The CBRE Juniors Touch Rugby Tournament was held last Saturday, January 26, 2013, at International School Manila field in Fort, Taguig City. The first juniors’ tournament of the year featured the participation of a total of 14 teams from various schools, clubs and foundations. A total of 24 matches were played by the children. About a 100 kids played under the scorching hot sun hoping to prove that they are the best juniors’ team in their age group. All teams are part of the PRFU Juniors Development Program.

Newly formed Australian International School Rugby team made its debut when they played in the Under 10s and Under 12s divisions. The new team managed to show everyone that they have the skills to compete against the more experienced teams like Clark Rugby Club and British School Manila. In the end they were able to score a few times against the veteran teams, making them a team to watch out in the future leagues.

Clark Rugby Club proved to be the team to beat when then they outclassed everyone in the under 8, 10, and 12 divisions, while the Tuloy Foundation dominated the under 14’s and under 16s division outpacing everyone and dominating their division. The other teams did not give CRC and Tuloy an easy fight. Bulacan Rugby Club and Childhope Foundation showed a lot of potential despite being the underdogs. All the matches were fairly close but in the end the veteran teams claimed victorious.

It was a good day of touch rugby. All the kids were enthusiastic despite the hot weather conditions and back to back games.

The tournament saw the u8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 teams compete in the Touch Rugby competition from 8.30am – 11.30am. The teams who participated were:

In 2011 the International School of Manila embarked on beefing up the Rugby Union program and under the leadership of Bill Brown this program has resulted in immediate results with the ISM teams winning all three of the 2013 MANSAC Schoolboys Divisions. ISM  led the way in 2011 by introducing a middle school program and this was quickly followed by both BSM and EIS which allowed the first middle school competition to take place in the 2012/13 schoolboys series. It was also fantastic to see the introduction of the Clark Rugby Club into the schoolboys’ series and the all Filipino club from Pampanga entered teams in the Middle School and Junior varsity divisions.

The 2013 MANSAC Schools tournament saw a record number of teams enter in the three divisions, Varsity, Junior Varsity and Middle School. These included Brent International School, Faith Academy, International School of Manila, European International School, British School Manila, and Clark Rugby Club. Teams from these schools played every Friday and Saturday from late November 2012 to the last weekend in January 2013 and cherished the opportunity to play competitive rugby union for their schools and clubs. 

Varsity
The competition in each division was intense with all teams winning games throughout the tournament and the occasional draw to throw a spanner in the works. It wasn't until the finals that ISM started to show their depth and strength when they ran out winners in the Varsity Boys final by 45 – 12 over Faith Academy. This ISM team will travel to Kuala Lumpur to now play in the ISAIS International Schoolboys regional finals and they will be very competitive coming of a successful season in the MANAC competition. The Varsity Final featured a host of players who played in the Philippine National u16s and u18s teams in 2012 and this set the platform for an exciting finals series.  Congratulations to the ISM Varsity Boys team and coaching staff for a stellar season and good luck in the IASIS schoolboy’s competition.

Junior Varsity
The Junior Varsity semi finals were the closest fought games of the finals with ISM winning a close semi final by defeating Faith Academy 25 – 12. The second semi final proved to be the  game of the day when Clark Rugby Club scored in the last minute to defeat BSM by 14 – 10. BSM had dominated much of the field position and led the game at halftime, it wasn’t until CRC received a penalty from a restart that they were able to show their fabulous attacking flair as they passed the ball from one side of the field to the other and put together eight attacking phases that eventually led to score the winning try. The Junior Varsity final was a one sided affair with the dominate ISM forwards controlling much of the match and it was obvious that the CRC were tiring from their hard fought semi final win. ISM claimed the Junior Varsity trophy by winning the final by 51 – 0.

Middle School
The Middle School boy’s finals witnessed EIS play ISM. Both these teams had faced off during the season and were very even entering the finals series. EIS had defeated BSM in their semi final by 45 – 7 and a strong ISM squad defeated CRC by 45 – 7. This set up a great showdown in the final. It was ISM who started the first half with a dominate display running in the first three tries and taking a 15 point lead. EIS then scored a try before the halftime break and showed glimpses of their attacking talent. ISM came out and closed the final out by 41 – 12 and claimed the schools third trophy for this year’s MANSAC schoolboys series.

The 2012/13 MANSAC Schoolboys Rugby 10s Competition has been one of the most successful in recent years and all the schoolboy teams are improving and numbers are increasing. This bodes well for the selection of the Philippine National u14; u16 and u19s teams for 2013 and all the schoolboy players will have an opportunity to trial for these teams in the second half of 2013.

A final word of thanks and appreciation must go to both ISM and BSM for allowing the tournament to be held at their rugby fields throughout the season. It was a great year of rugby for the all teams involved and the coaches and team managers must also be congratulated for the sportsmanship that was displayed throughout the tournament.

Looking forward to seeing everyone back again for the 2013/14 MANSAC schoolboy’s season and playing rugby in the CBRE Junior Leagues and hopefully Philippine National teams in 2013.

The U14/16 Junior Volcanoes have completed their second tour of Hong Kong, with both sides playing two matches. The combined scores across both age groups was 100 points For and 100 points Against! Only an accountant would notice that. But they were two very different days.

The detailed game reports are outlined further below, but for about half of the boys this was their first rugby tour and the bonds that have been formed will last forever. A combination of players from the Clark Rugby Club, International School Manila, British School Manila, EIS and Brent International School formed the core of the touring party.

Delayed for an hour by Cebu Pacific on the Friday evening, the touring party had dinner at the HK Airport and then enjoyed the hour long trip to the YMCA at Ma On Shan in the New Territories. Six to a room the boys were up early to a “not so sumptuous” Hong Kong breakfast.

With little time to consider the opulence of their surroundings the boys were soon on the bus again and off to Kings Park to confront the Hong Kong National Select Teams.

Game 1 – Philippine Under 14s National Team vs Hong Kong National Team Select Under 14s

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) were aware that the junior Volcanoes had enjoyed a couple of cakewalks last year, and accordingly they had selected the best of their juniors and even in the warm-ups it was obvious that we were going to be in for a very physical tussle.

The score was 31-7 to the Hong Kong boys with AJ Brown touching down for us and Kai Stroem converted the try. The U14s were generally very competitive for long periods in the match and played the game right out. The team made a good comeback in the 2nd half to score a try and at 3 tries to 1 we were again challenging the opposition line when they broke away for their fourth and decisive score.

AJ Brown was voted our best player by the opposition coaches.

Game 2: Philippine Under 16s National Team vs Hong Kong National Team Select Under 16s

As with the U14s the Hong Kong team was clearly a select bunch of the cream of Hong Kong rugby at this age level. Hong Kong were physically much stronger in most positions, and dominated the game. They scored early through a simple move through the backs, and the Phlippine boys knew they were in for a long afternoon. This was exacerbated when, at the same time during the first half, we lost our vigorous prop, Sabino Padilla, to what was later diagnosed as a broken arm. And Kaelum Madera took a knock to the head whilst making a brave mid-field tackle and could take no further part in the match. The final score was 62 – 0.

The boys never took a backward step and captain Tim Churchill was named our best player by the opposition coaches.

After getting confirmation that Kaelum was OK and that Sabino would need to return to Manila with his parents on the Saturday evening, the touring group travelled to our accommodation near Sai Kung, and enjoyed a well-deserved pool session, followed by dinner in the local Sai Kung village. The boys had some free time to roam around this charming coastal fishing village, but were home in bed before 10 pm, bruised but optimistic that fortunes would be more favourable the next day. And they were.

Game 3: Philippine Under 14 National Team vs Police Breakthrough/Kowloon Lions

 The U14s were allowed to exhibit all their skills and put into place the plans that had been drilled into them by Coaches Melrose and Brown over the last several weeks, with the assistance of forwards coach Fergus Mitra.

Stamping his authority on the match Kai Stroem scored within the first two minutes and then the backs got to work with  a try to AJ before Tito Hodgens also barreled over near the posts. Shams Shamsuddin scored an excellent individual try and at half-time the Volcanoes had taken a commanding 26 – 0 lead.

In the second half Josh Whyte was flinging the ball wide to the backs and it paid off handsomely with Pierre Delaport scoring, followed by Shams again and Mu Brown. Then came perhaps the highlight of the match when Jake Wahl discovered that running straight and hard is the forte of any second-rower and he scored two scintillating tries to put the icing on the cake.

The final score was 57 – 0.

Details of scores:

Tries: Shams (2), Jake Wahl (2) AJ O’Regan-Brown, Tito Hodgens, Pierre Delaporte, Mu Brown, Kai Stroem.

Conversions: Kai Stroem (6)

Coaches Award for the Tour: Andrew Melrose 

Game 4 : Philippine U16 National Team v Police Breakthrough/Kowloon Lions

The opposition U16s were quite sizeable but did not match the skill of the Volcanoes, and although it took some time to break them down, Tim Churchill led from the front with the first of his two tries for the match. Kai Bechtel was then on the end of a slick backs’ move and then Dan Conboy sprinted through a maze of defenders for a scintillating score. At half-time the boys were comfortable 19 – 0 leaders. After another try to Dan Conboy, the second half moved into a more dour rhythm until Calvin Enderleich pounced upon a loose ball on his wing, sprinted to the line, took his time to decide he was indeed in the in-goal area, and touched down.

The Hong Kong Police boys scored a consolation try towards the end before Tim Churchill finished matters off. Final score was 36 – 7

Details of Scores


Tries: Tim Churchill (2), Dan Conboy (2), Kai Bechtel, Calvin Enderleich.
Conversions: Tim Churchill (2), Dan Conboy (1).

Coaches Awrad for the Tour: Armand Kaufmann

On the administration side, Junnel Palomata, organizing her second tour,  was brilliant with her organization, liaison with the Consulate and her obvious caring attitude towards the boys. Thanks also to Rico Barin for supervising the physio side of things (much in action on the Saturday). James Gundry of Quest Philippines deserves appreciation for his generous tour sponsorship and cheers to Rick Santos, who stepped up early on with the juniors for PRFU via the CBRE sponsorship.

But finally, of course, well done to the boys. On the field – a very tough day on the Saturday followed by signs of immense character to bounce back with two solid wins on the Sunday, which made the trip back home more pleasurable.

Also a big thank you to the Pot Bellied Pigs who delivered four large boxes of new rugby boots for distribution to the PRFU Foundation clubs. Thanks also to the HKRFU for arranging the accommodation, grounds, buses and match officials and to the Police Breakthrough team, Robbie Mc Robbie and Steve Tarrant in particular for their hospitality on the Sunday.

The junior Philippine Volcanoes have again done the country proud.

Report by Peter Lawrence

More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/JuniorsHKTour2012

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

• Timothy Churchill
  
• Adam Clarke
  
• Ryan Clarke
  
• Bryan De Leon
  
• Robert Jones
  
• Joshua Lee
  
• Angelo Mayo
  
• Fergus Mitra
  
• Daniel Melrose
  
• Raymond Pearce
  
• Richard Powell
  

Report by: Paul Churchill, Team Manager

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The Cebu Dragons hosted a Junior’s touch rugby tournament at the Cebu International School on June 2. The event had up to 60 players aged between 8 – 15 attend the fun event which took place before the JML 15s Men’s game and the Women’s International fixture.

Newly employed PRFU development officers, Rose Lanticse and Aiumi Ono organised the Junior’s event and invited all the new clubs with whom they have started Juniors programs to come out and show their talents. The children thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play in the tournament and for most of them it was their first experience playing in a competition for Touch Rugby.

In the end, it was the Cebu International School team that won the tournament after which the children were entertained by a Sinulog Dance Troupe from the University of Cebu.

Simon Hoyle, the President of VISMIN Rugby, was impressed with the Junior’s tournament and stated that “Rugby is alive and well in Cebu and it won’t be long before the junior players come through the ranks and start playing for the Cebu men’s and women's Dragon teams. It is also a privilege to host our first International Game here and VISMIN Rugby look forward to hosting more International Rugby Matches in Cebu.”

More information on VISMIN Rugby can be found at www.pitchero.com/clubs/cebu/ , on their official Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Cebu-Dragons-Rugby-Club and official Twitter account www.twitter.com/CebuRugby