Angeles City braced itself last weekend as the normally quiet, quaint little Filipino market town was overrun by hordes of squealing Pot Bellied Piggies and a total of 12 local and international rugby teams, there to attend the 2nd Inaugural Fatboys 10s.

It was a true fiesta of top-level rugby and family entertainment, and literally everyone was a winner.

The Manila Nomads won the Cup, the Pot Bellied Heavies won the Plate, the Makati Chiefs won the Bowl, a large amount of money was raised for the orphans, and Colonel Creus of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) got a new set of shirts courtesy of HKFC.

There were actually 6 local and 6 visiting teams in the competition. Two teams from Manila Nomads, two from Alabang Eagles, Makati Chiefs and the PAF were playing their first ever tournament!! The international visiting teams comprised two Pot Bellied Pigs teams (Heavies and Lites), Bangkok Bangers, HKFC LuVandals, Beijing Devils and Seoul Barbarians.

The driving theme of the whole FB 10’s is to raise as much money as possible over the weekend’s games and festivities. The money raised goes to the support of the Bantay Bata Orphanage and the Philippine Rugby Football Union for rugby development, primarily focusing on getting more Filipinos playing the game.

The “Weigh-in” is the start of the Fat Boy 10’s festivities. It’s actually a great excuse to fine teams, raise more money and generally poke fun at people for being grossly overweight (a big plus at the FB 10’s) or exactly the opposite. There is a two way sliding scale like a handicap. Its plus points for being heavy and minus for being light. Likewise, its plus for being older and minus for being young. There are also plus points for being Filipino and for being female. Hence, a 45 yr old, 250 pound, female Filipino would get maximum plus points. The whole idea is that young, light, fit teams could start off with a 5-10 point handicap against a team full of old fat guys. Or of course the Team manager can just pay the huge fine and buy his way out of trouble. More money for the charities…. and that’s what the weekend is all about.
 
For the finals it was Nomads against the Alabang Eagles.  A great local derby. A strong start by Nomads meant they lead 15-0 at half time. Then age, fitness (or the lack of it), weather, etc... prompted the Nomads boys to slow things down a bit, which saw the Eagles score a very nice try towards the last minutes. Nomads control on the game was never put in question and they eventually won it 15-5. 

Great final, camaraderie and respect between the 2 leading teams in the country and a very foggy night out on Fields Avenue followed. 

The Nomads Carabaos were unlucky in the Plate Semi-Final against a muuuuuuuch heavier Pot Bellied Pigs Heavies.

For the Junior Touch Rugby demonstration game, the Nomads Junior Academy boys won their game 3-1 against the Bantay Bata kids in a great display of skill and enthusiasm!

A lot of great organization was put in place by the Pot Bellied Pigs senior guys, Mike Hampton, Anson Bailey, Nigel Hobler, and all the other chief Piggies and they were assisted by the Philippine Rugby Football Union to make it all a great weekend...........