- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The weekend didn’t feel right: I had missed Super Rugby at the usual local beach resort because of family business. But all that changed when on Sunday evening, I chanced on the local Channel 14 (Studio 23) and the match between the Philippine Volcanoes and the Singapore Lions was just beginning.
I sat down with excitement and some foreboding. I had never watched a Philippine rugby team before.
How would they acquit themselves? The Filipino physique is better suited to backyard basketball, which is the national sport. How would they fare in the very physical contact sport that rugby is?
I needn’t have worried. It soon became apparent as the team lined up for the national anthems that the Volcanoes had benefitted from foreign genes, Big Macs, and croissants. They mostly had surnames like Letts (two brothers), Matthews (two brothers), Saunders, and Olivier (French-Filipino). Apparently there is a lot of interest from players overseas to play for the Volcanoes.
Last year, a huge billboard along EDSA Avenue in Manila had featured some of the rugby players in their jockeys, displaying the benefits of hybrid vigour from having one parent from Australia, America, or France, and learning to play rugby overseas. Would have been good advertisement for the game, but the locals, fervently Catholic, found their sensibilities offended, and the billboard came down.
At the opening ceremonies at the Century Park Hotel, the William Webb Ellis Cup was displayed at the foyer, and an IRB honcho had graced the occasion.
This was a first: the first time a home rugby international was aired nationally on TV. Unfortunately, the two newspapers I buy every day had no write-up in the sports pages.
The crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium was small but raucous. You can rely on the extended Filipino family to turn up from distant provinces to cheer for you.
The Volcanoes put on a great display of running rugby. Just before the 5-minute mark, Oliver Saunders chip kicked and his brother Matthew, a center (that’s how we spell it here in the Philippines), regathered for the first try.
Five minutes later, Joe Matthews (from Canberra) scored from a pass from the big fullback and team captain, Michael Letts.
At 21 minutes, the French-Filipino wing, Patrice Olivier (who had played in Japan), scored the third try; followed by the flyhalf (whom the Filipino commentators called “outside half”), Oliver Saunders.
The Lions kicked two penalty goals in the first half. They constantly relied on their rolling maul to gain yards, and their rucks predictably came from two or three man pods which did not give them yardage but gave their rucks structure. Polar opposites to the Volcanoes in playing style.
The two tries for the Lions in the second half came from their prop and their No. 8. They kept in touch with the Volcanoes through penalty goals.
Joe Matthews scored his second try from another backline move in the 71st minute. The big fullback, Michael Letts, scored the last Volcano try in the 77th minute, three Lions defenders bouncing off him, which reminded one of the Filipino commentators of Jonah Lomu steam-rolling over Mike Catt at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Perhaps the hyperbole might be forgiven. The two Filipino commentators made commendable efforts to explain the game, though some of their interpretations of infractions in the maul and the ruck were dubious.
The final score was Volcanoes 37, Lions 20. The Philippines play Chinese Taipei on Wednesday night.
Mabuhay!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.