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Rugby: Philippine Volcanoes get ready for busy 2014

Your rugby team is all set to bring more glory to the nation this year.

At a press conference in the University of Makati last Tuesday, the Philippine Volcanoes unveiled a busy schedule in both 15s and 7s Rugby for 2014.

As it did last year, the squad will play in the top tier of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations competition. Last year they narrowly avoided relegation to the second-tier Division One by defeating UAE 24-8 in their last round-robin match.

This season will be tougher as Sri Lanka, who the Philippines beat in 2012 to make it to the elite level of the competition, are back in the top flight, and this time the Volcanoes travel to Colombo to play them on May 17th.

The Volcanoes will host powerhouse Japan on May 3rd and Korea Republic on May 24th, with both games taking place in the Umak pitch. There's also another away game, against Hong Kong, on April 26th.

It will definitely be an uphill battle for the 56th-ranked Philippines to remain in the elite level of the A5N, especially since the Philippines lost to Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan last year.

The likes of Matt and Oli Saunders, Jake and Michael Letts, Joey Matthews, and Patrice Olivier will plane in on April 19 to begin an intensive camp in preparation for the matches. The Volcanoes will be billeted in the Alabang Eagles facility in Silangan, Cavite, run by Randell Carman, the proprietor of surplus goods retailer HMR. Carman is a Rugby enthusiast who is married to a Filipina.

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According to Matt Cullen, the Philippine Rugby Football Union's director of Rugby, Carman supports the team by allowing use of the facility for just US$20 a head per day, inclusive of meals. The facility has a dorm that can accommodate dozens of players, plus there's a clubhouse, some medical facilities, and a full-size Rugby pitch.

Jarred Hodges will once again be the head coach, assisted by Stu Woodhouse.

“The first two games (against Hong Kong and Japan) will harden the boys up while the last two games are winnable” says Cullen.

The top Asian nation will proceed directly to the 2015 15s Rugby World Cup while the second placer joins qualifying for that event.

In 2015 the format for the A5N changes, with the top tier being whittled down to just three teams.

Cullen says that the PRFU is in negotiations with local networks to air the matches locally as they were in the past two years.

But apart from the 15s calendar, the PRFU is also setting its sights on the Asian Games in Korea later this year, where Rugby 7s will be contested. The PSC identified the 7s Volcanoes as a potential medal hope and is bringing them there.

The gap between the Volcanoes and the top Asian sides in Sevens is much closer, as evidenced by the Volcanoes qualification to last year's Sevens World Cup in Russia, where they finished as the third-best Asian squad.

Sevens is, as the name suggests, played by teams of seven players and each match is only fifteen minutes long. The game emphasizes speed and fitness over brawn and muscle. Once again the Philippines will tap American 7s coach Al Caravelli to help out the squad as a consultant. Cullen is the head coach of the Sevens team.

Last year's Rugby 7s World Cup is the last running of that event since Sevens is now a full Olympic sport starting in 2016 Summer Games in Rio, Brazil.

Cullen and Andrew Wolff, a Sevens Volcano based in Manila, candidly admit that Sevens is of more importance to the game than fifteens, because of a greater chance of success internationally. Sevens will also be a part of the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, where the Volcanoes hope to earn a gold medal.

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The PRFU is also deeply involved in grassroots development of the sport with Touch Rugby, the non-contact version of the game. Cullen says that PRFU's director of development, Ada Milby, has done a fantastic job in growing the game not just in Manila but also in Davao, Cebu, Laguna, Cagayan de Oro and Pampanga. Cullen says 20 high schools and 20 grade schools already play Touch Rugby, a sport he says teaches all the skills of the real game without the great risk of injury. Instead of tackling players, defenders only need to touch a ball carrier to bring him to a stop.

“It's a game for Basketball players who keep on fouling out” he said with a smile.

After the press con the final of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) sports championship in Touch Rugby was contested in both the mens and womens divisions in the Umak field. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila met Umak in the Mens final with the Makati side taking the honors.

Rugby seems to be here to stay, and a successful 2014 season will only help ensure that reality.

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.