Nomads Outmuscle Eagles to set up epic Cup Final

Manila Nomads

The Manila Nomads bounced back to upset the Alabang Eagles in round two of the JML 10s League. After suffering an embarrassing first round defeat, the Nomads went back to the basics and a fired up team ran onto the field at Southern Plains ready to make amends for the first round lost. The Nomads went back to their forward dominated game plan and team Captain Dave Feeney led the relentless pick and drive routine that eventually led to the Nomads first try to Volcanoes player Jon Morales, who dived over from a five meters out. The Eagles struggled up front in the scrums and the larger Nomads pack constantly wheeled the Eagles to retain a glut of possession. When the Eagles backs were able to see some rare ball, they sparked into attack mode with Juan Engelbtrecht streaking down the sideline to link up with Volcanoes player Harry Morris to score the game's second try. Tim Bweheni then converted from outward and the Eagles took a 7 – 5 lead into halftime.

The second half hung in the balance until the assistant referee reported Tim Bweheni for a striking charge that resulted in a red card and this left the Eagles with 9 players.  The Nomads forwards continued to dominate possession. It was only a matter of time before Chris Anderson crossed out wide to give the Nomads a late lead by 10 – 7. The Eagles had a couple of late chances and displayed that even with a depleted side that they are lethal in attack. The Nomads were able to hang on and even the series at 1 – 1. The Cup Final will be played next Saturday March 2nd and the winner of this game will take the upper hand into Manila 10s on March 16/17th.

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Mavericks Rugby Club

The Plate Division games saw the Carabaos hit form with their new Fijian contingent led by Saki Tuisolia as they easily beat the Globe Immortals by 39 – 0. The Mavericks proved they will definitely contend for the last spot in the Manila 10s tournament by defeating the Ibons by 17 – 15 in the game of the day. The Ibons squandered several chances including a conversion to even the game. National team u18s player, Ramirez Lito Cruz from the Tuloy Foundation, proved a handful for the Ibons and scored twice for the Mavericks.  These results have now set up two final games in next week’s Plate division with the Carabaos playing the Ibons to win the Plate trophy and the Vipers playing Globe to see who takes the coveted last spot in the Manila 10s team draw.

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Alabang Falcons

The Alabang Falcons have proven to be a handful in the Bowl division and won both their games on Saturday by defeating the Clark Rugby Club by 39 - 0 and then backed up to defeat Vipers by 67 – 0. In the other Bowl division game, the Hapons made their debut at the JML 10s and won a hard fought battle over the determined MAAP warriors by 21 – 0. The Falcons have a points majority lead over the rest of the field and the Hapons will need to defeat the Falcons by a large margin to compete for the Bowl Trophy.

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JML PRFU 10s Round 2 Results

The finals of the JML 10s league will be played this Saturday, March 2nd at Nomad Sports Club from 3pm – 8pm.

JML PRFU 10s Finals Schedule