Volcanoes rip Singapore, finish 7th in qualifier

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Volcanoes capped their campaign with a 22-12 victory over Singapore to place seventh overall in the Asia Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Hong Kong Stadium last Sunday.

Already out of the running for a berth to Rio, the Volcanoes salvaged some measure of pride by finishing the two-day tourney on a high note with Andrew Ramsden (one try and one conversion), Gareth Holgate (one try), Harrison Blake (one try) and Voulney Rouse (one try) providing the scoring spark.

“The Philippine Volcanoes’ Road to Rio quest has ended but the efforts to grow the sport will continue,” the team said in its Twitter account.

“It’s been mixed results, however, we will continue to grow,” said captain Jake Letts.

The Volcanoes started the tourney on the wrong foot, losing to Malaysia, 10-15, and Hong Kong (0-29). They then defeated Iran, 38-10, but bowed to Sri Lanka, 5-50, to finish Pool B action at fourth spot in Pool B with six points on a 1-3 record.

With this result, Phl was relegated to the Plate competition, where it yielded a 15-26 loss to China in the semis to eventually find itself in the battle for seventh with Singapore.

Powerhouse Japan, meanwhile, ruled the competition and grabbed the lone ticket to Rio with a come-from behind 24-10 romp over host Hong Kong in the Cup finals.

Teruya Goto, Lomano Lemeki, Kazuhiro Goyo and Katsuyuki Saki touched down one after the other in the second half as the Japanese fought back from a 0-10 deficit and won with a double-digit margin.