Grassroots development powers Philippine rugby

MANILA, Philippines – Last Tuesday 25 young Filipino men lined up on the pitch in Southern Plains, Calamba, Laguna to take on Hong Kong’s U19 team. From a distance they looked like any other Filipino rugby team that we have seen recently, but this one was different.

Apart from Shawn Riley, the burly number 8 who was born here but spent 3 years living in the UK, the rest of the team, a developmental U19 Volcanoes squad, was born and raised in the Philippines. No longer is the game in the Philippines solely the domain of overseas-born Pinoys. It is slowly but surely becoming a grassroots sport.

Matt Cullen, a genial Aussie and longtime resident in the Philippines, is the Director of Rugby for the Philippine Rugby Football Union. He bares a startlingly long list of rugby efforts all over the nation.

Since 2012 the PRFU has had touch rugby in the Batang Pinoy Games. This year it was a demonstration sport in the Palarong Pambansa in Legaspi. In touch rugby you only need to touch a player to make him stop moving, instead of bringing him down.

Right now there are youth rugby programs in Baguio, Metro Manila, Subic, Laguna, Albay, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo, Puero Princesa, and Clark. A new club, the Makati Chiefs, has formed. The PRFU employs coaches in these clubs, many of which are former national team players. PRFU GM and current Volcano Jake Letts says there are somewhere between 20 and 30 Level 1 coaches in the Philippines and about 10 Level 2 mentors.

Davao is a great example of how rugby has taken root. With the DepEd, the PRFU have introduced the game, (touch rugby), in over 60 local schools. They recently held a touch rugby festival with over 30 schools in Davao participating.

Cullen says within the next 12 months the PRFU wants their Get Into Rugby program to reach 15,000 kids. Children from 8 to 14 years old will learn touch rugby then at the age of 15 they can start the tackle variety.

“It’s always been our long-term goal to one day have a home-grown national team,” says Cullen. Blazing the trail are players like Lito Ramirez from Tuloy Foundation in Alabang. The 22-year old speedster has already scored a try for the national rugby 7s team in Hong Kong.

Rugby all over the Philippines is blessed with generous benefactors, specifically Steve Payne of JML, a UK-based consumer products company, and Randell Carman of HMR, the auctioneer and second-hand goods retailer. BPO company Transcom sponsored the series between the Hong Kong and Philippine U19 developmental teams. Their general manager for the Philippines is Siva Subramaniam, a rugby-loving Sri Lankan. Rugby is the second-most popular game in Sri Lanka after cricket.

Hard knocks

The U19 developmental squad that played Hong Kong in two matches last week was culled from all over the nation and was coached by Carlito Abono and assitant Jovic Paypon. Abono is one of the very first homegrown players to play for the Volcanos. In the first match on Saturday in Southern Plains, Hong Kong won 27-0. Cullen said the score was 10-0 at the half, and in the second half a large pool of players was brought in to get exposure, which might explain the lack of cohesion that caused the hemorrhage of scores.

On Tuesday the teams faced off again, but this time the Philippines dressed just 25 in the hopes of fielding a very strong side. The Hong Kong team, which was all of Chinese extraction and sans any of the naturalized players that their senior team usually relies on, did even better this time, defeating the home team 31-0.

But naturally there is so much more to any game than the score. Firstly, the Philippines were definitely the smaller side. That made it rather difficult to bring the Hong Kong ballcarriers down at times. The Filipinos made a lot of errors, like getting a yellow card because of a dust-up in the first try. (In rugby a yellow card merits a “sin-binning” where the player must sit out for a while before he can return to play. The player cannot be replaced and his team carries on with only 14 players.)

There were a few dangerous high tackles, some line-outs lost on our throw, (most line-outs in rugby union are won by the throwing team because they know where the ball is going). There was one curious moment when the Philippine back line got the ball deep in its own territory behind the 22- meter line and instead of kicking for touch deep to pin the opponent back, they tried to run. That’s a suicidal tactic especially for an overmatched team. But then again it’s understandable for a team that lacks players who can kick effectively on kickoffs or punted clearances.

These are all granted for young, inexperienced players. But amongst all these issues are plenty of promise.

I’ve been watching rugby since the mid-80s. It is no underdog’s game. There are often very large gaps in quality between teams especially in the international arena. Blowouts are very common. In a quirk of the game, you actually get the ball back after you score in a fifteen-a-side match, which can lead teams down a slippery slope.

Rugby fans have seen the drill when a better team plays a weaker team. They stronger team might be held in check for a spell, but eventually the pressure tells, the floodgates creak open, momentum goes in favor of the favorite, and everything snowballs towards a ghastly scoreline.

That just didn’t happen on Tuesday.

Hong Kong scored 17 points in the first half and 14 in the second. The Philippines even nearly scored a try late in the second half, but were only done in by a late error in the move. It’s a cliché to say in sports that a team never gives up, but from a strictly technical and tactical sense, it was absolutely true about the Philippine side last Tuesday. Their spirit was never, ever broken throughout the 70-minute match, 10 minutes shorter than usual.

These players are undersized but extraordinarily fit and quick. They lacked the size, technique, and experience but matched the visitors stride-for-stride in fitness and heart. They also play with wild abandon.

“Oh these kids go hard,” said Letts, who also has coached them a bit. Captain Kingsley Ballesteros was brilliant in the middle of the forward pack, bursting through for valuable yardage. Brothers Mike and Mark Llanera also shone.

Letts also mentioned something that certainly put everything in perspective.

“For most of these players, this is only their second 15-a-side game.” Apparently most had played only 7 and 10-aside rugby previously.

The Philippines is joining a U19 competition in December against the UAE, Singapore and Korea. While the bulk of that team will be “heritage” or overseas-born Filipinos, some will be sourced from this team.

The game of rugby may not be a native species to Filipinos, but it’s becoming a sport we can play and excel in. – Rappler.com

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.