Congratulations to the following players who have been selected to be part of the Junior Volcanoes team for the Asian Youth Games Rugby 7s Tournament. They will compete on August 17 to 19 in Nanjing, China. Players: Ayala, Miguel Francisco (British School Manila) Ballesteros, Kingsley (Clark Rugby Club) Candelaria, Naimar (Clark Rugby Club) Cayetano, Terry Boy (Clark Rugby Club) Feleo, Juliann Viktor (Mavericks/University of Santo Tomas) Holgate, Andrew William (British School Manila) Madrona, Jonel (Clark Rugby Club) co-captain Maleval, Greg George (Brent International School Manila) Narvasa, Racel (Bulacan Rugby Club/Colegio de Calumpit) Rano, Albert Vincent (British School Manila) Whyte, Joshua Louis (British School Manila) co-captain Management Staff: Head Coach: Juan Gideon Josua Engelbrecht Team Manager: Kaye Llanie Honoras Physiotherapist: Alyssa Paula Tomas The team is composed of Filipino heritage boys (ages 16 to 17) who will compete against other Asian nations such as China, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong. All these boys have been playing in the PRFU local leagues.
For more information on the 2nd Asian Youth Games 2013, visit: http://www.nanjing2013.org/en The Manila Nomads proved once again that they are the reigning 15s Rugby team in the Philippines with a close win over the Alabang Eagles in the Fila 15s Cup division final last June 22. Nomads relied on their bigger forwards, their aggressive pick and drive style of play, and rolling mauls to gain territory. The younger Eagles took advantage of the experience of several Volcanoes players on their backs line. Tim Bweheni, Robert Jones, and Adam Clarke suited up for the Eagles for this very important match. Nomads skipper and Volcanoes player, David Feeney, started the scoring with a pick and drive off the 5 meter line. Fly half Danny Williams converted the try to add cushion to the Nomads lead. Eagles responded instantly with a counter attack from a kick off. Jones outpaced several defenders and scored a try for the Eagles. As the try wasn’t converted, the score remained at 7-5 by the half. After the break, Nomads were on the board again with a try by Williams. Conversion was unsuccessful but they were up by 7 points. An Adam Clarke try made the score even at 12-all. With the Cup championship on the line, both teams tightened up their defensive line and tried to outmuscle their way to gain territory. A successful penalty kick by Williams gave the Nomads a slim lead in the last 20 minutes of play. It was a defensive battle from there, as both teams tackled hard and forced a series of turnovers. Eagles were able to sneak in a try to take the lead for the first time in the match. Their try was converted for a score of 17-15 to the Eagles. Nomads turned to their experienced forwards pack for control over the last minutes of the match. A rolling maul from a lineout gave MVP Paul Retzlaff a chance to steal the match from the Eagles. Retzlaff scored a try and Williams converted it, sealing the win for the defending champions at 22-17. Ladies Division: Manila Defeats Cebu at PRFU FILA 15s League Championship The north and south ladies teams battled for another PRFU league championship title. The Cebu Lady Dragons, who won last year’s 15s match against Manila Mayhem, came to the field ready to defend their title. The Manila Mayhem, who won the 10s league championship against the southerners last March, were up for the challenge. With both teams having at least 8 rookies– and missing a few key players on the lineup– it was an evenly matched game from the start. The match started off very physical, as both sides tackled hard to prevent each other from gaining ground. The Lady Dragons showed quality passing, which enabled them to swing the ball from side to side. In contrast, Mayhem demonstrated their forwards’ strength by creating a solid defense and coming up fast off the line. Mayhem opened up the scoring with a quick ball to the backs on the 5 meter line. Fullback Loujen Saldo found a gap and dove for the try. The Lady Dragons answered back with a blind side play off the scrum. After quickly picking up the ball, Number 8, Tonette Gambito, sped straight towards the line, outrunning Mayhem’s winger. Try was converted and the Lady Dragons were up 7-5. Cebu Lady Dragons Substitute player Lima, an 18 year old Papua New Guinean player from Cebu, made her presence felt early as she broke through several tackles and popped the ball to their speedy captain, Aiumi Ono. Ono then crossed the line and her try was converted. After a short regroup, Mayhem girls came back with two quick tries before the half. Mayhem’s forwards worked hard to draw defenders, creating scoring opportunities for their speedy backs. Ada Milby bulldozed her way to the line, while Nikki Lira scored a try between the posts after a quick pass from the backs. The second half saw stronger defence and more aggression from both ladies teams. A yellow card was given to Lima of Cebu, which resulted to a penalty try for Manila Santos of Mayhem. Try was converted, bringing Mayhem up 22-14. Another yellow card from a high tackle resulted to Lira sitting out for a few minutes. The Lady Dragons were not able to take advantage of the overlap and remained unable to score on several opportunities. A loose ball from a broken play resulted to a breakaway try by Saldo. This sealed the win at 29-14 for Manila Mayhem, and Loujen Saldo was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the Women’s Division. Plate Division: Ibons Dominate Globe at PRFU FILA 15s League Championship It was a tough battle for the much improved Globe Immortals as they played against an Alabang Ibons team composed mostly of speedy Papua New Guinean players. The Immortals, who were able to secure a spot in the finals by beating rival Maverick Vipers, were outran several times by the PNG players. The first 10 minutes looked promising as the Immortals held their ground and contained their speedy opponents. It was a physical match, but the local boys were able to gain yards and match up to the strength of their opponents. Fitness and experience spelled the difference as the Ibons finally out-muscled their opponents and swung the ball to their swift-running backs. A series of runaway tries gave momentum to the Ibons and disheartened the Immortals. A bad cut above the eye forced Immortals skipper and Volcano player, Jay Coronel, to be pulled out of the game, much to his team’s dismay. David Brissonnaud, Immortals’ inside-center, managed to put in a penalty kick, making the score 19-3 at the half. Globe Immortals The second half was still an all-Ibons show as their PNG players scored try after try. Coronel was unable to return to the field because of the cut sustained in the first half. The match ended at 62-3 with Chris Karo, a PNG player, being awarded the MVP. It was a tough loss for the Immortals, but this match gave them the experience they needed to compete in 15s rugby. Bowl Division: Clark Rugby Club Come From Behind to Beat QCPU and Win the Bowl Championship Quezon City Polytechnic University Clark Rugby Club made the biggest comeback in the PRFU Fila 15s League as they snuck up from behind to beat the QCPU Questors 24-22. QCPU started the scoring feast in the first half with quick passing and overall speed. They scored four unanswered tries with one conversion. Down 22-nil at the half, the CRC boys regrouped and relied on experience to crawl back from the huge deficit. A series of penalties in the ruck after the half gave CRC several scoring opportunities which they quickly took advantage of. Joe Mari Rauras started the scoring spree for CRC. They followed their structure by giving the ball to their forwards, allowing them to draw defenders, cause overlaps, and quickly swing the ball to the backs. True to the formula, they scored four tries and successfully converted twice. The last try came seconds before the end of the match. When the whistle was blown, CRC boys erupted in cheers while the QCPU boys stood in disbelief. It was a great win for the CRC boys, who showed everyone that no one gives up in the game of Rugby. It was a lesson learned for the QCPU boys: The match is never finished until the referee blows his whistle. Thank you to all the teams who participated in this year’s Fila 15s League. Congratulations to all the champion teams. Next League games will be in August for 7s Rugby.
Cup MVP – Paul Retzlaff Women’s MVP – Loujen Saldo Plate MVP – Chris Karo Bowl MVP – Jonel Madrona The PRFU was delighted once again to be invited to this year's Philippine National Games(PNG) by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee. The games were held last June 1 at Nomad Sports Club in Merville Subdivision, Parañaque City. Twelve men’s teams and four women’s teams registered to compete at the second Philippine National Games. The Men’s Division had the Alabang Eagles, CBRE Maverick Vipers teams A and B, Nomads-CRC, Cebu Dragons, Globe Blacks, Globe Blues, Globe Classics, University of Makati Herons, Quezon City Polytechnic University Questors teams A and B, and Clark Jets Rugby teams in competition. The Women's Division had Team Athena, Team Xena, University of Makati Lady Herons, and Quezon City Polytechnic University Lady Questors. Rugby 7s is an exciting sport and promotes action, speed, agility and teamwork. It is a perfect sport for any young Filipino athletes who enjoy the challenge of playing a dynamic contact sport. The PRFU restricted participation to the PNG Rugby 7s tournament to Filipino Heritage players only. It was exciting to see over 200 Filipino athletes take the field to compete to become the top Rugby 7s teams in the country. The Men’s competition saw the teams battle in a round robin format in their respective pools and then break into Cup, Plate, and Bowl for the finals. The Alabang Eagles, Cebu Dragons, CBRE Maverick Vipers A, and Nomads-CRC were ranked the number one team in their respective pools after the round games. Thus, these teams entered the Cup Division. It was the debutante university teams, QCPU team A and UMAK, who surprised everyone and managed to win against more experienced teams in their pools. These universities have only been playing the sport for almost a year now but they proved that rugby 7s is their forte. They proved that size in Rugby 7s is not everything as they ran around their opponents, displaying deft rugby skills and teamwork. As a result, they came in second in their pools and entered the Plate Division for the finals. They were joined by Globe Blacks and Globe Classics in that division. QCPU team B, Globe Blues, CBRE Maverick Vipers team B, and Clark Jets made up the Bowl Division after the pool rounds. The Women's Division saw the more experienced teams winning over the debutante teams. Team Athena and Team Xena, both led by some Lady Volcanoes players, won over the university teams in their round robin games. QCPU Lady Questors and UMAK Lady Herons gave good fights but it was the experience in playing rugby 7s that spelled the difference for these teams. At the end of the round games, it was Team Xena who ranked first by beating Team Athena 17-0. In a tightly contested match, UMAK beat QCPU 5-0, making them 3rd ranked going into the finals. In the Bowl finals, CBRE Maverick Vipers team B proved too strong for their younger counterparts and claimed the gold by winning 19 – 0 over QCPU Team B. Clark Jets, who are all former Bahay Bata orphanage players, easily won over Globe Blues 26-0 to claim the bronze medal. These kids, who are mostly 14 to 18 years old, defeated their bigger and older opponents with their superb speed and excellent teamwork. Rivals UMAK and QCPU team A faced off in the Plate finals after beating their opponents in contrasting fashion in the semis. UMAK cruised past Globe Classics 27-10, to gain a spot in the finals. QCPU team A had to overcome a tough and physical Globe Blacks team in the semis. QCPU team A was able to prevail over the Blacks 10-5 in another tightly-contested match. Final score for the Plate finals gold medal match was QCPU team A 19 to 5 UMAK Herons. Globe Blacks won over the Globe Classics 19-7 in the battle for bronze. In the Women's finals, Team Athena made their presence felt early as they scored a try of a loose ball 3 minutes into the match. It was more of a defensive battle after as both teams were tackling hard to prevent each other from gaining ground. Just before the half, a gap in the defensive line of Xena opened up and gave another scoring chance for Athena. Half time score was 12-0 in favor of Athena. Xena was able to regroup after the break and made use of their forwards to crash through defence and gain ground. Unfortunately, errors in catching the ball stopped Xena's momentum and turned things around. With seconds winding down, an interception off a pass enabled Athena to seal their win 17-0 and gave them the gold in the women's division. On the other hand, UMAK Lady Herons relied on speed and strength to win over their university rival, QCPU Lady Questors, 20-0 and capture the bronze. The Cup finals saw last year's winners, Alabang Eagles, battle against the much-improved CBRE Maverick Vipers team A in a classic showdown. Alabang Eagles had to beat PNG debutantes Cebu Dragons 19-0 first to gain a spot in the finals. CBRE Mavericks team A had to overcome the speedsters of Nomads-CRC and beat them 10-0 to be able to face the Eagles in the finals. The Eagles proved too strong for the Mavericks as the defending champions scored tries off crisp passing and excellent footwork. Mavericks gave their all, scoring a try from an offload from their speedy backs and another one from excellent passing on their forwards side. Both tries were converted but it wasn't enough to dethrone the defending champions. Once again, the Eagles proved to everyone why they are the best 7s team here in the country. As a result, they won the gold again with a score of 26-14. Hats off to the Mavericks for giving a really good fight. Cebu Dragons won over the Nomads-CRC 19-7 in the bronze medal match. Not wanting to come home empty-handed, the Dragons showed no mercy and relied on their structure and awesome speed at the wings to outlast their rivals and win the bronze. The PNG allowed the PRFU to showcase the growing sport of Rugby 7s and the Filipino athletes were extremely proud to compete to win National PSC medals. Rugby 7s is now played at the SEA, Asian and Olympic Games, and the PSC are looking to build further Rugby 7s programs to claim medals at these events. The PRFU would like to thank the Philippine Sports Commission for inviting Rugby 7s to be a sport once again at the 2013 Philippine National Games and Nomad Sports Club for hosting the tournament. PSC Commissioner Jose Luis "Jolly" Gomez, PSC Commissioner Salvador "Buddy" Andrada, and some of the Volcanoes Rugby World Cup team attended the PNG awards ceremony and were delighted at the level of skill, participation and sportsmanship displayed by all the Filipino teams that played in the 2013 Rugby 7s Philippine National Games tournament. Official PNG results that are registered with the Philippine Sports Commission for 2013: GOLD MEDAL
SILVER MEDAL
BRONZE MEDAL
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Ladies Division: Ada Milby Men's Cup Division: Kit Guerra Men's Plate Division: Carl Urmenita Men's Bowl Division: Julian Feleo Photo gallery (All action photos on this page by Mark Cristino. All team photos on this page by Chris Hettel) The fourth CBRE Juniors Touch Rugby Tournament of the year was held last May 18, 2013, at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate, Manila. The tournament featured the participation of 16 teams from various schools, clubs, and foundations. Over 200 players from the PRFU Juniors Development Program came together, vying for the title of best juniors’ team in their age group. This tournament also served as a prelude of the Philippine Volcanoes Asian 5 Nations relegation match against the United Arab Emirates, which was played at 7 pm later that day.
House of Refuge foundation made its debut in the Under 10s and Under 12s divisions. This team has been training for almost two months now but this was their first time to join the tournament. These enthusiastic kids managed to impress everyone with their quick understanding of the game, ball skills, and evasion skills. As a result, they won a game in the Under 10s division and held a draw in the Under 12s division. The Nomads Cararoo team, another debutant in this month’s tournament, entered a team in every age group division in this tournament. Although training for just over three weeks now, the Cararoo team still was able to put some points on board and held on their defence on their matches. They were able to win a game in the Under 10s and Under 16s division and held a draw in the Under 16s division. Thanks to Nomads Rugby Club for helping out these kids learn and understand the sport of Rugby. SOS Children’s Village continue to show their potential in the sport. Playing only on their second tournament, they were able to dominate the Under 10s division once again. With three wins and no losses, they topped this age group. On the other hand, veteran team Mavericks Rugby Club leaned on their experience and was able to top the Under 12s division. Three wins and no losses also put them at number one of this age group. European International School Rugby team, whose players are mostly children of expatriates, won over all their opponents in the Under 14s division. They were able to top this age group by beating the tough Clark Jets Rugby Club in a closely-contested match. Both sides did not give up but in the end, EIS won over CJRS by just one point to nil. In contrast, the Under 16s division showed the dominance of Clark Jets Rugby Club. In the absence of the Tuloy Foundation, CJRS managed to cruise past everyone on all their matches. Led by Junior Volcanoes national team mainstayJonel Madrona, CJRS showed their advanced ball skills and undeniable speed. It was a good tournament by these kids. Some of these kids will represent the Philippines in the Asian Youth Games in August at Nanjing, China. It was a good day of Rugby, highlighted by the Volcanoes win over the UAE in the evening. All kids enjoyed the tournament they played on in the afternoon and the action-packed rugby match they were able to watch for free in the evening. Hopefully, from this bunch of kids we will find the future Volcanoes and Lady Volcanoes. The teams who participated were: U10s Nomads Cararoo House of Refuge SOS Children’s Village Rugby Team Mavericks Rugby Club U12s Nomads Cararoo House of Refuge SOS Children’s Village Rugby Team Mavericks Rugby Club Clark Jets Rugby Club U14s Nomads Cararoo European International School Child Hope Clark Jets Rugby Club U16s Nomads Cararoo Child Hope Clark Jets Rugby Club The third CBRE Juniors Touch Rugby Tournament of the year was held last Saturday, April 20, 2013, at Eagles Nest in Southern Plains Subdivision, Laguna. The tournament featured the participation of 15 teams from various schools, clubs, and foundations. Over 180 players from the PRFU Juniors Development Program came together under the hot sun, vying for the title of best juniors’ team in their age group. The newly formed SOS Children’s Village Rugby team made its debut in the Under 10s and Under 12s divisions. SOS Children’s Village Rugby team managed to show everyone that they have the skills to compete against the more experienced teams like Clark Jets Rugby Club, Bulacan Rugby Club, and Mavericks Rugby Club. In the end, they were able to dominate the opposition on both divisions, losing just once in the Under 12s division and winning all their games in the Under 10s division. Clark Jets Rugby Club U16s team The U16s division featured the Mavericks Rugby Club, Clark Jets Rugby Club, and the Childhope Foundation. The games were evenly matched, with the teams winning by just 1 or 2 points. The CJRS victory over the Mavericks secured them first position in this age group. Bulacan Rugby Club The U14s division featured five teams. All the matches were close, with some games resulting in draws. It was the much improved Bulacan Team 2 who had the most number of wins in this division. As a result Bulacan Team 2 came in first place with the Hapons and Clark Rugby Jets placing second and third, respectively. This tournament edition applied the new “set and rip” rule of Rugby. Traditionally, players were to put the ball down and step over it upon being touched. Under the new rule, players now have to turn their back on their opposition and present the ball to their teammates, who in turn will rip the ball from the touched player. This variation is more consistent with the rules of full contact rugby. All teams were instantly able to adjust to the new rule and were able to play fun, high-level games throughout the day. Childhope Foundation The teams who participated were: U10s SOS Children’s Village Rugby Team Mavericks Rugby Club Bulacan Rugby Club U12s Clark Jets Rugby Bulacan Rugby Club SOS Children’s Village Rugby Team Clark Jets Rugby Club U14s team U14s Hapons Rugby Club Bulacan Rugby Club 1 Bulacan Rugby Club 2 Mavericks Rugby Club Clark Jets Rugby U16s Mavericks Rugby Club Clark Jets Rugby Childhope Foundation |
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