Volcanoes Bid for Top Spot in Asian Sevens Rugby

Front L-R: Eric Tai, Jake Letts (C), Chris Everingham, Joe Matthews, Luke Matthews, Oliver Saunders Top: Matt Cullen (Coach) Matty Saunders, Andrew Wolff, Harry Morris, Justin Coveney, Chris Hitch, Mark Chatting, Noel Flowers (Manager/Asst. Coach)

The Philippine Volcanoes will travel to Kota Kinabalu this today, September 22, to compete in the second leg of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series, which will see the top twelve nations in Asia do battle for the right to play in the world famous Hong Kong 7s in March 2012. The Volcanoes ranked 7th in the 1st leg of the championships which were played in Shanghai last month which was a little disappointing considering they defeated the eventual winners, Korea 19 to 14. The Volcanoes showed that they can win at the top levels in Asia and defeated the United Emirates, Korea and Thailand in a competitive weekend of top
quality rugby.

The Volcanoes have made some positive changes to the squad who will compete in this weekend's Borneo Sevens by recruiting four top-level Filipino players from Australia. Coach Matt Cullen explained “These players will definitely help in
breaking into the top four teams in Borneo and they are all playing top level Rugby in Australia. To win at this level you need 12 strong players and the new recruits will give the Philippines the much needed impact off the bench to compete against the best teams in Asia.”

As it stands, the Philippines are due to play United Japan, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates before qualifying for the finals on Sunday in Borneo. The team has been preparing all week in a training camp in Manila and are feeling very confident that they can break into the winners circle this weekend. Team captain, Jake Letts is very upbeat about the tournament and has challenged the team to play to their maximum potential to achieve their goal of a top four finish at the tournament.

The Borneo 7s will be the last major tournament for the Philippine Volcanoes Men's team in 2011 and they have had another successful year by winning five out of eight International matches. The National Under 20s or JuniorVolcanoes will compete in December when the Philippine Rugby Football Union hosts the Asian Under 20s Championships in Manila.

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