Sinulog10s Champions

New and old spectators to Rugby crowded the field in anticipation as they witnessed hard tackles and quick passing by both teams but the fired up Eagles started the game with a bang and ran in two quick tries in the 1st half. The Nomads, led by Romain Barberis, sparked in the 2nd half and fought back to score 2 tries to equal the game in full time. Eagles stepped up a gear in extra time and scored another 2 amazing tries utilizing there speed advantage against the Nomads. Nomads, with the never say die attitude, kept coming back but to no avail as they met the Eagles tough defense which was led by there captain, Tom Egerton, who had an amazing try saving tackle in the dying seconds of the game.

The entire week has been a resounding success for the Philippine U19s squad and Philippine rugby in general.

The team topped the Division B table with three straight wins. A spectacular perfect winning record in the Philippines first ever attendance of such a high profile International Tournament.  Highlighted by the fact that the Philippines were able to score 13 touchdowns, while only allowing 1.  Giving an emphatic For & Against of 97 - 13.

The success now paves the way for the possibility of the Philippines being promoted to Division A in next years Under 19s Asian Championships, where they would come up against such Asian rugby powerhouses as Japan and Korea.

At the Championships awards ceremony captain Jake Letts was presented with the Division B trophy - Philippines first ever international silverware.

Results

At the end of the most successful Philippine Rugby International Campaign ever, several Awards were presented to the standout the players in the squad. 

In acknowledging these individuals, it is important to highlight that Rugby is a team game, and the resounding success in this tournament has only been through the hard work of every one of the players in the Under 19s Squad.


Player of series

• Jake Letts

Best player of Philippine heritage (wins a three week trip to World Cup 2007)

• Andrew Barbecetto
  

In their third and final game of their Asian Championships campaign, the Philippines turned over the pre-tournament favourites the Arabian Gulf, winning the game 21-10.

Their opponents, all expatriate boys from schools in the Middle East were physically far bigger but the Philippine team stood up to them in every department.

The scrums were solid and as in the previous two games Ryan Laughter and Jeremy Owen gained quality possession at lineouts. The plan of playing territorial rugby and using the tactical kicking of fly half Gareth Holgate was adhered to and into a slight wind the Philippines came in level at half time the only scores being a penalty by each team.

The Philippine Under 19 team ran in ten unanswered tries against Brunei yesterday in their second game of the Asian Games in Kaohsiung.

The Philippines now top the Division Two table with 9 points. Their final opponents will be the Arabian Gulf who were beaten 17 – 12 by Guam in a shock result yesterday leaving the league still wide open.

The forwards secured quality ball and the backline executed set plays with precision. In particular the inside backs were outstanding with Matthew Saunders scoring five tries himself - Saunders played for the Sydney Roosters Under18s Rugby League team in Australia and his background was evident as he shrugged off the opposition defense with ease.

The Philippine Under 19 rugby team got off to a solid start in the first game of the Asian Championships in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on Monday.

Playing against Guam (at the Taiwan Military Academy), the Philippines maintained their discipline and ground out a 12 – 3 win against a Guam team with a very physical forward pack.

The game was marred by some bizarre refereeing decisions which resulted in an astonishing amount of penalties being awarded ( 50 ) and a total of 10 players being sin-binned.