Volcanoes Squad for Asian 5 Nations Premier Division Named

The Philippine Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the Men's 15s squad for the upcoming Asian 5 Nations Premier Division Tournament.

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Volcanoes Squad

• Abraham, Phil Benares
  
• Aronson, Alexander
  
• Bellenie, Matthew Orag
  
• Carroll, Terry Javier
  
• Clarke, Joven Briones 
  
• Coveney, Justin Villazor
  
• Dacanay, Austin Garnica
  
• De Guzman, Michael
  
• Duhig, Michael Estrada
  
• Gomez, Cleo Ferrer
  
• Gregson, Jeff
  
• Hagan, Graeme
  
• Hitch, Chris Baltazar
  
• Holgate, Gareth Dela Rosa
  
• Howorth, Steve Pagtalunan
  
• Letts, Jake Robrigado
  
• Letts, Michael Robrigado
  

• Matthews, Joseph Bembo
  
• Matthews, Luke Bembo
  
• Morris, Fred Dionson
  
• Olivier, Patrice Ortiz
  
• Perry, Nick Ergina
  
• Pineda, Nick
  
• Price, James Carandang
  
• Robinson-Polkey, David
  
• Saunders, Ben Abalos
  
• Saunders, Matthew Abalos
  
• Seeto, Darran  Centillas
  
• Sutcliffe, Josh Torres
  
• Taylor, Richard
  
• Urquijo, Jaime Zobel
  
• Ward, Jake
  
• West, Brian
  

(The players will participate in a training camp in Manila, after which the final team will be named.)

Coaching & Management Team

Jarred Hodges (Head Coach)
Jarred has been coaching the Philippine Volcanoes for the last three years and has been instrumental in getting us to the Premier Division.

Phil Gittus (Team Manager)
Phil has been involved with rugby since 1976, initially in the UK and since 1999 in the Philippines. Phil’s passion and years of experience in the sport in both countries have been pivotal in the team’s progress since inception.
 
Matt Cullen (Tournament Manager)
Matt Cullen is our tournament manager for the A5N. Matt brings with him years of experience in the sport, and has been the driving force in promoting and developing rugby union in the Philippines.
 
Stuart Woodhouse (Assistant backs coach)
More fondly called, “Stu”, Stu was a former Australian schoolboy &Waratahsrugby player who eventually became coach in 2005. In his 7 years of coaching, Stu handled winning premiership clubs in Queensland &New South Wales (NSW). Stu was also the backs coach of Eastwood—during the said period, he was able to elevate the team to minor premiers in 2011 &Shute Shield winners in 2012.
 
Damian Raper (Team Physiotherapist)
Damo has been the team’s physiotherapist since 2009. He is a Post Graduate Scholar for Physical Therapies at the Australian Institute of Sport. Prior to his role with the Volcanoes, Damian was team physiotherapist to some of Australia’s best rugby squads such as the NSW Schoolboys.
 
Joe Matthews (Strength & Conditioning Coach)
“Joey” has been a 7’s & 15’s player for many years.  Since 2005, Joey has been lecturing at the Australian Institute of Fitness and is currently the principal of “ACT Barbell”, an organization specializing in strength and conditioning for high performance athletes in Australia.

The Asian 5 Nations Tournament

The Asian 5 Nations is an annual international Rugby Union competition held between the top five Asian national rugby sides. The Philippines will face Japan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and South Korea in a round-robin competition over five consecutive weekends throughout April and May 2013.

The Volcanoes will play two away games and two home games at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

Asian 5 Nations Schedule

April 20
May 4
May 11
May 18

Philippines vs. Japan
Philippines vs. Hong Kong
Philippines vs. South Korea
Philippines vs. UAE

Japan
Manila (Rizal Memorial Stadium)
South Korea
Manila (Rizal Memorial Stadium)

The Asian 5 Nations represents the highest tier of international rugby in Asia and in 2014, is Asia's qualifying tournament for the Rugby World Cup 2015.