The Philippine national rugby team scored a convincing victory over the visiting Guam side on Wednesday afternoon.

Victorious Volcanoes down Guam 39 - 03

Playing in front of a sizeable crowd at the Nomad Sports Club, the home side controlled the game throughout the first half with inside pairing of Gareth Holgate and Michael Letts marshalling the backline and each bagging a try. The first came after a sustained period of pressure and twelve phases of play. The quick recycling of ruck ball by the Philippine side was superb all afternoon. Both tries were converted by Sydney based Filipino Ron Pena. As expected the Guam team proved to be formidable opponents in the tight and only determined defense by the visitors restricted the score to 14-0 at the break.

The National selection panel have announced the 22 players to represent the Philippine National 15s Team for the Asian Nations Series 2007 game against Guam.

The series begins for the Philippines with the game against Guam on Wednesday 27th June at the Nomad Sports Club in Paranaque. 

The board of the PRFU would like to congratulate those selected and know that you will make every effort to be prepared for the game and once on the pitch will perform to your highest levels both as individuals and as a team.

The Philippine national team are preparing for their upcoming two international games, firstly against Guam on June 27th and then against India on July 1st. Both games are to be played at home in Manila.

The Philippine Rugby Football Union recently announced that the management team would comprise of Phil Gittus retaining his position as Team Manager, Matt Cullen being promoted from Assistant Coach to Head Coach and Denny Meredith coming in as Assistant Coach.

Phil Gittus

Hails from England where he played for his local side Newport, Shropshire before representing military and police teams in the UK as well as Ruislip RFC and Wembley RFC. Has also played for Manila Nomads, Bangkok Corsaires, and  Koh Samui Simians whilst in Asia, captaining the Nomads in 2000. Has almost hung up his boots but will turn out for the Philippine Vets team later this month in Thailand. A level 2 referee and last years Team Manager of both the Senior and Under 19 teams.


 

Matt Cullen

Started his rugby with Redcliffe RFC in Australia and was a member of the 1987 Queensland Colts team. Moved to Seoul, Korea in 2000 and played with Seoul Survivors RFC for two seasons before moving to the Philippines. Firstly a member of Manila Nomads and then Alabang Eagles he has seen much success locally as a player and a coach. Still playing for the Eagles and also a member of the Philippine Vets team bound for Thailand. An IRB level 2 Educator he is promoted to Head Coach of the senior team this year having coached the undefeated Under 19 national team in last years Asian Games.

Denny Meredith

Started his playing career back in 1969 with the US Air Force and played and coached wherever his military service took him. Was the Head Coach of the all conquering US Air Force Team of the early eighties and then Head coach of the US Combined Services Team from 1986 until 1998. Has toured with military teams worldwide on numerous occasions. Has been coach of the Manila nomads for the last year.

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.

The Philippine Under 19 National team departed for Kaoshiung, Taiwan (Sunday 6th December) to compete in the Asian qualifying for next years Under 19 World Cup to be held in Belfast.

This is a landmark in Philippine rugby and is the first time the country has been represented in such a high profile International Tournament.

The gathering of the squad which comprises of Philippine nationals, expatriates with three years residency and overseas players with Philippine heritage has been the brainchild of Randell Carmen the benefactor of Alabang Eagles RFC.  Four local schools and colleges are represented those being Brent International, Faith Academy, International School Manila and the Maritime Academy of Asia Pacific. There is also a representative of the Cebu Dragons RFC from the Visayas.