Get Into Rugby Festival/CBRE Juniors Tournament for the Month of May

May’s Get Into Rugby(GIR) Festival Juniors Tournament sponsored by CBRE for 2014 was held on May 3rd at the Southern Plains Eagles Nest Clubhouse.  Running as a morning festival in preparation for the afternoon game between Japan and the Philippine Volcanoes for the A5N series, there was an impressive turnout for the day including the newly formed Marikina Juniors and Alabang Eagles Juniors teams.

The u10 games between BSM and Eagles Juniors started the day off with a big win for the new team playing in their first tournament. Winning two games and one draw, the Eagles Juniors are off to a promising start. The U12 division proved to be more difficult for the Eagles as they played against the very established teams like CRC and SOS. Their knowledge and game experience clearly made a difference in their games. Hapons came out looking to set the precedence like their senior side would play in the afternoon and played with fervor and discipline. They won two of their 3 games, with just a marginal loss to CRC at 1-2. Mavericks had good day in this division as they pushed to play four games instead of the standard three. Quest SOS, Leighton Tuloy, and CRC continue to be powerhouses in this division either winning or drawing all their games. 

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The u14 division included the debut of the Marikina Juniors. They didn’t win their games, but they learned a lot from these first games and are excited about returning for future tournaments.   All teams played well but the game to watch in this division was between CBRE Mavericks and Leighton Tuloy. A tight game with both teams battling to come out on top. In the final moments, Tuloy scored the winning try for a final score of 4-3.

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The lower final scores in the u16 division, show that defensive skills are developing in this age group. The mainstay teams like Leighton Tuloy, CRC and Quest SOS continue to lead the packs, but up and coming teams like G4S Childhope and HMR Southridge and Don Bosco teams are putting up good fights and the scores continue to narrow. 

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The tournament was followed by the Asian 5 Nations game between the Philippine Volcanoes and 13th ranked team in the world, Japan. Players from the juniors teams joined the Volcanoes and the Hapons joined Japan on the field for the playing of national anthems to round out this full day of rugby. Thank you to Alabang Eagles, CBRE and all our sponsors for a successful tournament. The next GIR Festival Juniors Tournament sponsored by CBRE is scheduled for August 30.