Category: Vismin-rfu

Philippine National Games 2014 Rugby 7s

5/19/2014

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 May 17 at Nomad Sports Club in Merville Subdivision, Parañaque City.

This year's PNG 7s saw an increase in number of registered teams. From last year's 12 men's teams and 4 women's teams, this year saw 15 men's teams and 4 women's teams. Now on it's third year, this PNG 7s was made more special with the debuts of three regional teams - the Davao Durians, the Cagayan de Oro Rugby Club, and the Cebu Lady Dragons.

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.

CUP DIVISION: Alabang Eagles - Cup Champion for 3 Straight Years

The mighty Alabang Eagles team captured the Cup division title for the third consecutive year with a 45-0 win against the CBRE Maverick Vipers A. Composed by Volcanoes and National Development Team players, the Eagles proved once again why they are the best sevens team in the country. They scored a whopping total of 126 points for the whole tournament with no points scored against them. Rupert Zappia set up most of his team’s tries and was later awarded the MVP medal. The CBRE Maverick Vipers A team fought hard in the finals game but was outran and out muscled by the more experienced Eagles team. The Maverick Vipers had to overcome a gutsy Cebu Dragons side in the semis to earn the right to face the Eagles. The Maverick Vipers team won by a successful conversion kick (14-12) to gain a spot in the finals.

WOMEN’S DIVISION: Xena Win Nail-biter Against Cebu Lady Dragons

The women’s division finals match was once again the most exciting game in the tournament. Manila-based Xena won by a slim margin (14-12) against VISMIN’s pride, the Cebu Lady Dragons. With both teams having a record of 2 wins and a draw after the pool rounds, it was the Cebu ladies which topped the ranking with 35 F-A points compared to Xena’s 27 F-A points. Awesome defense by both ends resulted to scoreless 2 minutes into the game. An opportunity opened up for Xena when an overlap of players on the blind side of a ruck 80 meters from the score line saw a 2 versus 1 situation. Winger Nikki Lira used her superb speed to outrun her defender and score in between the posts to score the game’s first try. It was skipper Ada Milby who ran the length of the field to score Xena’s second try when an advantage was given after a knock on play. Both tries were converted and half time score was 14-0 for Xena.

Cebu Lady Dragons were able to regroup on the break and came out on fire at the second half. Skipper Luisa Jordan led the charge with a huge tackle and counter ruck right after their kick off. The Lady Dragons stole the ball and caught Xena unprepared for defense. Ching Alerta found a gap and scored the Lady Dragons’ first try of the match which was successfully converted. With a few minutes remaining in the match, Jordan made a break on the wing 60 meters from the try line and was able to offload the ball to a supporting Dixie Yu. Yu outran her defenders and scored her team’s second try. Try wasn't converted and score remained at 14-12. Few seconds remained in the match and Xena only needed to maintain possession of the ball while the Lady Dragons needed to steal the ball. A penalty for a high tackle from a Cebu player gave the chance to Xena to kick out the ball and secure their win. Hats off to both teams for a very exciting and intense finals match for PNG 7s. Lira was awarded the MVP of the tournament for scoring the most points for her team and for her courageous defense. Watch these teams play again against each other in the PRFU Women’s 15s Invitational tournament next month.

PLATE DIVISION: Alabang Ibons Win Plate Trophy Over QCPU Questors B

Alabang Ibons won the Plate championship against the QCPU Questors B team with a score of 15-7. The Ibons team, composed mostly of former university basketball players, used their size to their advantage against the speedy QCPU boys. Most of these players only started playing the sport mid last year and has already shown a lot of potential because of their natural athletic abilities. The QCPU boys played well and managed to sneak in a try and conversion but time was not enough for them to make a comeback. Ibons’ Kenneth Balasote was awarded the Plate MVP.

BOWL DIVISION: QCPU Questors A Beat UMAK Herons A to Win Bowl

University rivals QCPU Questors A and UMAK Herons A faced off again in a finals match for this year’s PNG 7s. Last year, the QCPU boys beat the UMAK boys in a tightly-contested Plate finals match to secure their gold medal finish. This year, QCPU gave the same results and won 15-0 to secure another gold medal finish. Because of his speed and strength combination and overall team leadership, QCPU captain Mark Jerald Esteban was awarded the MVP of the Bowl division.

SHIELD DIVISION: CDO Rugby Club Win Shield on their PNG 7s Debut

Newly formed Cagayan de Oro Rugby Club proved they are a team to watch out for in the future when they won the Shield finals match (27-5) against the UMAK Herons B. Playing only for a few months, the Rafters impressed the spectators with their impressive tackling technique and strength in contact. Noel Villa, founder and playing coach for the Rafters, led the team’s attack. Luis Banaag showed everyone that there’s no backing out in a game of Rugby when he continued to play the remaining games after he got hit hard from a previous game. For his courageous effort, he was awarded the Shield MVP 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 inviting Rugby 7s to be a sport once again at the 2014 Philippine National Games and Nomad Sports Club for once again hosting the tournament.

Official PNG results that are registered with the Philippine Sports Commission for 2014:

GOLD MEDAL

CUP DIVISION

Alabang Eagles

WOMEN'S DIVISION

Xena

PLATE DIVISION

Alabang Ibons

BOWL DIVISION

QCPU Questor A

SHIELD DIVISION

CDO Rugby Club

SILVER MEDAL

CUP DIVISION

CBRE Maverick Vipers A

WOMEN'S DIVISION

Cebu Lady Dragons

PLATE DIVISION

QCPU Questors B

BOWL DIVISION

UMAK Herons A

SHIELD DIVISION

UMAK Herons B

BRONZE MEDAL

CUP DIVISION

Clark Rugby Club

WOMEN'S DIVISION

UMAK Lady Herons

PLATE DIVISION

Immortals

BOWL DIVISION

MAAP Warriors B

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Men's Cup Division: Rupert Zappia
Ladies Division: Nikki Lira
Men's Plate Division: Kenneth Balasote
Men's Bowl Division: Mark Jerald Estebam
Men's Shield Division: Luis Banaag

FINAL RANKINGS

Cup Division
Alabang Eagles
CBRE Maverick Vipers A
Clark Rugby Club
Cebu Dragons

Women's Division
Xena
Cebu Lady Dragons
UMAK Lady Herons
QCPU Lady Questors

Plate Division
Alabang Ibons
QCPU Questors B
Immortals
Davao Durians

Bowl Division
QCPU Questors A
UMAK Herons A
MAAP Warriors B
CBRE Maverick Vipers B

Shield Division
CDO Rugby Club
UMAK Herons B
MAAP Warriors A

Photo gallery (All photos on this page by Mark Cristino)

Philippine National Games 2014 Rugby 7s

CUP DIVISION: Alabang Eagles - Cup Champion for 3 Straight Years

WOMEN’S DIVISION: Xena Win Nail-biter Against Cebu Lady Dragons

PLATE DIVISION: Alabang Ibons Win Plate Trophy Over QCPU Questors B

BOWL DIVISION: QCPU Questors A Beat UMAK Herons A to Win Bowl

SHIELD DIVISION: CDO Rugby Club Win Shield on their PNG 7s Debut

First VISMIN RFU League Festival

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