Eagles RFC soar over Clark Jets in the 2017 Globe 7s Rugby Finals

Jovan Reyes Masalunga of Clark Jets tackling Masayuki Sekiguchi of the Eagles.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Eagles Rugby Football Club (RFC) finished the 2017 Globe 7s League undefeated, beating Subic Sharks 45-0 and Makati Chiefs 24-19 in the Premiership preliminary finals before taking out the Clark Jets 43-0 in the Premiership Cup final for the second year in a row.

The Eagles proved to be a class above the rest, conceding only 70 points throughout entire competition. On finals day, the Eagles outplayed the Subic Sharks and Clark Jets and never allowed either team to get into the game.

In the Premiership semi-final however, the Eagles were shaken by the Makati Chiefs and at a near upset, after being down on the scoreboard 19-17 in the final play of the game. But with a last roll of the dice, the Eagles were able to regain composure and steal the match by scoring a converted try underneath the posts by Francis Tagalia in the dying seconds of the match.

The rest of Eagles RFC cleaned up the remainder of the competition. The Loros took out the Challenger title, whilst the Ibons shut out Albay Vulcans 35-0 to win the Championship division. But it was the Lady Eagles that stole the show beating Santos Knight Frank Lady Mavericks and Makati Lady Chiefs in the Women’s Premiership respectively.

The semi-final was won by the Lady Eagles in extra time with a golden point try over the Lady Mavericks. The Lady Eagles then had to overcome tournament favorites, the Makati Lady Chiefs. Another very close encounter, a conversion kick from Lady Volcano, Katrina Marie Perez Andrews separated the two teams. Andrews converted the try scored by her fellow Philippine Volcano Helena Roxanne Indigne, giving Lady Eagles the win and the Women’s Premiership Cup title.

 “A fantastic finale to a domestic competition. Some close games and some upsets, that’s the nature of the sport. It’s brilliant to see more homegrown players excelling in the sport and competing with our national team players” shares Jovan Masalunga of Philippine Rugby.

With the domestic sevens season drawing to an end, local teams are now preparing for the annual 2017 Cebu 10s on November 11 to be held at Cebu International School. 

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Clark Jet, Jonel Olayres Madrona, takes on the Eagles defense.

Helena Aguilar Indigne of the Lady Eagles was awarded MVP for the Women's Premiership division.