Bruised but not broken. The embattled National Men’s Rugby Team, known as the Philippine Volcanoes will face the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, May 18 in the closing match of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations competition. Both teams are winless in the series, making Saturday the battle against relegation, with the winner remaining in Asia’s top 5, and the loser relegated to Division 1.

It has been a challenging debut for the Philippines in the Elite Division after practically cruising through the lower divisions since the Volcanoes began competing in the Asian 5 Nations series. Before 2013, the Volcanoes had lost only once (in 2011 to South Korea), a record bested only by perennial A5N champions and still unbeaten Japan.

Despite the losses, the Volcanoes have shown flashes of brilliance in each match, and have vowed to put the pieces together to get the win against fourth-ranked United Arab Emirates. The past week has seen the arrival of veteran players Phil Abraham, Michael de Guzman and Nick Perry to shore up an injury-plagued forward pack. The lessons learned from their first three matches and extended training time together, a challenge the Volcanoes face with players based in different parts of the world, should also serve the Volcanoes in good stead.

Philippines Coach, Jarred Hodges, maintains that the team has stayed positive and is in good spirits in the lead up to Saturday’s match. “It won’t be easy, as UAE have been in the top 5 for a number of years, but we are quietly confident”.  Hodges added “We are playing in Manila, and the hometown support never fails to lift the boys’ performance.”

The team that finishes fifth after the end of the six-week long competition will be demoted to Division 1, while the top 4 teams’ remain in the Elite Division and continue their quest to qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The winner of the Elite Division in 2014 receives outright qualification to the Rugby World Cup 2015, while the Elite Division’s 2nd placer will face the 2nd placers from Africa, Europe and the Americas in a knock-out competition for the 20th & final Rugby World Cup slot.

Where to watch:

Philippines vs. United Arab Emirates
7pm | Saturday, May 18
Rizal Memorial Stadium, Adriatico Ave.
Malate, Manila

Bleachers: FREE OF CHARGE
Grand Stand: P 200 / P500  
available at: http://www.ticketworld.com.ph

The game will be telecast live on Solar Sports channel.

Live scoring on www.twitter.com/PhilippineRugby

Congratulations to the following 22 players who have been selected for the Philippines National Development Team (NDT) for the upcoming tour to Sabah, Malaysia:

Forwards: 

• Marc Balucan
  
• Jerry Branzuela
  
• Wilson Caisip
  
• Bryan De Leon
  
• Glen Denton
  
• Dino Gonzales
  
• Kit Guerra
  
• Chris Hettel
  
• Tim Kong
  
• John Odulio
  
• Phil Pratte
  
• Geoffrey Veraces
  

Backs:

• Aaron Briddon
  
• David Carman
  
• Noel Flowers
  
• Mike Hawak
  
• Paulo Jordan
  
• Lester Loma
  
• Jon Morales
  
• Jovic Paypon
  
• Joselito Talosig
  
• Rupert Zappia
  

Management: 
Expo Mejia
John Wood
Evans Atandi
Rico Barin

The full squad of 42 players have been training for a number of weeks in preparation for games against Sabah Rugby Union and the Hong Kong National Development Team. The squad is made up entirely of Filipino heritage players who play their rugby in the local leagues. A number of these players have come from the Rugby 101 program and they are a testament to the ever-growing PRFU development program.

The fixtures for the National Development Team are as follows:

The Nomads proved again that they are the number one 15s Rugby team in the Philippines with an emphatic 30-10 win over the Alabang Eagles in the JML  15s Final last June 9. The Nomads forward pack took full control of the game from the kick off and set the scene when they went straight into the pick drive patterns and constantly challenged the Eagles to try and stop their aggressive rolling mauls. The Eagles defense was certainly more organized than the last time the two teams met and they tried to challenge their bigger Nomads counterparts at the edge of the mauls and rucks, but had little effect on the machine-like attack that Dave Feeney and his forwards displayed. The Nomads did not make a mistake in the forwards in the first half and this eventually led to Man of the Match, Chris Anderson scoring the first two tries of the game both in similar style coming from rolling mauls and strong forward play.

Nomads coach Phil “Stinger” Gittus proved once again that good old fashioned 10-man Rugby can win in 15s rugby and he had obviously drilled the Nomads forwards in the finer arts of tight play. His English upbringing and coaching style dominated the Nomads play, with the ball rarely thrown to the backline and the Nomads forwards enjoying the opportunity to play up the middle of the field.

The Eagles regrouped at halftime and turned the Nomads around at the second half with some tactical kicks from flyhalf Rupert Zappia which led to two penalties being awarded to the Eagles at 21 – 0 down. The Eagles decided to try and place some much needed points on the board. Unfortunately young Tim Smith who had kicked 10 penalties against the Cebu Dragons last week missed both attempts and the Eagles were left empty handed. Some pundits thought they should have taken the game to the Nomads and gone for the tries instead of the Penalty shots

It wasn’t until late in the second half that the Eagles crossed the Nomads line with a try which they were able to convert ; but this was all too late as the Nomads scored two more tries to take out the JML 15s Championship by 30 -10.

Chris Anderson from Nomads was named Man of the Match and Chris Hettel won the JML Award which was donated and presented by Steve Payne from JML.

Maverick Vipers Win the Bowl Final to claim top spot at Rugby 101

The Maverick Vipers were totally focused on winning their debut final in the JML 15s Bowl Division and came out firing on all cylinders as they scored in the first minute of the game through some sharp work from their two underage International players, Dan O’Reilly and AJ Brown, who combined in the backline to set up several attacking raids into the Bison Tarsiers territory. The Bison Tarsiers struggled to gain possession and the Maverick Vipers seemed to run at will, led by their Captain, Ulysses Veloso the MV’s were relentless in attack and scored a comprehensive six try to one victory.

The Bison Tarsiers scored a late try in the game to spoil the Maverick Vipers hope taking out the final without allowing their opponents to score against them, but this was too little too late with the Maverick Vipers dominating all aspects play and running out the Bowl champions winners by 45 – 7.

Carabaos Defeat Hapons in Plate Final

The Carabaos took out the Plate Final defeating the Manila Hapons by 49 – 17. The Carabaos were at full strength and took advantage of their strong bench, whilst the Hapons had to call on some players to help fill the ranks before kick off. Te Hapons upset their more fancied rivals when they scored a length of the field try, which started from behind their own line and ended with Keiichi Utaka scoring after the ball went through several sets of hands.

The Carabaos realized that the Hapons were going to play running rugby and closed things down with some aggressive forward play that led to the next two tries. The Hapons hit back and scored again before halftime and the game remained close leading into the break at 21 – 17.

It was all one way traffic during the second half and the Carabaos started to rotate their bench whilst the Hapons were starting to tire which allowed the Carabaos to score four tries second half tries and win the Plate final by 49 – 17.

Cup MVP – Chris Anderson
JML Cup Award – Chris Hettel

Plate MVP – Romani Peyrelouse
JML Plate Award – Fred Marcerou

Bowl MVP – Mark Bulacan
JML Award – AJ Brown

The next round of games will be played at the Philippine National Games at the RECS stadium in Sta Cruz Laguna on Saturday June 23rd. This will be an all day event with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals being presented by the PSC to the winning teams.

The Alabang Eagles travelled to Cebu this past weekend to support the Women’s International match and play their Cup round against the Cebu Dragons. The Eagles who were coming off a loss to Nomads, had to defeat the Dragons in order to cement a place in the JML 15s League finals.

The Cebu Dragons had a positive start to the game and pressured the Eagles from the kick off, this resulted in the Eagles giving away a simple penalty in front of the posts and Jerry Branzuela stepped to slot the Dragons first points. Unfortunately this would be the last points the Dragons would score until late in

the game as the Alabang Eagles took full control of the game and piled on 90 unanswered points to send a strong signal to the Nomads that the Eagles are ready for the JML 15s Finals. The speedy Eagles backline were in dominant form as they piled on 14 tries and seemed to run at will with Captain Tim Bweheni consistently making inroads into the Dragons defence. Young gun Tim Smith who played for the Philippine National u16s last year converted 13 shots to rake up 26 solo points and is a bright star for future National underage teams.

Under coach and player Dan Moutin, the Eagles forwards played with more discipline and Veve Apolosa was hard to stop as he charged into the Dragons forwards and also made several blockbusting tackles to create turnovers. 

The Dragons tried to combat the Eagles onslaught but were unable to keep possession for more than three phases and struggled in the set pieces as the Eagles larger forwards applied constant pressure at every scrum and lineout.

Dragons Captains Noel Flowers and Jerry Branzuela kept rallying the Dragons players to fight until the end and newcomer backs Dean Bates and Tony Tualo from New Zealand showed signs that the Dragons can rebuild from this loss in their first outing in Cebu. The Dragons Captains frustration boiled over and both players were out on their feet by the end of the game.

The Final score was Eagles 90 Cebu Dragons 8 and the Eagles will now meet the Manila Nomads in the JML 15s Cup Finals to be played at the Eagles new home field in Silangan next Saturday June 9th. The finals will feature the three Men’s divisions, Cup, Plate and Bowl.  The Women’s Division will rest as they prepare to play in the Asian Women’s Division 2 Championships against Laos, Singapore and Thailand in Manila on June 14 and 16th.

The JML 15s League was in full swing at the Eagle's Nest in Silangan, with teams in the Bowl, Plate and Women’s Divisions all competing for places in the June 9th Finals. The Cup teams had a bye this weekend and the Alabang Eagles will fly to play the Cebu Dragons on Saturday June 2nd before the Philippine National Women’s team play an International game against Singapore. 

The Women’s game will be the last lead up game before the Philippine National Women’s team plays in the Asian Women’s 15s Championships that will be held here in Manila from June 13 – 17th. Laos, Singapore and Thailand will all travel to the Philippines to play in the Asian Women’s Tournaments with games at Nomads Sports Club on Thursday June 14th and the Finals and Awards Ceremony at the Eagles Nest on Saturday June 16th.

Carabaos Win on the bell to move to the Plate Finals

The Carabaos came up against the Alabang Ibons at the Eagles' Nest and this game would decide the placings for the Plate Division finals on June 9th. The Ibons were definitely focused on beating the Carabaos after losing 33 – 31 after the final whistle when the Hapons converted a last minute try to snatch victory and the win. 

The Ibons started poorly when they dropped the first ball of the game from the kick off. The Caraboas pounced on this opportunity to go straight on the attack in the Ibons territory. The Carabaos kept the ball tight and made several attacking raids at the Ibons line, utilizing  their now recognized pick and drive techniques. The Ibons defense was relentless for the first five minutes of the game and they consistently stopped the large Carabaos forwards from scoring at the edge of the ruck. It wasn’t until the ball went wide to Jason Lock who scored in the corner to open the game and put the Carabaos on the front foot early in the game. The Ibons failed to regroup from the restart and found themselves under attack again on their own line. This time it was the Carabaos second rower Bradley Benton who charged over to score their second try in the first 10 minutes and take a 10 – 0 lead.

It wasn’t until the 15th minute of the game that the Ibons secured the ball and kicked for field position and were able to apply some pressure on the Carabaos defense. The Ibons strung together several attacking raids with Rupert Zappia finally scoring from a skillful backline move and converted the try to bring the Ibons back into the game at 10 – 7. The Ibons immediately fell into their own trap as they bundled their second kick off and this let the Carabaos pressure them into making mistakes that eventually led to a penalty that was converted by Daniel Melrose to take the lead to 13  - 7. The Carabaos seemed to drop their intensity and as soon as they did, David Carman sprang into life and made three decisive breaks that allowed the Ibons to score just before halftime through a sneaky dummy half try to Jaypee Paypon who darted from the base of a ruck and scored under the posts. The try was converted and the Ibons went into the halftime break with a narrow 14 – 13 lead.

The second half would prove to be just as even as the first and Rupert Zappia took advantage of some weak Carabaos defense when he scored his second try and the Ibons had the ascendency. All they had to do was play field possession and minimize their mistake rate to take out a victory. It was the Ibons lack of discipline at the ruck area that would lead to the next two penalties being converted by Dan Melrose to bring the game level at 19 – 19. The Ibons were their own worst enemy as they repeatedly gave away penalties for off side at the ruck which eventually led to two Ibons players being sin binned in the last 10 minutes of the game. The Ibons were on their own line and the Caraboas won another penalty and decided to take the scrum and punish the weakened Ibons forwards. The Caraboas pushed the Ibons into their own corner and it was Chris Anderson who dove over at no. 8 to score on the whistle and win the game for the Carabaos by 24 – 19. De ja vu for the Ibons, losing their second straight game at home on the whistle and they can only blame themselves for repeatedly infringing and allowing the Carabaos back into the game.

Maverick Vipers make in two from two wins heading into the Plate Final

The Bowl game saw a range of players take the field starting with the traditional rugby 101 teams which were both bolstered with National Underage Team players from ISM and BSM. The combination of enthusiasm from the 101 players and raw talent from the National underage players proved to be an effective recipe for a competitive game of 15s rugby. The game began at a blistering pace and it was Vipers number 8  Jason Lock who scored the opening try of the game when he beat three defenders to score out wide.

The game was certainly a struggle with both teams intent on winning the forward battle. The National Underage players marked up on each other on both sides with Tim Churchill, Jake Batuhan and Dan Melrose playing for the Bison/Tarsiers and Dan O'Reilly and AJ Brown playing for the Maverick Vipers. AJ Brown set up the challenge when he scored for the Vipers and was supported by last week’s MVP for the Mavericks Vipers, Charles Barthelemy who again showed that he is a player to watch in the future as he scored the Vipers third try to take a 17 – 0 lead into the halftime break.

The Bison Tarsiers were a different team in the second half and actually outscored the Vipers by 5 – 3, with Marc Patiag scoring the Bison’s only try and Dan Melrose kicking the only penalty goal for the game to end Maverick Vipers 20 defeating Bison Tarsiers 5. This means that the Maverick Vipers will again face the Bison-Tarsiers in the Plate Division final on June 9th.

Women’s Teams prepare for upcoming International Series

The Manila based women’s National Team players assembled at the Eagles Nest field to have an early training session and all the players will travel to Cebu this Thursday to prepare for an International 15s game against Singapore. This will be final hit out before the Philippine National Women’s Team host the Asian Women’s 15s tournament here in Manila on June 14 (Nomads) and June 16 (Eagles).

With half the National squad based in Cebu, 17 women turned out to play at Eagles on Saturday and the women played four quarters of 7s rugby. It was National Team player Rose Dela Cruz who stole the show in the first half by scoring two runaway tries. She was well supported by Jen Saldo from UMAK who showed she is definitely a prospect for the future with her deceptive speed as she ran the length of the field to score team Blues third try andtake a convincing halftime lead over the Red team by 17 – 0.

Acee San Juan played strongly at scrumhalf for the Blue team and constantly delivered quality ball to her speedy outside backs and scored a great solo try when she dummied from the base of a ruck and ran through to score under the posts. It was again the speedy youngster Jen Saldo who then scored the last two tries to see the Blue team win by 37 – 5.

The Women’s MVP for Saturday was Acee San Juan who was well supported by Cassie Umali and Manila Santos who will all feature in the upcoming International Series.

Plate MVP – Dan Melrose and Chris Httel

Bowl MVP – Dan O Reily

Women’s MVP – Acee San juan

Upcoming PRFU Events:

June 2, Cebu International School
Women’s International Series:  Philippines v Singapore 
JML Cup Division: Eagles v Cebu Dragons

ARFU Women's 15s: Teams: Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand
June 14, Nomad Sports Club, Merville Paranaque (eliminations)
June 16, Eagles Nest, Silangan (finals & awards)

JML 15s League Finals and Awards presentation
June 9, Eagles Nest – Cup, Plate, Bowl and Women’s Finals

Philippine National Games 
June 23, RECS Stadium, Sta Cruz Laguna

Round 2 of the JML 15s league took place at Nomad Sports Club last Saturday and it was fantastic to see all the local teams out playing the traditional 15s format of Rugby Union. This was the first time that a number of the players had played 15s Rugby and it was obvious that they relished the opportunity to play the more physical style of the game. 

In very hot conditions it was the women that kicked off the first game with a number of the players starting to prepare for the upcoming Women's International games:
 
June 2 - Philippines v Singapore to be played in Cebu
 
June 13 - 17 - Asian Women's 15s Division 2 Championships against Laos, Singapore and Uzbekistan to be played in Manila

The Women played two games of 7s style rugby and it was Team Xena team that took victory in both games. Several National team players showed that they are ready to fire up for the Philippine team in June, with Rose De La Cruz scoring both tries for Team Xena and Cassie Umali scoring and converting for Nomads in the first match, which left team Xena the winners in a very tight battle by 14 - 10. 

The second game saw National team second rower Reena Novero busting the defence open with several block busting runs which paved the way for the Team Xena backline to run in two unanswered tries and eventualy win the second game by 10 - 0.
 
National team coaches Susan Konstanty and Expo Mejia were very pleased with the quality of Rugby that they witnessed. With the Asian Women's Championships being held in Manila in a months time, they explained that all the women need to be playing top level, competitive Rugby from now until the June 13th tournament to be able to be contenders in these championships.

The next game was the Plate Division match between the Nomads Carabaos and Manila Hapons which saw a number of expats take the field. The game was extremely close in the first half with the Carabaos taking an early lead through a try by veteran player Nigel Barrett. To the Hapons credit, they kept the pressure on the Caraboas which finally paid dividends when they scored just before the halftime break to take a 10 - 7 lead. The Hapons came out in the second half and continued to apply the pressure and it looked they were going to surprise their more fancied opponents when Jun Park scored a great solo try. However, this seemed to spark the Carabaos into the game and the second half became a one-sided affair with the Carabaos scoring the next eight tries, Nigel Barrett led the way with his second try of the game and National U20s player, Daniel Melrose also scored and converted three times for the Carabaos to win the game comfortably by 38 - 12. 

The Bowl game, was by all observers the best game of the day with the Globe Immortals taking on the Tarsiers/Bison team. It also saw Cassie Umali referee her first game of 15s Rugby and what a game to make debut. Both teams were certainly fired up for a win and it was Chester Anin from Globe that scored the first try to help Globe begin the first half with a 5 - 0 lead. 

The Globe team seemed to have the upper hand in the first half and both teams were playing an open style of rugby trying to outflank each other with their speedy backs. Globe finally realised that 15s Rugby must be dominated in the forwards before running wide and Rafael De Colnet scored the second try for Globe and extended the lead to 10 - 0.  

The Tarsier/Bisons under coach Paul Churchill rallied at halftime and came out with a more focused gameplan. They started to control the ball in the forwards, and this new tactic paid off when Bisons flanker Noel Villa scored and game was hung in the balance at 10 -5. This certainly gave the Tarsier/Bisons a new lease of life and they immediately went straight back at the Globe team with some strong runs up the middle of the field from National U16 player Tim Churchill. This time it was the Tarsiers/ Bisons hooker Merick Magdarang who scored on the back of some good ruck work by the Tarsiers/Bison forwards to equalize the game at 10 - 10. Tim Churchill converted the try and the Tarsier/Bisons team took the lead for the first time in the game with two minuted left to play. Globe had one last shot at scoring but lost possession and the Tarsier/Bisons celebrated their first victory of the season with a score of 12 - 10.

The last game of the day was plalyed between the Manila Nomads and a touring side from Hong Kong, the Discovery Bay Pirates. The Nomads had defeated the Cebu Dragons last weekend in the opening round of the JML 15s League by 53 - 0 and were primed to take the game against the newly formed club from Hong Kong.  

The Nomads have had an outstanding year so far, winning the Bostik 10s League and the Plate Final at the Manila 10s International Rugby Festival.  They have been looking forward to playing the 15s season as most of their big forwards relish the hard physical nature of 15s Rugby. Under new coach, Phil Gittus who himself is a front row player,  the Nomads have come up with a very forward-orientated gameplan which worked to perfection on Saturday with Nomads scoring their first three tries through the forwards mauling the ball through the Discovery Bay opposition.  

Chris Anderson and Paul Ingram were on the back of two 15m mauls to crash over for tries which was followed by a third try by prop Nick Treweeke. The Nomads never looked threatened as they took a 38 - 0 lead into the halftime break. The Discovery Bay team asked a few of the local players to help in the second half but the Nomads machine was in full throttle as they eventually won the game by 55 - 0. This looks ominus as the Nomads take on their cross town rivals next week, the Alabang Eagles. After two games of 15s this season, the Nomads have scored 108 points and have not reliquished a point against them.
 
Round 3 will be played next Saturday, May 26th at the new home of the Alabang Eagles, The Eagles Nest. Situated in the Southern Plains development, the Eagles Nest is accessible via the Silangan Exit on the South Luzon Expressway. 

On May 5, the Manila Nomads travelled to play the Cebu Dragons in the opening round of the 2012  JML 15s League. 

In 37 degree heat, the teams took the field at the Cebu International School field for a fierce battle of territory and possession as the game remained without a try for the first 15 minutes. The Nomads took a clear size advantage into the game and it was a credit to the smaller Dragons players who continually pulled their larger opponents to the ground with Homer Bangay and Noel Flowers making several try-saving tackles to stop the ominous Nomads forward pack. Finally Nomads were awarded a penalty in the attacking quarter of the field and put on a tactful decoy move which allowed Aussie front player Nick Treweeke to steam onto the ball and set up a ruck only meters from the Dragons line. The biggest player on the field, Saki Tuisolisia, then picked up the ball and was impossible to stop as he took three Dragons defenders across the line with him to score the opening try of the game. 

The Cebu restart did not make the 10m line and consequently this allowed the Nomads to go straight back into the Dragons territory. The Nomads were able to register their second try at the 26th minute of the game with veteran player Sam Chittick running onto the ball to score out wide and take the lead to 12 - 0. The Nomads then realized that if they kept the ball tight, they could dominate in the forwards. 

The blistering heat was ceratinly taking its toll, as the Dragons players had to make twice as many tackles as the Nomads in the first quarter of the game. After the Dragons gave up successive penalties, the Nomads again found themselves in the attacking quarter and this time it was the Frenchman Eric Savina who actually passed the ball wide and then ran into the pursuing ruck to pick up a loose ball and score the Nomads third try.

This sparked the Dragons into a revitalized comeback with National A-team player Geoffrey Veracos showing some deft footwork, taking on the Nomads defensive line and beating some of the tackles by the Nomads forwards to set up some good field position for the Dragons to attack. The Nomads quickly regrouped in their own quarter and were able to thwart the attacking raid. Out of nowhere, Nomads speedster Sam Fogg decided to take on the Dragons defence from inside his own half and he split the field wide open as he ran 60m to score under the posts and give the Nomads a convincing 24 - 0 halftime lead.

With the temperature reaching 38 degrees, the halftime break was much appreciated by all the players and the match official Richard Radier, who then donned a hat for the second half. 

The Nomads' size advantage was the difference between the two teams and time and again the Nomads won scrums against the feed which allowed them to both dominate possession and field position. Chris Anderson then scored from a push over scrum and the Nomads were never in doubt as they took the score to 31 - 0. Both teams then used all seven substitutions with the Nomads backs starting to run the ball wide against the less experienced Dragons defenders. This allowed Sam Fogg and Raphael De Colnet to both score on opposite wings. Danny Williams had plenty of kicking practice with the Nomads scoring nine tries and taking the opening round of the JML 15s Cup division by 53 - 0.
 
The awards function was attended by Steve Payne from JML with Nomads' Nick Treweeke & Dragons' Homer Bangay receiving best player awards and a bottle of wine for a hard hot day of rugby:
 
The next round of the JML 15s league will see all divisions play at Nomads on Saturday May 12th from 2pm. 

The Philippine Rugby Football Union has announced the list of players selected to the team that will compete in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations Division 1 Championships scheduled to begin on Sunday, April 15 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila.

Abraham, Phil
Bautista, JC
Bellenie, Matt
Carroll, Terry
Coveney, Justin
Dacanay, Austin
De Guzman, Michael
Duhig, Michael
Gomez, Cleo 
Hitch, Chris
Howorth, Steven
Letts, Jake
Letts, Michael
Matthews, Joseph
Matthews, Luke
Olivier, Patrice
Perez, Tyler
Perry, Nick
Price, James
Saunders, Matt
Saunders, Oliver
Taylor, Richard
Urquijo, Jaime
Ward, Jake
West, Brian

Coach: Expo Mejia
Coach: Jarred Hodges
Manager:  Matt Cullen
Physiotherapist:  Damian Raper
Manager:  Grant Rice

The Philippines is the most successful team in the Asian Five Nations next to Japan. The Volcanoes have lost only one match in the past four years, losing to South Korea in Division 1 last year.  Fielding a 100% Filipino heritage squad with all members having at least one parent or grandparent born in the Philippines, the Volcanoes are eager to claim victory on home soil. The winner of Division 1 will be promoted to the Asian 5 Nations Elite level in 2013 to compete with Asian Rugby powerhouses Japan, Hong Kong, UAE and Kazakhstan. 

Mr. Jarrad Gallagher, Regional General Manager for Asia of the IRB commented on the tournament’s development at every level saying, “Over the years we have seen the matches become more and more competitive, not only have several teams reduced the margins against Japan, but the gaps are closing at every level as a result of the intensity of the HSBC A5N. This can only be a boost for rugby in the region.”

Joining the Philippines in Division 1 are Sri Lanka, Singapore and Chinese Taipei. The teams will play each other in a new round-robin format with the objective of further preparing teams for promotion to the Top 5. To learn more about the HSBC Asian 5 Nations Series, go to www.asian5nations.com

Match Schedule (all matches played at Rizal Memorial Stadium)

Sunday, April 15 
5pm Sri Lanka vs. Chinese Taipei
7pm Singapore vs. Philippines

Wednesday, April 18
5pm Sri Lanka vs. Singapore
7pm Philippines vs. Chinese Taipei

Saturday, April 21
5pm Sri Lanka vs. Philippines
7pm Singapore vs. Chinese Taipei

Admission to the games on April 15 and 18 is free of charge, while tickets are required for April 21. Tickets for April 21 may be purchased at Ticketworld outlets and www.ticketworld.com.ph. The Philippines’ matches will be telecast live on ABS-CBN Studio 23. 

For information on ARFU & the HSBC A5N, contact Sean Moore at sean.moore@elitestep.com
For information on the PRFU & the Philippine Volcanoes, contact Raquel Romero at communications@prfu.com