Match results of PRFU 7s League held last September 13, 2014 at Nomad Sports Club, Parañaque City. Congratulations to all the winning teams!

CUP DIVISION:
CHAMPION: Alabang Eagles 
1st runner up: Alabang Falcons 
2nd runner up: Makati Mavericks A
3rd runner up: Manila Nomads 

PLATE DIVISION:
CHAMPION: Makati Mavericks B
1st runner up: Immortals 
2nd runner up: Alabang Ibons 
3rd runner up: Manila Hapons 

WOMEN'S DIVISION: 
CHAMPION: Xena
1st runner up: UMAK 

BOWL DIVISION: 
CHAMPION: Clark Jets
1st runner up: UMAK  
2nd runner up: Questors
3rd runner up: Makati Mavericks C
4th runner up: MAAP Warriors

Match results of the PRFU JML 10s League round 1 and 2 last February 8 and 15 at Southern Plains and Nomads Sports Club.


TEAMS:

Cup: Alabang Eagles, Manila Nomads, Cebu Dragons

Plate: Nomads Carabaos, Manila Hapons, Alabang Ibons, MAAP Warriors, CBRE Mavericks

Bowl: Falcons, Clark Rugby Club, CBRE Vipers, Quezon City Men’s Rugby Club, Makati Men’s Rugby Club

Women's: Xena, Makati Women's Rugby Club, Quezon City Women’s Rugby Club Ladies, Cebu Lady Dragons

February 8, 2014 - ROUND 1 at Southern Plains

February 15, 2014 - ROUND 2 at Nomads Sports Club

Log points tables as of February 18, 2014:

Women's Log Points

Cup Log Points

Plate Log Points

Bowl Log Points

The next round of the PRFU JML 10s league will be on Saturday, February 22, at Southern Plains field, Laguna.

The Alabang Eagles Rugby Club proved once again they are the best 7s team in the country. After they made history as Philippine National Games Rugby 7s inaugural champions last June, the Eagles won the Cup finals in the PRFU Head & Shoulders 7s League last October 26, 2013 at Nomads Sports Club.

Led by Volcano player Tim Bweheni and National Development Team player Jovic Paypon, they beat a gutsy Cebu Dragons side 24-0. The boys from Alabang showed a combination of speed and strength plus awesome teamwork. The Dragons, led by former Volcano Noel Flowers, fought hard until the last second but failed to answer the Eagles' attacks. Great job to both teams for this hard-fought and exciting finals match. Finals MVP was awarded to Jovic Paypon.

In the Plate finals, it was the Alabang Ibons who ran away with the trophy with a convincing win 38-0 over the Manila Hapons. Former Volcano David Carman led the Ibons' attack while teammate Johnny Leo scored the tries by using his stepping skills and superb speed. Leo was later awarded the MVP of the finals match.

The Bowl finals saw a David vs Goliath matchup between the Falcons and the Clark Rugby Club Boys. The CRC boys, despite the disadvantage in height, showed everyone why 7s rugby is a game of speed. With Falcons leading most of the game, the CRC boys almost made a comeback with their 2 hard-earned tries in the last few minutes. Full time and score ended with a 21-12 Falcons win over CRC. For his outstanding effort and never-give-up attitude, CRC's Michael Maralas was named the finals MVP.

Cebu Lady Dragons captured the Women's division 7s crown with a 26-0 win over rival Manila Mayhem. Finals MVP Aiumi Ono, led the Lady Dragons' attack during the finals game. Manila Mayhem gave a good fight despite the absence due to injuries of 3 of their key players. Great job to both teams and congratulations to the Cebu Lady Dragons for a well-deserved win. 

This finals match was the Lady Dragons' tribute game to their long-time captain, Ono, who is set to leave for Japan in a few weeks. She is one of the pioneers of the Lady Volcanoes 7s and 15s squad and a PRFU Regional Development Officer. PRFU wishes miss Aiumi Ono best of luck. The union highly-appreciates her contributions to the development of the grassroots program in the country.

No team photo:

Manila Nomads (Cup)
Makati Mavericks (Plate)
Falcons (Bowl)
UMAK Questors (Bowl)
Clark Rugby Club (Bowl)

The Manila Nomads proved that they are the top ranked local team leading into the Manila 10s by convincingly defeating the Alabang Eagles by 33 - 19 in the Cup Final of the JML 10s league. With the series at one game each leading into the final, the Nomads came out with all guns blazing in an overwhelming first half display that saw them take a 19 point lead in the first half. Tries to Jon Morales, John Munro and Chris Anderson left the Eagles in their wake as the Nomads forwards dominated the set pieces and barreled through the Eagles defenses to set up quality ball for their backs. Coach Phil Gittus tactics of simple forward dominated rugby paid dividends and the Nomads mistake rate was minimal as the Eagles struggled to escape their own half. The return of David Carman and Tim Bweheni helped spark a short lived Eagles revival in the second half and they both scored late tries to bring the score back to a respectable level. The Nomads defeated the Eagles and retained the PRFU 10s Cup for 2013.

The Nomads defeated the Eagles in last year’s plate final at the Manila 10s tournament and have set themselves up to defend this title at next weekend’s competition. 

It was fantastic to see all the local PRFU teams playing in the JML 10s finals in preparation for the 2013 Manila 10s tournament. The JML 10s finals also saw the Globe Immortals play the Makati Mavericks with the winner of this final securing the last available position at the Manila 10s. The Makati Mavericks were shouting war cries at the kick off and were then shouting victory cries at the end of the game when they ran out winners by 49 - 0.

Good luck to all the local PRFU teams and Clubs in the Manila 10s next weekend.

The north and south ladies teams battled for another PRFU league championship title. The Cebu Lady Dragons, who had previously won all matches against Manila, came to the pitch expecting another victory. Manila Mayhem had other plans.

The first match was evenly contested. Both teams put their bodies on the line in a grueling encounter. An ankle injury in the 5th minute ended the game early for Lady Volcano Madille Salinas, forcing Cebu coach Dean Baker to adjust their game plan. In the 7th minute, Manila scrumhalf Cassie Umali picked up a loose ball and broke through to the score line, earning the first try of the match. With a physically larger forwards pack, the Manila ladies kept most of the match on their territory, drawing the bulk of Cebu’s defence and freeing space for their backs. Lady Volcano winger Nikki Lira out-smarted Cebu defenders with a quick sidestep, scoring a swift second try.

The second half saw the Cebu team take advantage of a series of penalties by the Manila team. After a quick tap from a penalty, Cebu player Aiumi Ono scored the Southerners' first try. With the match close at 10-5, Manila ladies relied on their forwards, who pushed the ball to the attacking zone while drawing Cebu defenders. This play created a big overlap, and with quick passing from the backs, substitute winger Loujen Saldo caught the ball on the run and scored the third try in between the posts. The first game ended with a score of 15-5 in favor of Manila.

The second match saw stronger defence from both ladies teams. With the added pressure of needing to win against Manila by more than 10 points, the Cebu team relied on the strength of their forwards to defend their territory. However, a ruck on the 5 metre line gave a quick ball to Manila's backs and allowed the Manila team to score their first try of the second match. Inside Center Stephie Harringer crashed through Cebu defence after a quick pass from Lady Volcano Acee San Juan. A pop pass from Lady Volcano legend Arlene Trinkler to Rose dela Cruz then won Manila their second try and earned the team a 10-to-nil lead by halftime.

The second half exhibited a series of good tackles from both teams. The Cebu team again capitalized on infractions by Manila's players. After a prolonged phase on the 5 metre line, Cebu newbie Ica Astentista picked the ball from the ruck and dove over the line to score Cebu's first try. The last 5 minutes saw more quality tackling, particularly from Manila's Aye Honoras and Cebu's Cherry Manaug. Cebu Lady Volcano Luisa Jordan managed to break through Manila's defensive lines several times and was consistently able to draw at least two defenders with each attempt. Ending the match, another quick ball from the backs gave Nikki Lira the change to score Manila's third try. The second game ended with a final score of 17-5 in favor of Manila, and Most Valuable Player for the ladies division was later awarded to Manila fly half, Acee San Juan, and Cebu lock, Cherry Manaug.

It was two tough matches, but both teams demonstrated a much-improved brand of women’s rugby in the Philippines. These matches served as a tryout for the ladies who hope to be included in the National Women’s 15s and 7s teams

The Falcons started the day with an easy friendly against the Vipers in the Bowl division.  The Falcons, with minimal experience in the game play of rugby, still had the edge over the Vipers. Their flair in passing and precision running resulted in a 22 – 0 victory over the Vipers.   

The Hapons played a tough and expansive game plan in the first half, running the Falcons from side to side, but their effort was matched with the tough defence of the Falcons.  The Falcons utilized their more experienced and seasoned players, which was evident in the second half of the game. The strong running of the PNG players broke tackles and left the Hapons’ defence wanting.  The Falcons beat the Hapons 17-0. With this win, the Falcons were crowned the Bowl Champions.

Captain Chris Hettel led the Ibons through a tough and exciting game against the Carabaos.  It was necessary for the Ibons to beat the Carabaos with 18 or more points to walk away the victors in the Plate division.  With the Ibons under pressure even before the game started, the Carabaos were the clear favourites for this epic show down. The Carabaos displayed their strength and scored the first try of the game. With an unsuccessful conversion, they lead 5-0 in the first 5 min of the game. The Ibons answered with hardened defence which led to Nixon ripping the ball in a tackle. Scoring between the uprights, they left the Carabaos puzzled.

With the score now at 7-5, Ibons captain had a hard talk with his team. His encouraging words were evident and the Ibons scored next with some good backline play. Running the ball from within their own half, they scored in the right side corner. With an unsuccessful conversion, the score was 12-5. Captain Chris Hettel stepped up in the forwards with some good strong running, putting the Ibons on the front foot in attack. With the backs receiving good ball, they scored again just before half time and took the lead 19-5.

The second half was all about which team was the fittest. The strength of the Carabaos’ forwards, just could not keep up with the Ibons agile and speedy forwards. It was soon evident that the Ibons would walk away with a victory. When they scored the first try only a few minutes into the second half, the score was 24-5. It was not long after and they scored another try bringing the score to 29-5. The Carabaos manned up in defence but it was too little too late and the Ibons walked away with a victory of 29-5. The Ibons’ 24 point lead victory, guaranteed them as the Plate division victors, earning them the spoils of this exciting and courageous performance of rugby. 

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