The Globe 7s League kicked off on Saturday, August 4 at the Southern Plains Rugby Field. The new expanded tournament saw the inclusion of 15 men’s teams and 3 Women’s team with University of Makati (UMAK) and Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU) as the newest additions to the league.

The PRFU have been running Rugby development programs at both Universities since late 2011. After introducing Touch Rugby at the early stages of the program, the students of UMAK and QCPU graduated to playing 7s Rugby and have now stepped up into the Globe 7s League to play in the Bowl competition. Earlier this year the PRFU introduced 7s Touch Rugby at the ALCU University games and it is envisaged that the PRFU will start a University 7s League in 2013.

In wet conditions the Bowl teams started the day with the Tarsiers, UMAK, QCPU, Ibons and the Clark Rugby Club all travelling to the Southern Plains Rugby Club to start the new Globe 7 series that will run in two leagues until the end of October 2012.

The Clark Rugby Club, who were Silver Medal winners from the Philippine National Games, showed that they will again be a force to reckon with in the 7s arena and won their first two games finally losing their third game in a close battle to Bowl Favorites the Ibons. 

One of the best games of the day was played between the two University teams, with the University of Makati winning the inaugural university challenge by 17 – 10 and also claiming the Bowl Division “Hardy’s Team of the Day" award.

The Plate Division was divided into two pools of 4 teams while the Women’s teams of Xena and Nomads played three games over the afternoon. The Men’s games saw the new team from the Eagles RFC, the Falcons, make an immediate impact at this level of competition. A second team, the Flamingos, was also formed on the day composed mostly of  students from Adamson University who hail from Papua New Guinea. 

The Eagles were the strongest team on the day with the Hapons and CBRE Mavericks playing out the closest game in the Plate Division with the Mavericks eventually winning the arm wrestle 7 – 5. The Women finished the day in very wet conditions with an exhilarating 0 – 0 draw the last round of games had to postponed as the heavens opened. 

The second round of the Globe 7s League is on Saturday, August 18 at the Southern Plains Field, Silangan, Laguna. 



Full list of the Globe 7s League Round 1 results.

Click on thumbnails to enlarge. All photos by Mark Cristino

The PRFU were delighted to be invited to the 2012 Philippine National Games(PNG) by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee. The games were held at in Sta Cruz, Laguna and Governor  Jorge “ER” Ejercito Estregan was  extremely supportive to host the Rugby 7s event and showcase this Olympic sport to everyone at the newly renovated RECS Sports Stadium.

Eight Men’s teams and three women’s teams registered to compete for the inaugural Philippine National Games  Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.  The Men’s Division had the Eagles, Ibons, Bison/Tarsiers, Globe Immortals, MAAP Warriors, CBRE Vipers and Mavericks, Clark Rugby Club teams in competition, while  the Women  had Team Xena, MAAP Lady Warriors and  Nomads.

It was an early start with the PRFU supplying a bus for the participants to make the three hour journey south. The sun was shining and temperatures soared to the high thirties as the teams took the field to play Rugby 7s in the aim of winning positions for the upcoming SEA Games, which will be held in Myanmar in 2013.

Rugby 7s is an exciting sport and promotes action, speed, agility and teamwork and 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 150 Filipino athletes take the field to compete to become the top Rugby 7s teams in the country.

The Men’s competition saw the teams do battle in a round robin format and then break into A and B Divisions for the finals. The Alabang Eagles were ranked the number one team entering the competition and they would have to face some formidable opponents in the top division. The semi finals were the Eagles against the newly formed CBRE Vipers, which the Eagles won to move through to the final.

In the other semi-final the young guns from Clark Rugby Club (CRC) who were all ex Bahay Bata orphanage players proved that size in Rugby 7s is not everything as they ran around their opponents displaying deft rugby skills and teamwork.  Displaying excellent teamwork, the 16 – 18 year old Foundation players defeated their bigger and older opponents, the Globe Immortals, to set up a David and Goliath encounter in the Men’s A Division Gold Medal game.

On this occasion, it was the Eagles who proved too strong for their younger counterparts and they won the inaugural PNG Final by 29 – 5. The Eagles thoroughly deserved this win and have written their names in the history books as the first Men’s team to win a PNG Gold Medal in Rugby 7s.

The Men’s B Division Final was played between the MAAP Warriors and the newly formed  Rugby 101 club the Bison-Tarsiers. It was a tribute to see the oldest Filipino Rugby Club, the MAAP Warriors play in this final, especially when they had travelled overnight all the way from Bataan.  The MAAP Warriors had shown glimpses of brilliance throughout the round games and stalwart coaches Rick Hartley and Tony Shibley worked with the players to tighten up the defense for the final. This tactic certainly worked as MAAP ran out winners by 22 – 5. It was a great victory for the Warriors and is a tribute to the pioneer Filipino Rugby Club that they won their first ever PNG medal.

The Women’s Final was the best game of the day. Both the Nomads and Team Xena sides had several National Team players and this proved to be the ingredient for an exciting and competitive final. Both sides were locked at 7 all at the final siren and it wasn’t until National team legend, Manila Santos, broke through the Nomads’ defense in extra time to score a runaway try from 60m out. The Golden Point gave Team Xena  the Women’s Division Gold Medal.

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 the inviting Rugby 7s to be a sport at the 2012 Philippine National Games and Governor  Jeorge  “ER”  Ejercito Estregan for hosting the tournament at the world class RECS Sports Stadium in Sta Cruz Laguna.

Both PSC Commissioner, Jolly Gomez (PSC Commissioner) and Governor ER 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 2012 Rugby 7s Philippine National Games tournament.

Official PNG results that are registered with the Philippine Sports Commission for 2012:

Photo gallery (all photos on this page by Michael Fernandez)

The PRFU is happy to announce announce that the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) have invited the PRFU to enter Rugby 7s as an official sport in the 2012 Philippine National Games.

The Philippine National Games is an annual sports competition run by the POC & PSC as one of the qualifying competitions for selection in the upcoming South East Asian Games which will take place in Myanmar in 2013.  

National Sporting Associations were invited to host National League Competitions from May – June 2012 in PSC-sanctioned venues. The main section of the National Games (18 sports) were held in Dumaguete from May 26-June 2, while the remaining sports will host their National Games at either Rizal National Stadium, RECS Stadium in Sta. Cruz, Laguna and other venues throughout the country.

The PRFU will host Rugby 7’s at the RECS Stadium in Laguna on Saturday, June 23 which will be the first time that Rugby Union will participate in the Philippine National Games. The PRFU have invited Filipino Heritage players from all PRFU clubs to participate in the event and will focus on promoting teams and players who can ultimately vie for positions in the National Rugby 7s teams which will compete at the SEA , Asian Games and 2016 Olympics. The PRFU have also invited the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to also attend the one day competition in Sta Cruz as the PRFU look to start new development programs with the military in 2012.

Among the teams that have confirmed participation are the Globe Immortals, Raging Bison, Tarsiers, Mavericks, Manila Vipers, Eagles, Maritime Academy of Asia Pacific (MAAP) and Team Xena. Members of the Philippine Volcanoes National Rugby team will also be on hand to lend their support to this event.

For more information on the Philippine National Games, visit: http://png.psc.gov.ph/ 

Nomads Storm to the top of the JML 15s league

The Manila Nomads team proved once again that they are the top team in the Philippines at the 15s format with an emphatic 45 – 10 win over their traditional rivals the Eagles. Playing at the Eagles new club in Silangan Laguna, the Nomads ran in seven tries on the back of a dominant forwards display that left the Eagles bemused at beaten. Three Nomads players scored twice, including veteran forward Eric Savina, who was a member of the first Philippine Men’s team back in 2006. Eric showed he still had the legs and vision to run on good angles and constantly took the game to the Eagles defense. He was equally supported by the combined “PLAYERS OF THE GAME” newcomer wingers Bradley Newton and Ram Al Azmeh sharing the coach’s plaudits being named the Hardy’s Men of the Match.

The Nomads never looked in trouble and the Eagles did not do themselves any favors when their elusive strong running center Tim Bheweni was penalized for a high tackle. This led the way for the Nomads to gain some valuable territory into the Eagles half and the Nomads forwards did the rest. The Nomads pack totally dominated the forward battle and time and time again they were able to maul the ball forward taking Eagles defenders with them as they marched forward. This eventually took its toll on the weary Eagles and the Nomads took a 24 – 5 halftime lead.  This was done with only 14 men on the field with another ex-National player, John Munro spending 10 minutes in the sin bin for a high tackle on the only first half try to the Eagles by National u18s player Jake Batuhan.  The second half saw the Nomads continue to charge at the Eagles defense and with a glut of possession the tiring Eagles could only just hold on to allow Tim Bweheni to score the Eagles only second half try and eventually lose the game by 45 – 10. This now gives the Nomads two wins in as many games. They will face the winner of the Eagles vs Cebu Dragons game (to be played in Cebu on June 2nd)in the JML 15s League finals on Sat June 9th.

Hapons win over the Ibons with an Overtime Conversion

The Manila Hapon’s v Alabang Ibons game was the most exciting game of round three of the JML 15s League. The Ibons looked to have the game wrapped up with a 31 – 19 lead with twenty minutes left in the game. It was the Hapon’s experience showed in the last quarter of the game and they retained possession to score two converted tries in the last 12 minutes of the game. What made the feat even more remarkable was when they scored out wide on the siren to draw the game at 31 – 31. The time was over and the Hapon’s kicker Colin Strikey had a difficult shot to win the game, he struck the ball beautifully and the Ibons could not believe they had lost a game that they led since the first try was scored in the 5th minute. 

The Hapons now have one win and one loss. The Plate division final make up will be decided by the game this Saturday between the Ibons and the Carabaos.

Vipers Strike a Blow as they defeat the Globe Immortals

The Vipers who have been training with the Makati Mavericks showed everyone they will be a competitive force in 2012 with a first up win against the Globe Immortals. The Vipers came with numbers to their first game in the JML 15s league and proved to all the Bowl teams that they will push to play in the Finals on June 9th. They now meet the combined Bison/Tarsiers team next Saturday May 26th and a win in this game could see the Immortals miss their first finals. 

The Vipers looked well-organized and Man of the Match, Charles Barthelemy scored the Vipers’ opening try in the 4th minute to put the Immortals on the back foot. The Globe team struck back in the 10th minute with an equalizer by Al Tesoro and the game was 5 – 5 at the halftime break. The second half was just as tight as the score remained 12 – 12 with 10 minutes left in the game. The injection of u16 team National team player AJ Brown made the difference late in the game as he broke through some Globe tacklers to score the winning try and kick the conversion to win the game 19 – 12. 

The next round of the JML 15s league will take place at the Eagles field next Saturday May 26th:

2pm – Team Xena v Nomads (Women’s)
3pm – Vipers v Bisons/Tarsiers (Bowl)
4pm – Ibons v Carabaos (Plate) 

Round 2 of the JML 15s league took place at Nomad Sports Club last Saturday and it was fantastic to see all the local teams out playing the traditional 15s format of Rugby Union. This was the first time that a number of the players had played 15s Rugby and it was obvious that they relished the opportunity to play the more physical style of the game. 

In very hot conditions it was the women that kicked off the first game with a number of the players starting to prepare for the upcoming Women's International games:
 
June 2 - Philippines v Singapore to be played in Cebu
 
June 13 - 17 - Asian Women's 15s Division 2 Championships against Laos, Singapore and Uzbekistan to be played in Manila

The Women played two games of 7s style rugby and it was Team Xena team that took victory in both games. Several National team players showed that they are ready to fire up for the Philippine team in June, with Rose De La Cruz scoring both tries for Team Xena and Cassie Umali scoring and converting for Nomads in the first match, which left team Xena the winners in a very tight battle by 14 - 10. 

The second game saw National team second rower Reena Novero busting the defence open with several block busting runs which paved the way for the Team Xena backline to run in two unanswered tries and eventualy win the second game by 10 - 0.
 
National team coaches Susan Konstanty and Expo Mejia were very pleased with the quality of Rugby that they witnessed. With the Asian Women's Championships being held in Manila in a months time, they explained that all the women need to be playing top level, competitive Rugby from now until the June 13th tournament to be able to be contenders in these championships.

The next game was the Plate Division match between the Nomads Carabaos and Manila Hapons which saw a number of expats take the field. The game was extremely close in the first half with the Carabaos taking an early lead through a try by veteran player Nigel Barrett. To the Hapons credit, they kept the pressure on the Caraboas which finally paid dividends when they scored just before the halftime break to take a 10 - 7 lead. The Hapons came out in the second half and continued to apply the pressure and it looked they were going to surprise their more fancied opponents when Jun Park scored a great solo try. However, this seemed to spark the Carabaos into the game and the second half became a one-sided affair with the Carabaos scoring the next eight tries, Nigel Barrett led the way with his second try of the game and National U20s player, Daniel Melrose also scored and converted three times for the Carabaos to win the game comfortably by 38 - 12. 

The Bowl game, was by all observers the best game of the day with the Globe Immortals taking on the Tarsiers/Bison team. It also saw Cassie Umali referee her first game of 15s Rugby and what a game to make debut. Both teams were certainly fired up for a win and it was Chester Anin from Globe that scored the first try to help Globe begin the first half with a 5 - 0 lead. 

The Globe team seemed to have the upper hand in the first half and both teams were playing an open style of rugby trying to outflank each other with their speedy backs. Globe finally realised that 15s Rugby must be dominated in the forwards before running wide and Rafael De Colnet scored the second try for Globe and extended the lead to 10 - 0.  

The Tarsier/Bisons under coach Paul Churchill rallied at halftime and came out with a more focused gameplan. They started to control the ball in the forwards, and this new tactic paid off when Bisons flanker Noel Villa scored and game was hung in the balance at 10 -5. This certainly gave the Tarsier/Bisons a new lease of life and they immediately went straight back at the Globe team with some strong runs up the middle of the field from National U16 player Tim Churchill. This time it was the Tarsiers/ Bisons hooker Merick Magdarang who scored on the back of some good ruck work by the Tarsiers/Bison forwards to equalize the game at 10 - 10. Tim Churchill converted the try and the Tarsier/Bisons team took the lead for the first time in the game with two minuted left to play. Globe had one last shot at scoring but lost possession and the Tarsier/Bisons celebrated their first victory of the season with a score of 12 - 10.

The last game of the day was plalyed between the Manila Nomads and a touring side from Hong Kong, the Discovery Bay Pirates. The Nomads had defeated the Cebu Dragons last weekend in the opening round of the JML 15s League by 53 - 0 and were primed to take the game against the newly formed club from Hong Kong.  

The Nomads have had an outstanding year so far, winning the Bostik 10s League and the Plate Final at the Manila 10s International Rugby Festival.  They have been looking forward to playing the 15s season as most of their big forwards relish the hard physical nature of 15s Rugby. Under new coach, Phil Gittus who himself is a front row player,  the Nomads have come up with a very forward-orientated gameplan which worked to perfection on Saturday with Nomads scoring their first three tries through the forwards mauling the ball through the Discovery Bay opposition.  

Chris Anderson and Paul Ingram were on the back of two 15m mauls to crash over for tries which was followed by a third try by prop Nick Treweeke. The Nomads never looked threatened as they took a 38 - 0 lead into the halftime break. The Discovery Bay team asked a few of the local players to help in the second half but the Nomads machine was in full throttle as they eventually won the game by 55 - 0. This looks ominus as the Nomads take on their cross town rivals next week, the Alabang Eagles. After two games of 15s this season, the Nomads have scored 108 points and have not reliquished a point against them.
 
Round 3 will be played next Saturday, May 26th at the new home of the Alabang Eagles, The Eagles Nest. Situated in the Southern Plains development, the Eagles Nest is accessible via the Silangan Exit on the South Luzon Expressway.