Rugby gold in the bag for Volcanoes?
NO LESS than the gold medal will be the goal of the top-ranked Philippine men’s rugby team in the Southeast Asian Games which fires off in Singapore on June 5.
Made up mostly of overseas-based players with Filipino roots who see action in leagues in Japan and Australia, the team called Philippine Volcanoes is the region’s No. 1 and is expected to take the title against Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
“We have a very competitive team composed of players playing in top-level competitions,” said Philippine Rugby Football Union director Matt Cullen.
The teams will fly to the city state June 3. Rugby action will be held on June 6 and 7 with the Volcanoes set to play three times a day.
“The last time rugby was played was in 2007 and we had a silver behind Thailand,” said Cullen. “But now we have a lot stronger team than the one we had back then.”
Men’s team: Alexander Aronson, Justine Coveney, Christopher Hitch, Gareth Holgate, Jake Letts, Patrice David Olivier, Benjamin Saunders, Matthew Saunders, Oliver Saunders, Kenneth Stern, Andrew Wolff and Vincent Young.
Women’s team: Rosemarie Dela Cruz, Gelanie Gamba, Kaye Honoras, Helene Indigne, Eloisa Jordan, Ada Milby, Aiumi Ono, Rassiel Sales, Madille Salinas, Angelie San Juan, Sylvia Tudoc and Dixie Yu.
