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The first Get Into Rugby (GIR) Festival Juniors Tournament sponsored by CBRE for 2014 was held on Jan 25 at the International School Manila. Spanning five different age groups and traveling from as far as Alabang and Pampanga, twenty-one teams played in the juniors touch variation of Rugby.  The u8 Mavericks and BSM teams had a good run starting the day off with a draw but then BSM edged out two more wins at 3-2 to come out on top. The u10s had a different outcome as Mavericks and BSM both played well with the addition of CRC to the mix. CRC used their speed and agility to push for the win at the end of the game series. In the u12 and u14 divisions, the teams are really starting to learn good space and evasion techniques. The Mavericks were able to win the u12 games with 3 straight wins, but struggled in the u14 division where the hard work of the foundation teams like Leighton Tuloy, CRC, and Quest SOS took the spotlight for places 1, 2, and 3 respectively. It was a tough day for the HMR Southridge team as last minute player changes affected team dynamics.  In the u16 division, Leighton Tuloy again dominated as many of their players are gaining momentum through multiple years of play. G4S Childhope was not far behind which speaks to their raw talent as a relatively new staple to the CBRE Juniors tournament. HMR Southridge fared better in this division, pulling out a win against Quest SOS to come in third. The tournament was followed by the finals for MANSAC Schoolboys League where some of the u12, u14, and u16 players joined for contact games. Thank you to ISM, our sponsors and PRFU for a successful tournament. The next GIR Festival Juniors Tournament sponsored by CBRE is scheduled for February 22 at Nomads Sports Club.  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 PRFU CBRE Juniors Tournament kicked off last Saturday, August 24, at Nomads Sports Club in Parañaque City. After a 2-month break, it was fantastic to see the children back on the field playing touch rugby (Under 10 to Under 16 years old) and full-contact rugby (Under 14 and Under 16 years old). This tournament featured the participation of thirteen touch rugby teams and four full-contact rugby teams from various schools, clubs, and foundations. Over 200 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. This tournament also served as the introduction of the International Rugby Board’s “Get Into Rugby” program.  In the Under 10 division, it was Makati-based CBRE Junior Mavericks team who dominated and swept all oppositions by not allowing points scored against them. Quest SOS Children’s Village team and Nomads Cararoos team came in second and third, consequently. The Under 12 division saw the best of three battles between the Quest SOS team and the Nomads Cararoos team. End-game experience became the deciding factor as the Quest SOS team won all 3 matches over the newly-formed Nomads Cararoos team. All 3 matches were tight, with the Quest SOS team winning by just 1 or 2 points.  Leighton Tuloy Foundation and Clark Rugby Club (CRC) boys renewed their rivalry in the Under 14 division. Both teams won over their other opponents in the round games. It all came down to the final touch rugby match of the tournament and it was between these two teams. It was a tight match as both teams displayed superb speed and excellent ball skills. Both teams fought hard but when the final whistle was blown, the score was still tied at 1 all. Because of the +2 difference in the For-Against between these two teams, the overall crown for the Under 14 division was awarded this time to the CRC boys. The Clark Rugby Club boys successfully defended their title in the Under 16 division even with stiff challenge from the Leighton Tuloy Foundation boys and the G4S Child Hope Foundation boys. With 3 wins and 1 draw, CRC boys proved again that they are the best Under 16 team in the tournament. G4S Child Hope came in at close second with 2 wins and 2 losses. Leighton Tuloy Foundation boys performed their traditional Maori Haka in front of all the teams before their final touch game. In the full-contact 10s matches, the CBRE Junior Mavericks teams Under 14 and Under 16 won by large margins and did not let the CRC boys score against them. Some of these boys just came back from their Asian Youth Games tournament in Nanjing, China last weekend. Most of these boys are also vying for spots in the Junior Volcanoes 15s teams (Under 14 and Under 16) which will play in Hong Kong at the end of the year. Thank you to all the teams who participated and congratulations to all the winning teams. The next round of the CBRE Juniors Tournament will be played at Eagles Nest field, Southern Plains Subdivision, Silangan Laguna on the morning of September 21 (Saturday). TEAMS: Under 10 SOS Children’s Village Nomads Cararoos Makati Mavericks Under 12 SOS Children’s Village Nomads Cararoos Under 14 Nomads Cararoos Tuloy Foundation Manila Hapons Clark Rugby Club Child Hope Under 16 Tuloy Foundation Child Hope Clark Rugby Club Under 14 (Full-contact) Clark Rugby Club Makati Mavericks Under 16 (Full-contact) Clark Rugby Club Makati Mavericks           
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 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) |
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