well as a large group of Aeta kids who had come to join the session.  The day was a huge success because of the large turnout of participants, as well as the great sessions. It can truly be said that the future of rugby in our country is bright. 

HSBC Asian Grassroots Tour – Day 3

On Friday, May 3, the third leg of the tour took the group to Ayala Alabang Village Cuenca Field, where several Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation boys and Eagles Juniors boys were waiting for the coaching team. Everyone was once again ready and excited to start one of coach Deano’s fun coaching sessions when the heavens suddenly decided to open up on and shower the city with wind, rain and lightning. With quick thinking, the session was moved into the roof covered basketball court and the session continued as the elements were drowning everyone’s ears.

Nevertheless, nothing stopped the kids, the PRFU staff, and coach Deano from accomplishing what was nothing less than an inspiring coaching session which everyone enjoyed. Every person was keen to learn from the international coach and easily absorbed the new patterns being taught to them. The boys were very agile and receptive and before we knew it, the session and thunderstorm was over. Everyone had a great time and had huge smiles on their face as they thanked us before leaving the drenched Cuenca field.

HSBC Asian Grassroots Tour – Day 4

Finally on May 4th, the big day, just hours before the main game kick off, HSBC Asian Grassroots Rugby together with the PRFU ran a grassroots rugby clinic at Rizal Memorial Stadium with an attendance of 500 kids from all over the Philippines. Youth from different clubs, schools and children’s homes, all came together for this joyous moment. The HSBC Asian Grassroots Rugby clinic played host to more than 300 orphaned kids from different foundations.

Coach Deano and Ismial from ARFU and 8 more coaches from the PRFU took on this daunting task of coaching 500 kids in one venue. Although one might think this was impossible, the impossible was accomplished. With 10 stations and 50 kids at each station, all the boys and girls took part in a tough coaching session from all the coaches. After the basics of touch skills were practiced well, the teams came together for some touch rugby competition. With the coaches refereeing the games and the kids testing their skills to the limits, both coach and youth alike ended the day exhausted but happy.  After the big session, everyone transferred to the swimming pool for a cool down. The pool session was the icing on the cake and was fully enjoyed by the kids, much to the life guard’s horror. After a great cool down, everybody was greeted with a meal from McDonald's. With tummies full and happy faces, each and every one was ready to hit the stands and cheer on their team, the Volcanoes.

The PRFU would like to thank our sponsors HSBC and Gerry’s Grill for making this event possible. It is thanks to our sponsors that we were able to get 500 kids to Rizal Memorial Stadium and feed them after a tough day at the office. We thank you HSBC and Gerry’s Grill.

All videos courtesy of HSBC Asian Grassroots Rugby

The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the players who have been selected for the HSBC Asian 5 Nations match against South Korea.

Head coach: Stuart Woodhouse
Asst coach: Phil Gittus
Physiotherapist: Luke Heath

The match will be be played on Saturday, 11 May at the Ansan Wa Stadium, Ansan, South Korea. 

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.

20 April 2013
Japan v Philippines: Fukuoka, Japan
Hong Kong v United Arab Emirates: Hong Kong 

26 April 2013
United Arab Emirates v South Korea: Al Ain, Abu Dhabi

27 April 2013
Hong Kong v Japan: Hong Kong

4 May 2013
Japan v South Korea: Tokyo, Japan
Philippines v Hong Kong: Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

10 May 2013
United Arab Emirates v Japan: Dubai

11 May 2013
South Korea v Philippines: Ansan, South Korea

18 May 2013
South Korea v Hong Kong , Ansan, South Korea
Philippines v United Arab Emirates: Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 

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

For more information on the Asian 5 Nations, go to:
http://www.asian5nations.com

For tickets to the games at Rizal Memorial Stadium, go to:
http://www.prfu.com/a5n-2013-tickets.html