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.
Article continues after this advertisementThe 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.
