INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines literally cut a taller and heftier Iran squad down to size with a 15-0 shutout Wednesday and reached the final of the Asian Five Nations Rugby Series Division III tournament at the Nomads field in Parañaque.

The RP Volcanoes overcame a sluggish start before forging a finals duel with Guam, which overpowered Indonesia, 18-3, in the other semifinal.

“It was a tough game because Iran did bring a lot of their weight into the game,” said RP coach Matt Cullen. “But, at the end of the day, our heart and skill showed.”

The Filipinos relied on some enterprising plays to score two tries in the second half, the last coming in the 70th minute, when fly half Oliver Saunders found younger brother, Matt.

The Volcanoes lacked the cutting edge to break through at the start as the Iranians turned the first half into a cagey affair, subduing the pace with their size.

Oliver Saunders missed two long field goal attempts and brother Matt strayed offside just when he was a few yards from scoring in the Volcanoes best chance in the 30th minute.

“We made some basic mistakes,” said Cullen. “We made the big guys run around the field and our fitness showed up in the end.”

Oliver made amends 10 minutes into the second half with a fine pass to winger Harry Morris, who eluded one defender before dumping the ball in the endzone for the Volcanoes first try.