Volcanoes bag silver in Asian 7s

MANILA, Philippines - No one considered the Philippines a threat in Asian rugby, a field dominated by Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. Despite their three-year undefeated run in the Asian 5 Nations tournament Philippine Volcanoes have been considered a sort of novelty act in the region - pretty, but did they have game?

This weekend the Philippine Volcanoes made the naysayers pay. At the Borneo leg of the 2011 Asian 7s Series, the Philippines recovered from an early loss to Japan to sweep aside Kazakhstan, the UAE, Malaysia and China and book a place in the final. Their final opponent: Japan, ranked number one in Asia, a powerhouse now competing in the World Cup in New Zealand.

The 46-0 outcome surprised no one. The Japanese team is composed of professional players who play together all year round. The Philippine team is composed of part-timers - lawyers, marine biologists, electricians, graduate students who play on weekends and take charge of their own training. The children of Filipinos living in Australia, the UK and the US, they fly to Manila at their own expense a few days before each tournament. Only then do they get to play together.

The real surprise is that the Philippines made the final at all.

Rugby sevens is the shorter, faster, more dynamic version of the traditional game. It consists of two halves of seven minutes each and is played on the same-sized pitch. Rugby sevens is now recognized as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In their second match the Philippines faced Kazakhstan, which had become their bête noir after tough defeats last year in Borneo and last month in Shanghai. Their 24-19 victory over the larger team was particularly sweet.

“When we were down 7-19 against Kazakhstan it was Filipino pride that kept us from accepting defeat,” declared Justin Coveney, a national player since 2010. Coveney and Matt Saunders were the top scorers in the Philippines’ 28-14 quarterfinal victory over hometown favorite Malaysia. That win put them in the final four and ensured them of a place in the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens.

The Hong Kong Sevens is the most prestigious sevens tournament in the world. Every rugby power in the world including New Zealand, Australia, England, France competes at this three-day tournament and the atmosphere is raucous and electric throughout.

Next the Philippines faced China, a team they had not beaten in four attempts. To match the speed of the Chinese players national coach Matt Cullen put Luke Matthews in the starting lineup. Matthews immediately scored for the Philippines, but at halftime China led 14-7. Harry Morris came off the bench in the dying minutes to score a try and force the game into extra time.

It came down to the golden point -first to score wins -and Luke’s older brother Joseph made the winning try.

“This is the first time Joe has represented the Philippines, and we are so proud to be playing together,” said Luke Matthews.

“We had to work extremely hard in one of the toughest groups in the tournament,” said Morris, a national player since 2007. “We gave it our all, and when it was too much we regrouped and found some more. When we made mistakes we plugged the gaps and played for each other. I know this sounds cliché but we wanted to make the Philippines proud.”

“The will to close games comes down to ticker and mental toughness and the boys proved we had that,” said Volcanoes Captain Jake Letts, who along with his older brother Michael was the first half-Filipino to play for the national team in 2005. Questions about the team’s mental toughness had arisen at the Shanghai Sevens, where the Philippines beat the top seed and defending champion Korea, only to bow to Kazakhstan and China on the way to seventh place.

The answers came in Borneo. “We became giant killers this weekend,” said Letts. Skeptics who claim that Filipinos do not have the build for rugby should look at the slender captain. Rugby accommodates players of all shapes and sizes, though it does help to have players who have bulk, a low center of gravity, speed and strength. In sevens there is more emphasis on speed, agility and “ball sense.”

As a nation we have a mix of ethnic backgrounds, and there are Filipinos all over the globe who have played rugby since childhood. Look at any international team, from the French and English to the South Africans and New Zealanders, and you can see that no ethnic standard prevails. In fact, each country liberally attracts talent from all over the world as long as the player has a heritage link. In our globalized age nations are less defined by ethnic stereotypes and more by a sense of belonging, tradition and national pride. Our current national rugby players grew up all over the world but are united by their love of their Philippine roots and their passion to represent this country. The fact that few Filipinos knew it, much less offered their support, has never been an issue to them.

We think that is about to change.

So while the New Zealand All Blacks were outclassing France at the Rugby World Cup, the Philippine Volcanoes were proving -once again -that they belong in the premier ranks of Asian rugby. – With reports by Jessica Zafra