Head coach: Jarred Hodges
Asst coach/Manager: Nathan Holman
Physiotherapist: Rico Barin

The match will be played at 6:00pm on Saturday, April 26 at the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. 

The Asian 5 Nations is the premier Rugby Union competition in Asia held among the top five national Rugby sides in the region. The Philippines will face Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka in a round-robin competition throughout April and May 2014.

April 26
Philippines v Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

May 3
Philippines v Japan (Southern Plains, Laguna)

May 17
Philippines v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

May 24
Philippines v Korea (Southern Plains, Laguna)

The Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) has released the list of players selected to take part in the training camp for the Asian 5 Nations 2014 tournament.

National coaches Jarred Hodges and Stuart Woodhouse will trim the squad down at the end of the training camp, with the final team announced before each match. 

The Asian 5 Nations is the region's premier Rugby Union competition among the top five national rugby teams in Asia. On its first year in the top 5 in 2013, the Philippines defeated the United Arab Emirates at the Rizal Memorial Stadium to remain in the Premier Division for 2014.   

The Philippine Volcanoes will face Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka in a round-robin competition over five consecutive weekends throughout April and May 2014.

Asian 5 Nations Premier Division Schedule

The Asian 5 Nations represents the highest tier of international Rugby in Asia and in 2014, is Asia's qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The national squad is made up of Filipino heritage players (who were either born in the Philippines, or have at least one parent or grand parent that was born in the Philippines) and a few foreign-blooded players who have been based in the Philippines for at least three consecutive years, as allowed by International Rugby Board (IRB) regulations.

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

One half to remember, and one to forget.  That was what the Philippine Volcanoes gave to the hometown crowd at Rizal Memorial Stadium on Sunday against Hong Kong as they came roaring out of the gates to shake the heavily-favored visitors for a half and then some.  

Rookie fly-half Alex Aronson gave the Volcanoes a quick start by kicking a penalty to give the underdog Volcanoes an early 3-0 lead. The team’s confidence soared as they stymied Hong Kong in the midfield and on the fringes, buoyed by a fervent home crowd.  


The early returns also carried signs of what would ultimately be the team’s undoing, as the Philippine scrum struggled to deal with Hong Kong up front. Hong Kong’s first try was awarded as a penalty try after a collapsed scrum on the 5-meter line.  

Nothing summed up the team’s first-half confidence though than the passage of play directly off the kick-off following Hong Kong taking their first lead. A long kick-off by Aronson to just in front of the visiting 22 was recovered by the Volcanoes and lock forward David Feeney, captain of the local Manila Nomads, first made spectators         

A famous upset seemed to be in the works as Hong Kong produced some sloppy ball inside the Volcanoes’ 22-meter that was picked up by the outside backs of the Philippines and run back for a sparkling coast-to-coast try and an apparent 17-7 lead going into the half.   Fortune didn't favor the Philippines as the referee produced a shaky offside call to nullify the try, and then almost immediately awarded another penalty try for another collapsed scrum to Hong Kong.  Despite not having kicked a penalty nor crossed the try line, and rarely crossing the gain line in the first-half, the visitors entered the half with a 14-10 lead and breathing room to regain their footing. 

For 10 more minutes the Volcanoes looked undaunted by the bad luck and questionable calls. while another Aronson penalty brought the home-side to within 1 point before Hong Kong’s overwhelming advantage in the scrum and a regrouped Hong Kong backline began to cut apart the Volcanoes defense.  An already thin Filipino frontline, struggling with the loss of loose forward Jake Ward to broken ribs, took another hit as lock Steve Howorth continued to struggle with a knock suffered in pre-season and had to leave the game.  Blindside Flanker Terry Carroll was forced into the lock position while Daniel Rodriguez was brought on at blindside.  

When a nice Hong Kong backline move in the midfield sprung Jonny Rees for his first try of two up the middle, the first-half 14-point swing began to look like a backbreaker.  The try signalled the beginning of the end as Hong Kong began to pour in try after try as defensive breakdowns and set-piece difficulties for the Volcanoes piled up.  Captain Michael Letts provided a brief moment of solace for the home crowd with a late try and Aronson kicked the conversion to finish a perfect day of kicking, going four from four, but by then, Hong Kong had already run away with the game.

The Volcanoes can take a large measure of comfort from their first-half performance against one of the top Asian teams with a much improved showing over their opener.  The team will have to combine their sparkling attacking potential with a consistent eighty minutes of defense and produce some solution to their continuing struggles against larger teams in the scrum.  

The upcoming weeks will see the arrival of veteran forwards Josh Sutcliffe, Phil Abraham, and Michael de Guzman to shore up an injury-depleted forward pack as the team goes into their last two critical matches in a fight for top-division survival in Korea on May 11th, and what may be a relegation battle against visiting UAE at Rizal stadium on May 18th.   

report: Jon Morales
photos: Jinggo Montenejo