The Philippine Volcanoes snatched a win from Sri Lanka’s clutches at the last second of play at the Asian 5 Nations tournament in Colombo.

The host country scored first with a penalty kick early in the first half which was answered by the Volcanoes with a try from perennial scorer, Matt Saunders. The rest of the first half was a seesaw battle which ended with the Philippines leading 19 – 17, with the Volcanoes’ tries coming from David Feeney, Steve Howorth and two conversions by Captain Oliver Saunders.

A try from an unlucky bounce and a converted penalty kick gave Sri Lanka the lead in the second half with the Volcanoes failing to capitalize on one of the Tuskers getting sent off the field with a yellow card. With the score at 25 – 19 in favor of Sri Lanka in the 86th minute (overtime due to time lost for injuries) Volcanoes scrum-half Jake Letts drove the ball over the Tuskers forward pack for a try, bringing the score to 25 – 24. Fly half Alex Aronson was tasked to convert the try for an additional 2 points. Aronson’s kick was unsuccessful, however the referee declared that the Tuskers charged towards the Philippine kicker too early and ordered a re-kick. Aronson’s second attempt from 23 meters was successful, giving the Philippines a 26-25 victory over Sri Lanka.

"It was a brutal encounter and a great win away from home in front of a vocal home ground" said Head Coach Stu Woodhouse after the match.  "It was Sri Lanka's last game and we showed some good character to overcome the odds late in the game to come away with our first win." 

The Volcanoes’ most-capped player Jake Letts had this to say about his heroic try “It just happened so quickly. I saw a little gap and was able to dart through. The next thing I remember, I was forcing myself to score the try. I was worried that I would lose the ball. Luckily, I didn’t.”

“For the second kick I just thought that this was the moment that you dream of when you play sports” shared Alex Aronson, “I tried to calm myself down, go through my routine and just kick it. I’m just glad it was successful. I don’t know what I would have done if I let my teammates down; they all played so hard.”

“Our boys showed a lot of resilience. I’m very proud of our team for never giving up. The culture & brotherhood that the Volcanoes have is something special to be a part of. It’s great to finally give our supporters a win.” said Captain Oliver Saunders. 

The victory gives the Philippines its first win in the A5N series, ensuring that the Volcanoes don’t finish at the bottom of the Elite Division in 2014.
 
The Volcanoes face South Korea on home soil in their final game of the series on Saturday, May 24 at Southern Plains Field in Laguna.

The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the players that have been selected for the Philippines' Asian 5 Nations match against Sri Lanka.

Head coach: Stuart Woodhouse
Asst. coach & Manager: Matthew Cullen
Physiotherapists: Dean Mottee, Rico Barin

The match will be played at 6:30pm on Saturday, May 17 at the Race Course Rugby Grounds, Colombo, Sri Lanka

The Asian 5 Nations is the premier Rugby Union competition in Asia held among the top five national Rugby sides in the region. The Philippines will face Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka in a round-robin competition throughout April and May 2014.

April 26
Philippines v Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

May 3
Philippines v Japan (Southern Plains, Laguna)

May 17
Philippines v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

May 24
Philippines v South Korea (Southern Plains, Laguna)

Head coach: Jarred Hodges
Asst coach/Manager: Nathan Holman
Physiotherapist: Rico Barin

The match will be played at 6:00pm on Saturday, April 26 at the Hong Kong Football Club in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. 

The Asian 5 Nations is the premier Rugby Union competition in Asia held among the top five national Rugby sides in the region. The Philippines will face Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka in a round-robin competition throughout April and May 2014.

April 26
Philippines v Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

May 3
Philippines v Japan (Southern Plains, Laguna)

May 17
Philippines v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

May 24
Philippines v Korea (Southern Plains, Laguna)

The Philippine Development Team turned the tables on Hong Kong from Wednesday's narrow lost, to win the 2013 International Development series. Led by Captain Aaron Briddon, the "Tamaraws" entered the game knowing they had to win by at least a 7 point margin to claim the series trophy. This was at the back of the players' minds but first and foremost, was the passion to actually become the first PRFU National Team to ever record a win against Hong Kong. After the 36 - 30 defeat on Wednesday, the Tamaraws knew they were in with a chance to make history. The team came together early at Southern Plains to prepare for a championship game.

The Tamaraws consist of local Filipino players and expats who have lived in the Philippines for at least three years. A squad of 40 players from all the PRFU clubs including the Cebu Dragons, combined to make this year's development team. 

As the game began, it was PRFU stalwart Evans "Skins" Atandi, who led the way in the first quarter as he systematically charged onto the ball and broke the advantage line with every run to take the Tamaraws on the front foot. The front row of Glen Denton, Masa Sekiguchi, and Phil Sinclair showed they were up for the battle as they demolished the Hong Kong scrum to set up the Tamaraws' first try of the game. After winning a scrum against the feed and several pick and drives attempts, the ball went wide to Rupert Zappia who hit the line from fullback. He drew two defenders to unleash a SBW flick pass to his fellow Eagles player, Paulo Jordan, to score untouched in the corner. 

Hong Kong then stepped up the game tempo and this only ignited the Tamaraws' backrow of Tim Kong, Dave Feeney, and Jay Coronel into action. They continually thumped the Hong Kong attackers, forcing turnovers to give the Tamaraws a narrow halftime lead of 5 - 3. 
 
It wasn't until midway though the second half that the Tamaraws were able to penetrate the Hong Kong defense. A deft kick from Tim Bweheni set up Sam Fogg for the Tamaraws' second try to take a 10 - 3 lead into the last twenty minutes of the game.

Coach Matt Cullen then gave the order to pin the Hong Kong team deep in their own territory and force them to score from their own quarter. The Tamaraws did this to perfection and used the wind and field angle to their advantage, continually pinning Hong Kong in their own quarter. Eventually, this led to frustrations by Hong Kong as they desperately tried to attack from their own territory and they gave up two penalties that were both converted by Zappia. The Tamaraws could sniff victory and Dean Gonzales  from the Alabang Eagles, who had worked tirelessly in the second row, came up with several front on tackles to stifle any attacking raids that Hong Kong tried to amount.

The final whistle blew and the Tamaraws had turned the table and not only beat Hong Kong, but won by a 10 point margin 16 - 3. They claimed the 2013 International Development Series on aggregate by 7 points over the two games. This was the first win for the Tamaraws in the last two years and the local crowd witnessed a competitive series that resulted in a first for the PRFU. The Tamaraws became the first ever National team to beat Hong Kong in an International Competition.
 
The Philippine player of the series was awarded to Dean (Dino) Gonzales for his committed efforts throughout both games.

The PRFU are now planning to take the 2013 Philippine Development team on an International Tour and keep the winning team together to show that local Filipino Rugby talent can match it with the best in Asia.

2013 Philippine Development Team:

Glen Denton (Eagles)
Chris Hettel (Eagles)
Masa Sekiguchi (Eagles)
Dino Gonzales (Eagles) 
Evans Atandi (Eagles) 
John Odullio (Eagles)
Tim Kong (Eagles)
Jeepy Paypon (Eagles)
Jovic Paypon (Eagles)
Tim Bweheni (Eagles)
Robert Jones (Eagles)
Rupert Zappia (Eagles)
Paulo Jordan (Eagles)
Chris Everingham (Eagles)
Chris Ignacio (Eagles)
Gerard Davis (Eagles)
Phil Sinclair (Nomads)
David Feeney (Nomads)
Jon Morales (Nomads)
Aaron Briddon (Nomads)
Steve Mommaerts (Nomads)
Sam Fogg (Nomads)
Chris Anderson (Nomads)
Geoffrey Veraces (Cebu)
Peter Sawal (Cebu)  
Merrick Magdaraog (Globe)
Francis Marcilla (Globe)
Jay Coronel (Globe)
Krish Aliwalas (Globe)
Melvin Devera (Globe)
Eddie Tesoro (Globe)
Jason Lock (Mavericks)
Lito Ramirez (Mavericks)
Marc Balucan (Mavericks)
Reb Dela Cruz (Mavericks)
Ralph Dimayuga (Mavericks)
Mark Esteban (QCPU)
Gaz Holgate

Head Coach: Matthew Cullen
Physiotherapist: Rico Barin

All photos on this page by Christopher Hettel


The Philippine Development Team would like to thank their sponsors:

The Philippine National Development Team led by Jon Morales showed that local talent here in the Philippines can match it with their regional neighbors when they narrowly lost to Hong Kong 36 - 30.

In one of the best games of the year, both development teams played in wet conditions and displayed exceptional skills to run in ten tries in an arm wrestle that went down to the last minute.

The Philippines took a halftime lead into the game by 11 - 5 with Nomads flyer Phil Sinclair scoring a classic wingers try to open the game. Hong Kong then gave up two penalties that were converted by Rupert Zappia. 

The second half saw the Hong Kong team step up the pace and the game hung in the balance when Tim Bweheni beat three defenders to take an 18 - 17 lead. Hong Kong then scored three unanswered tries to lead 30 - 18 and the game looked to be sewn up for Hong Kong.

Coach Matt Cullen then replaced several of the tiring Filipino players with fresh legs and a number of local players made their debut for the Philippines. The replacements played above themselves to claw back into the game and the Philippines scored two late tries to trail by 36 - 30. Replacement players Jay Coronel and Mark Bulacan both showed they can compete at the International Level and led the comeback with some fierce defense.

The final whistle blew and the Philippines were pushing Hong Kong to limit to defend their slight lead. 

Game two in the International Development Series will take place at Southern Plains this Saturday July 27th at 3pm and the Philippine team will be eager to start where they left off in yesterday's game.

All photos on this page by Hannah Reyes


The PRFU would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting the 2013 Philippine National development Team: