MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Volcanoes will have a busy Holy Week as they compete this Friday and Saturday at the Southeast Asia (SEA) Rugby 7s tournament in Singapore.
The Volcanoes will use this opportunity to test out their SEA competitors ahead of the 2017 Southeast Asia Games in Malaysia in August.
The men’s national team will be sending a mixed contingent of players fielding 4 debutants for development and experienced campaigners Gareth Dela Rosa Holgate, Justin Villazor Coveney and Alex Norona Aronson.
All 3 members were part of the Volcanoes’ gold medal victory in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.
The men’s team are coming off a 7-game winning streak after finishing undefeated in their last tournament in Qatar, and securing two wins in their international friendly series against Te Kaha, a New Zealand navy team, earlier this month.
The Globe Volcanoes, led by coaches David Johnston and Jake Letts, will match up against hosts Singapore in their first match of the tournament, followed by Indonesia and finally Brunei on Friday. The winner of the pool will advance straight to the final to be played at the Singapore National Stadium on Saturday.
“It will be a tough challenge for this team, we have some young players new to the group who are keen to prove themselves at this level. Our first game against Singapore will be our toughest match. If we can win this we can then hopefully look to make the final the following day,” shares veteran Holgate.
The Transcom Lady Volcanoes on the other hand are sending a near full strength line up. The Lady Volcanoes are looking to defend a bronze medal. The ladies have to pass Singapore and Indonesia for a seed in the semi finals.
The women have yet to finish in the top two in Southeast Asia, but still the team management is optimistic for this weekend.
“The women’s program continually strengthens each year, a respectable 4th place finish in the Asia Trophy Series in February adds fuel for this team. A team with huge potential, they only lost by two points last year to make the final,” shared Jake Robrigado Letts, National Teams Head of the PRFU.
“Under Shirley Russell and Ai Den Ng, hoping they go one better and book a place in the final on Saturday, along with the Men’s of course.”
The Lady Volcanoes will be boosted by the return of Camilla Maslo teaming up with key members Sylvia Tudoc, Ada Milby and team captain Acee San Juan. – from edited press release/Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.