 Photo Credit: RJP/Hiroyuki Nagaoka Asian nations roll out coaching big guns as Ben Gollings and Al Caravelli take reins of Sri Lanka and Philippines for 2012 Series Japan and Hong Kong will begin as favourites to finish top of the pile when the HSBC Asian Sevens Series (HSBC A7s) kicks off with the Borneo Sevens in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday (September 1). With three spots at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 at stake, all of the top contenders have doubled down on their efforts to secure a spot in Moscow. Asian powerhouse Japan, who finished ranked number one last season, and runners-up Hong Kong are once again fancied to be at the helm of a bigger and better HSBC A7s series - expanded to three ranking events this season with the Mumbai Sevens joining the Borneo Sevens and the Shanghai Sevens. The fourth event on this year’s HSBC Asian Sevens Series will be held in Singapore. Adding another dimension this season is the fact that the series rankings after Mumbai will serve to decide the seedings for the fourth and final HSBC A7s event in 2012, the Singapore Sevens in November, which will also play host to the Rugby World Cup Sevens Asian qualifiers. This has resulted in all three ranking tournaments drawing a record 10 core teams in 2012 making the competition even tougher. “We will be focusing on one match at a time. In recent years the level of all Asian countries has increased dramatically and we know that in sevens anything can happen. So we will have to be at our best consistently,” said Japan’s new coach Tomohiro Segawa. Japan will retain four members of the squad which figured in last year’s HSBC World Series – Yusaku Kuwazuru, Katsuyuki Sakai, Kazushi Hano and Lote Tuqiri – and will be led by half-back Koji Wada, a member of the 2010 Asian Games gold medal-winning team. But the players to watch could be twins Kenichi and Shinichi Yokoyama who turn out for Ricoh Black Rams in the Japan Top League and come highly rated by coach Segawa. Segawa didn’t beat around the bush when he said “our first goal is to retain our title as Asian champions and to secure one of three spots for Asia at the World Cup Sevens in Moscow next year”. But Japan’s long-term goal is also to qualify for the HSBC World Sevens Series, something they failed to achieve at the Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens last year which decided the three new core teams for the forthcoming season. “At the moment there are no teams from Asia among the 15 core teams. This is why we must qualify for the World Cup as it will give us an opportunity to play against the big teams,” Segawa said. Hong Kong has only one new face in the 12-strong squad for the opening leg in Borneo. Towering forward Eniola Gesinde will make his debut in a team packed with familiar faces including skipper Rowan Varty, Salom Yiu, Tsang Hing Hung, Ant Haynes, Simon Leung and the McQueen brothers, Tom and Alex. “It will be the toughest HSBC Asian Sevens Series ever,” warned Hong Kong coach Dai Rees. “Our focus is on finishing in the top two in the series and also qualifying for the World Cup.” Japan and Hong Kong will be pressed all the way by a resurgent South Korea – who finished second to Japan in the 15-a-side HSBC Asian Five Nations – the Philippines and China. Other teams who can be a threat on the day include hosts Malaysia and Sri Lanka.  Former USA Sevens coach Al Caravelli has taken over the coaching mantle in the Philippines and will be hoping his new charges can repeat last season’s heroic performance where they finished ranked tied third.
“With World Cup places on the line every country will be sending out their strongest teams. This will make all games very competitive and a top three finish will be difficult. We expect Japan, Hong Kong and China to continue their dominance and also Korea should challenge for a top three spot,” Caravelli said. The Volcanoes have retained the bulk of their squad from last year and will rely heavily on the experience of players like Harry Morris, Andrew Wolff and Kenneth Stern. The Philippines has never qualified for a World Cup and will be determined to make a mark in Moscow. “This is a unique opportunity to put the country on the world stage and it will help local development immensely,” Caravelli said. Another well-known face on the international circuit that will be around is former England sevens captain and HSBC Sevens World Series all-time leading points scorer Ben Gollings who is coach of Sri Lanka, having stepped into the vacancy left by Phil Greening who was appointed coach of Scotland recently. The presence of Gollings will infuse new confidence amongst Sri Lanka who are capable of pulling the rug from under the feet of more fancied teams on their day. The HSBC Asian Sevens Series’ Borneo Sevens is again featuring elite women’s rugby action in the Asia Pacific Women’s Sevens championship which begins today, (August 31), with the finals on Sunday (September 2). For information on ARFU and the HSBC A7s, contact Sean Moore (+852 9092 8889), [email protected]  After a couple days in camp at the World of Life in Laguna, this newly formed Philippine Volcanoes U20s team from around the globe were ready for a strong performance at the ARFU U20’s 7s Championships at Johor Bahru Malaysia. There were 10 teams competing in this year’s tournament split into two pools competing for The Cup, Plate and Bowl. Unfortunately, the Philippines drew a very tough pool facing Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and China all on the first day. Our first game was against the defending champions Malaysia who came out firing and put on 3 quick tries before we even got our hands on the ball. The boy’s finally got some possession and got a try back just before half time, unfortunately our Captain and try scorer, Adam Clarke was hit in a tackle just before the break were he suffered a tournament ending knee injury. The boys put on a brave fight but ended going down 29-5. The next game was against Singapore, this was a “must win” for the Philippines. We got off to a great start with a try to Richard Powell, Singapore hit back with two soft tries to lead at the break 14-5. We started the second half the same way as we had finished the first, allowing Singapore in for a try from a Philippines mistake. This ignited the Boys and we saw the momentum change with Tim Churchill and Ryan Clarke scoring tries in succession, the score was 21-17 with only a couple of minutes left, unfortunately luck was against us and time ran out. The full time score remained Singapore 21 – Philippines 17, but a great improvement from the Team on the first game. With only a short turn around our next game was against the wildcards of the tournament China. Physically a very imposing team with height, size and speed we put up a strong fight but were just out classed going down 36-5, with our only try being scored by Ryan Clarke The Philippines were the only team in the tournament required to play four games in the first day, with our final game against the well-drilled and experienced Japanese. Once again a brave effort from all the boys with a reduced squad of only 10 men, 5 of which (Rey, Richard, Ryan, Robert & Tim) playing every minute of the 4 games for the day (with the exception of the 6 min that Adam put in before being injured). Japan were just too strong and we were out on our feet going down 38-0 Sunday brought a new day, refreshed from an early night and a good feed we were playing for Filipino pride and the Bowl championship against Brunei. The Boy’s came out firing and Brunei were never in the game, tries to Tim Churchill, Rey Pearce, Daniel Melrose and Ryan Clarke saw the Philippines victorious 24-0 and Bowl Champions for 2012 Overall a good result and great experience for this young developing team with 4 players U18 and 1 x U16, providing us with great depth for the years to come. Malaysia were the eventually winners of the Cup in a close game against Hong Kong. Philippine Volcanoes U20s 7s Men's Team
Report by: Paul Churchill, Team Manager Share this!
 At this year's Asian Women’s 15s Division II championship, it was Singapore who triumphed on the field against Thailand with a narrow win of 21-19. Singapore came to the tournament wanting to prove they belong in the top division after their demotion to Division II last year. This drive coupled with a well-drilled team and a high level of fitness was what eventually wore down the Thailand defense as Singapore returns to Division I next year. In their first match, the Lady Volcanoes played against Thailand and struggled early on to maintain defense against the quick passes to the Thai wingers who scored the majority of the tries. They scored once in the first half with a quick play to the backs resulting in a try from veteran player Nikki Lira. The Volcanoes, who had just come back from training camp earlier in the week, finally found their stride in the second half with a more solid defensive line and answering back with two more tries from Manila Santos and Kaye Honoras. The final score of 48-15 didn’t quite reflect the stats of the Lady Volcanoes who had majority possession of the ball but made critical mistakes that resulted in their undoing.  After some recovery and regrouping, the Lady Volcanoes came out as their motto states, “As One!” on Saturday against Laos. Despite some injuries to the starting lineup including Nikki Lira, Alice Almocera and Nicole Moore, the ladies physicality seemed to overwhelm the Laos team, especially in the forwards’ game where half of the tries were scored including a hat trick to Captain and blind side flanker Ada Milby. Loosehead prop, Eloisa Jordan, also the youngest player on the team, consistently busted through the Laos defense and was awarded Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The game was a shut out with a final score of 55 – 0 however, the Laos team didn’t go quietly as they continued to play hard for the full 80 minutes of the match. The Lady Volcanoes are continuing to develop and grow and a team and will now be preparing for 7s season as they travel to India later this year. With more training and match experience, this team will surely be a threat to watch for in the 2013 Division II tournament. Report by: Manila Santos & Ada Milby
 The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce that it has been awarded the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Development Award for 2012. Announced at the ARFU Council Meeting in Kuala Lumpur on June 3, the prestigious award will be formally presented to the PRFU on November 18, 2012 during the ARFU Annual General Meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Asian Rugby Football Union spans a vast territory from Kazakhstan in the north to Indonesia in the south and Lebanon in the west to Guam in the east. Of ARFU’s 28 member unions, 14 are full members of the International Rugby Board: China, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. There are a further six associate IRB members in Asia: Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Laos, Mongolia and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan is the newest ARFU associate member union, joining in 2011, following Lebanon and UAE’s admission in December 2009. The Development Award is given to a group or individual that has achieved outstanding success in the development of Rugby, at any level of the game or in the aspects of playing, coaching, administration, training, capital development or Rugby-related volunteer or charity initiatives. Apart from Philippine Rugby’s successes on the playing field, the ARFU recognized the PRFU’s activities in developing the sport of Rugby at the grassroots level through free training sessions, local 15s, 7s and 10s club leagues and its booming Juniors program which counts students from the International schools as well as several charitable foundations as its participants. Alvin San Diego, PRFU President commented, “We are honored to be recognized by the Asian Rugby Football Union with this award. Without the efforts of the PRFU team, and more importantly, the many volunteers that persevered when the sport of Rugby was unknown and unheard of in the Philippines, this would not be possible.” He continued, “It has been a great year so far for Philippine Rugby, with the Volcanoes winning promotion to the Asian 5 Nations Elite Division and seeing action in the prestigious Hong Kong 7s International Tournament. We have also seen growth in the local Rugby scene with new teams being formed and more people wanting to try the sport.” The PRFU offers free Rugby 101 sessions every Monday and Wednesday at PhilSports Field in Pasig and every Sunday at the Sandtrap in Banilad, Cebu. Plans are underway to offer these sessions in Marikina and other areas of the country. Development officers are also teaching the sport to students at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, University of Makati, Quezon City Polytechnic University and to the children of Bahay Bata, Duyan ni Maria, Tuloy Foundation, Child Hope, Bulacan Rugby Club and WE Foundation in Smokey Mountain. The Union has also stepped up its efforts in providing training for coaches and match officials. In closing, San Diego said “Our aim is to have Rugby become a sport widely recognized and played in the Philippines. This award certainly confirms that we are heading in the right direction. We look forward seeing more Filipinos playing and enjoying the great sport of Rugby.” Information on Rugby in the Philippines can be found at the PRFU’s official website www.prfu.com or on its social networking sites: www.facebook.com/PhilippinRugby and www.twitter.com/PhilippineRugby. Please click on the link below to download the press release. 
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