The all Cebuano Cebu Dragons team tasted sweet revenge as they beat local rivals, The Low Flying Dragons 7-2, in the 4th leg of the Dragons Rugby Challenge Cup last Sunday (May 31) at the Aboitiz Sports Field. Taken from the soon to be released movie Transformers 2, the match was dubbed "Revenge of the Fallen", due to the last encounter the two sides had which the Low Flying Dragons out muscled the local boys at the Cebu 10s International Rugby Tournament for the Dragons Claw Final last April.

This encounter was no different to the last, as the Low Flying Dragons tried to use their experience and obvious weight advantage over the smaller Cebu Dragons. First to make a mark on the score board was Cebu Dragons scrumhalf, Jerry Branzuela, touching down on the blind side after a 5 meter scrum from the Low Flyers try line. This however was a short live lead when Fly half, Scott Phillips snaked his way through tackles and scored for the Low Flying Dragons 1st try. With some regained energy, the Low Fliers quickly struck back with young Cesar Delorme using his pace to score in the corner. Drop balls and missed tackles remained for the remainder of the half until the ball was spread out to Cebu Dragons little Peter Lim who had enough space and blistering pace to speed down the field and level the game at half time.

The second half showed a different Cebu Dragons team after a stern talk from their captain, Noel Flowers. Showing speed and fitness versus brute strength, the Cebu Dragons finally came alive and running the ball from all parts of the field to score try after try. Most noticeably, Noel Flowers, catch from the kick off and running through the middle of the entire Low Flying Dragons team to score 1 of his 2 tries. The biggest surprise came from the 6ft, Richard Dix, without any prior training with the Cebu Dragons joined on Sunday and scored his 1st try in his 1st Rugby game. Asked after the match if he had played before, he merely replied: "The only thing I new about rugby was from watching the 2007 Rugby World Cup on TV and I was hoping they had it here in the Philippines ."

The final score of the game was 7-2 to the Cebu Dragons who enjoyed the hard fought victory. Though the Low Flying Dragons were undermanned and missed key players such as Damien Allison and Jamie Whittaker. The Low Fliers still put on a brave fight with individuals standing out with the likes of the big father and son pair of Bob and Cameron Booth. Cameron who arrived back in Cebu from studies in the US on Sunday morning to attend his 17th Birthday showed some big runs and big hits. Also included in the Low Flying Dragons towards the last quarter of the game were the female Pink Dragons Rose Lanticse, Jennifer Pondoc and Blessie Delos Santos. All 3 Cebuana talents played in the Cebu 10's International Rugby tournament against men and are vying to make the first Womans Philippine Rugby national team.

After the men’s game, the first ever woman’s 7 a side full contact rugby game in Cebu was played. Comprised of the Ladies Pink Dragon players, both teams showed exceptional talent and speed and ended the game at 2-2 on the final whistle. With woman’s full contact rugby in its infancy stages here in Cebu , the Cebu Rugby Club aims to further develop and introduce the game into schools within the Visayas.

The Cebu Rugby Club still continues to develop the talent of Rugby in the Visayas, both for males and females. With the goal to make the Visaya’s the biggest pool of local talent for the Philippine National team.

Try Scorers
Cebu Dragons:
Noel Flowers 2
Jerry Branzuela 2
Peter Lim 1
Richard Dix 1
Francis Woo 1

Low Flying Dragons:
Scott Phillips 1
Cesar Delorme 1

Article by Jerry Branzuela

Pictures by: Roger Casaliñas