Rugby Union In The Philippines!!!!!

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love it. absolutely love it. Chav talk get philopino rugby!!
 
What a brilliant thread.
 
You'll enjoy this one ScarboroughFox because I certainly did!

http://www.irbsevens.com/News/050623+SL+SEA+games.htm

SEA Games welcomes Rugby Sevens

23 APRIL 2005

The Philippine Olympic Committee has confirmed that the Philippine Rugby Football Union can, for the first time, run a Rugby Sevens tournament as a Site Sport in conjunction with the South East Asian (SEA) Games later this year.

The move gives rugby Sevens the chance to shine in another multi-sport environment, having already proved a successful core ingredient of the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and the World Games.

The news is a further boost ahead of 8 July, when the IOC members will vote on whether the sporting programme of the 2012 Olympic Games will be changed to incorporate new sports, of which rugby is a shortlisted contender.

Reaction from the SEA participating unions has also been positive and teams from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia are expected to take part in the two-day tournament, which is due to run on 3 December.

Meanwhile, it has also been agreed to expand the next Asian Rugby Football Tournament (ARFT) in Sri Lanka in November 2006 from 12 teams to a maximum of 18, opening the door for smaller nations such as the Philippines.

http://www.myph.com.ph/myph_at_leisure.htm

Games: Basketball out, rugby in

About 7,000 athletes from 11 countries are on their way to the Philippines to participate in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games which begin on November 27. A total of 441 gold medals are at stake in 41 events.

In a dramatic turnaround by Philippine standards, however, basketball will not be in the program for the first time ever – and rugby will be a part of the SEA Games for the first time.

Basketball-crazy Philippines has yanked the sport from the upcoming Games for the first time in the history of the bi-annual sports event. The Philippine Olympic Committee has canceled hoops after failing to secure backing from the International Basketball Federation.

The loss of the country’s favorite sport follows months of infighting and political bickering among the sport’s local administrators. FIBA in June banned the Philippine team from tournaments it sanctions after the POC expelled the local Basketball Association of the Philippines, the sole member association recognized by the world sporting body.

POC chairman Roberto Aventajado said the expulsion of the BAP is meant to pave the way for reorganization of the country's basketball program, after poor performances of national teams in past international tournaments.

Mr Aventajado said the BAP has failed to spur the growth of basketball, considered a national sport in this former American colony. "From a powerhouse 20 years ago, we are now cellar-dwellers. Countries which we used to beat easily have been beating us by over 40 or 60 points."

However, the upcoming SEA Games represent the official arrival of rugby at the SEA Games. The seven-a-side version of rugby will be played in Manila over the weekend of December 3-4 after the POC have the go-ahead for the Philippine Rugby Football Union to run a rugby sevens tournament as a site sport.

Rugby teams from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia are expected to take part in the two-day tournament. The Philippines has the largest contingent with 743 competing athletes.

The Philippine government authorities have promised extra tight security around all Games venues – which are spread out in several cities - as a precaution against possible terrorist attacks. Even the possibility of bird flu is being looked at, and all arriving athletes will be specially screened against the deadly virus.

Information: http://www.2005seagames.com.ph website.


Quote from one of the Local Filipino Rugby players watching the SEA Rugby 7s match

"The Philippines Rugby Football Union Filipino side team played their first international match at the Nomads Sport Complex in Merville. They were the selection chosen to play 7's a side rugby. Their opponents were the national team of Indonesia. They were generally bigger than the Philippine team, but everyone heard the Philippine team in a room yelling and rallying themselves. They came out to the field with the Filipino flag and stood shoulder to shoulder and sang the Filipino national anthem.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was a bit nervous, since the National team was created and trained in only 6 weeks, whilst the Indonesian team has been training for 18 months for their first international rugby match. And, most of the Indonesians have been playing for years, while there were only about 4 experienced rugby players on the Philippine team that either have played in other countries during high school and adult level, and two professional rugby players from Australia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Philippines had a convincing win over their opponents from Indonesia, 32-5". :038:
 
Interesting article from the Indonesian perspective of the Rugby game in the Philippines prior to the event. Mind you there wasn't an article in The Jakarta Post to report on the result of the match. Which is understandable because WE KICKED THEIR BEHINDS!!!! :icon_bigg But again this is an article providing insight into Indonesian Rugby.

But atleast they got an article the PRFU team even being the host country and winner got no local press and it was an offifial SEA games site sport.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20051123.H01

National rugby team going places

Sports News - November 23, 2005
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The national "White Rhinos" charge into rugby union history next week, becoming the first all-national team to play a series of matches in the Philippines.

The matches, held as an exhibition during the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from Nov. 27-Dec. 5, could lead to it becoming an official medal sport by 2007. The new Rhino emblem, the national captain and the run-on team will be introduced at a fundraising dinner at Aphrodite Club in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Saturday night. The dinner is open to the public at a cost of Rp 200,000 per person.

"This is an enormous honor and obviously a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these players to become the first team of Indonesians to represent their nation," Indonesian Development Rugby (IDR) spokesman Geoffrey Atkinson said in a release.

"Outside soccer, rugby is the biggest football code in the world and the past 12 months has seen an explosion of interest in the game at a local level. Our men may lack the experience of some of the other sides in the region that have been playing together for years, but they are determined and have been training hard."

The 16-man squad from Jakarta, Papua, Kalimantan and Maluku go through an intensive training camp at Senayan in Jakarta this week under a Bahasa speaking coach from Singapore. The 7-a-side series in the Philippines will be a curtain-raiser to the SEA Games.

Saturday night's fundraiser also sees the New Zealand All Blacks try and create their own history as they go for the final leg of a European Grand Slam in a televised match against Scotland.

The Rhinos head for the Philippines with the full support of National Sports Council; Indonesia has already received "observer status" from the International Rugby Board and two months ago applied for full recognition.
"We hope this tournament will spark interest in other Indonesian provinces so we can soon be fully recognized at an international level," Atkinson added.
The squad was selected in Bali last month after an annual international 10-a-side tournament which went ahead despite the second Bali bombings.

The Jakarta Bantengs -- in their first year in the competition against sides from Singapore, Australia, Taipei and Guam -- won the IDR runner's-up plate. The same weekend, the first 12 Indonesians received Level 1 Coaching Accreditation through a course run by representatives of Singapore Rugby Union.

"With 220 million people in Indonesia, we have the potential to be the best in Asia," Atkinson said. "But we have to spread the game to every corner of the country. We have to introduce rugby at junior and school levels -- this is the only way to grow. We are continuously on the lookout for people interested in expanding the code and new sponsorship is vital."

IDR receives financial backing from multinational construction company Thiess and Digital 1, part of the KabelVision Network, but the game still has a way to go here.

"In Singapore, Thailand and other Asian countries, where rugby has been established for more than a decade, the game is run by full-time professionals -- which include coaching and administrative staff working off multimillion dollar budgets. We would like to head down the same path as Singapore," Atkinson said.

"In a decade they have become an Asian rugby force behind Japan and Korea. But, like us, they started with very little."
 
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