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THE
Philippine Rugby team got off to a strong start and
coasted to an even powerful finish to beat host Guam,
20-8, and rule the HSBC Asian Five Nations International
Rugby Regional Tournament over the weekend at the
Wettengel Rugby Field in the tiny US territory.
It was a
breakthrough accomplishment for the obscure squad,
composed mostly of expatriates from Australia and the
United States, considering the fact that they did not
have much exposure compared with the other teams.
The
Matthew Cullen-mentored squad also demolished Brunei,
101-0, to finish the tournament with an impressive
combined score of 121-8.
The team
is composed of Jake and Michael Letts, Andrew Barbacetto,
Romain Barberis, Noel Flowers, Clay Luraschi, Michael
and JorgeDuhig, Rupert Zappia, Mark Chatting, Austin
Dacanay, Jeffrey Betinol, Francisco Guerra IV, Phillip
Pratte, Ronal Peña, Oliver Otterbeck, Maxwell Stewart,
Harry Morris, Gareth Holgate, Oliver and Matthew
Saunders, Andrew Wolff, Kim Hilis, John Mundro, David
Carman and Joshua Sutcliffe. Their trip was supported by
the Philippine Sports Commission.
Against
the highly physical Guam squad, the Philippines turned
to its speed, precision tackling and tough defense to
score the first three points of the match on Saunders’s
25-yard upright on the 12th minute.
Guams
Kepueli Katoa converted a penalty kick eight minutes
later to tie the score. But as the half was coming to a
close, the Philippines found a break in the line after a
scrum and scored the game’s first try, giving them an
8-3 lead going into the break.
Second-half action got started quickly when the
Philippines scored its second try after Matthew Saunders
received a pass and found himself open to run the ball
across to put his team up, 13-3.
However,
Guam wasn’t ready to give up, and its reply came a few
minutes later when Sakiusa Vaka, with support from his
team, pushed the ball through to cut the lead to 13-8.
The
score remained that way for 15 minutes. Knowing that
time was against them, the Guam players fought to get
the ball across the goal, even coming within five yards
at one point. But each time the Guam ruggers threatened
to score, the Philippines’ line denied them.
With
less than a minute in the game, Zappia added some
insurance for the Philippines, scoring a try and a
conversion that made the score 20-8.
By
winning the event, the Philippines also become the first
holders of the Magellan Cup, a new trophy to be
contested between the two sides which they will retain
until the sides meet in this competition in 2009.
The Cup,
a silver Spanish Galleon handcrafted in the Philippines
and mounted in Guam on rare local hardwood from the
jungle, is named after Spanish explorer Ferdinand
Magellan, who first made landfall in the Pacific on his
circumnavigation of the globe in Guam and met his
untimely demise in Cebu in the Philippines.
The next
HSBC Asian Five Nations Regional Tournament takes place
in Indonesia from July 12 to 19, involving the host
nation Cambodia and Laos. The two others in Qatar and
Kyrgyzstan will both take place in September. |
