The name Ryan Santos may sound familiar to the Philippine Rugby community that is because he’s a product of the grassroots and school rugby system in the Philippines. He is also the eldest of three sons to PRFU Secretary General, Rick Santos and his wife Bonnie. Ryan recently represented the USA U23 All American Collegiate team in the Rugby Town 7s at Glendale, Colorado last weekend.

“Ryan has always been a special talent. You could always see his talent developing from a young age. Holding dual citizenship for both the Philippines and USA we were always going to see him at the international level with a skill set such as his. He’s the Team Captain for Harvard Rugby so it was great to see him selected in the All American Collegiate team over the weekend” Jake Letts of Philippine Rugby shared.

Santos has developed his talents through the local Santos Knight Frank Mavericks Rugby Club in Makati, the International School Manila and the National Youth Programs of Philippine Rugby. He represented the Philippines as a national youth player on a number of occasions and has been earmarked as a player of the future for the Volcanoes 7s and 15s program. Ryan’s father, Rick Santos served as the Union’s President for a maximum term of eight years before being re-elected last year to the Secretary General post to continue to serve for Philippine Rugby. He also sits on the Development Committee for Asia Rugby.

“It is a true pleasure to see grassroots rugby and development growing and inspiring young athletes at the youth, high school, collegiate and national team levels. Ryan is a true product of the grassroots program in the Philippines and Asia. We could not be more proud,” shared Rick Santos.

Ryan has kept himself in rugby shape during the global pandemic, spending the early months of 2021 in South Africa at a 7s specialist training camp.

“Ryan is maximizing 2021; he’s invested physically in his strength, fitness and speed. Being exposed to a high level of competition and training environment in South Africa as well as recent tournaments in the US will ensure he continues to perform at the highest level. If Asia Rugby competitions proceed in November, be great to see him in action again hopefully once again for the Philippines” according to Letts.
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Santos was selected alongside 12 others to represent the USA U23s; they finished Bowl Champions defeating the Sabercat 7s in a close final. Another Filipino American Sam Walsh of UC Berkeley was also selected in the team. Walsh scored two tries in the Bowl Final to help the U23s win their final match. Twenty teams competed with Samurai RFC claiming first place the US $10,000 prize money.

The fourth and final sevens tournament was the end of a busy five weeks for the Volcanoes 7s Development Team. The Philippine team fell short in all three pool rounds, 34 to 14, 33 to 14, and 26 to 12 in their final match. The competition capped off a remarkable effort, as newcomers to each and every tournament.
 
“It’s been a development program for all the right reasons, playing in these tournaments will pay off for our future national programs,” shared Vince Amar Young, Team Leader for the program. 

​The Volcanoes Development 7s team once again showcased some exciting rugby over the weekend at the London 7s in Chiswick.

The Philippine heritage team got off to a strong start against Nomads 7s winning a close battle 19 to 14. In the second game, both teams could not find an eventual winner with a 19 to 19 all draw against the Kew Occasional Rugby 7s team. 

The Pinoys, unfortunately, fell short in their final game 19 to 14 and finished second overall in their pool round standings. The Volcanoes then progressed and faced OJ Renegades in the knockout rounds and went down 28 to 17 in a competitive game.

Three from three in their last three games on Saturday saw the Volcanoes Development 7s team share the podium at the Cheltenham 7s last weekend. Two closely fought out matches saw the Philippines go down 20 to 19 against the Patriots, then 14 to 19 against Phystory RFC. The next three games however saw three straight victories and gave the team a third overall finish at the competition.

“It was a good way to end the tournament, going close in the first two games however a few errors were costly. Luckily for our team, we bounced back and played some good rugby to finish third out of the twelve teams that entered” Vince Amar Young shared, Team Leader for the United Kingdom program.

Will Obienta Anderson was voted player of the tournament along with strong performances from Rafael Dian Zappia and Charles Amistozo-Warren.
 
The Volcanoes Development team will push ahead and look for another strong performance this weekend, as they gear up for their third of four events at the London 7s. The Philippine heritage team will be boosted this weekend by the return of Sam Aquino Callaghan and Jerome Padillo Rudder, both key players to the program. Rudder has been in stellar form for the Volcanoes after his 2019 Asia Sevens Series season.

The team will also see the return of two former U19 nationals, Francis Glen Serafica and Ethan Cuison Chen. Making his debut for the program is Tomas Villalba Smith, following in the footsteps of his older brother Luc.
 
“This weekend will be exciting for the team; the London 7s will see a large number of teams and spectators. We have selected another strong and youthful team, as well as some new talent making their debut. They are being led by experienced sevens members Chris Arpon Bird and Vincent Amar Young. Hopefully, they can continue their momentum from last weekend’s results” shared Jake Letts, CEO of Philippine Rugby.
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The team has also been invited to visit Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo at the Philippine Embassy in London who will be supporting the team by providing a national flag to showcase the Embassy's support. The Philippines have been named in Pool A and games are scheduled for 9:36, 11:06 and 14:42 local time.
 
For more information on results for this weekend follow Philippine Rugby’s social media account.