The Philippines national rugby union team, nicknamed the "Volcanoes", represents the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
in international
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
. The Philippines have been playing in the
Asia Rugby Championship
The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...
since 2006 when the team was first created. In
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
they won the Division I championship and were promoted to the top 5 for the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
tournament where they earned 4th place and again in the
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
tournament. The Philippines have yet to make their debut at the
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
.
In the March 19, 2012
World Rugby Rankings
The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nation ...
, Philippines, along with
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, were listed for the first time, entering with the base rating of 40 points (which positioned the three national teams in 71st place).
The national side is ranked 41st in the world (as of 29 July 2019).
History
![Manila 031 (3709699957)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Manila_031_%283709699957%29.jpg)
In 1998 the
Philippine Rugby Football Union
The PRFU is the official governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in the Philippines. The PRFU was founded in 1998 and was granted full World Rugby membership in 2008. Philippine Rugby is a non-profit national sports association registered with ...
(PRFU), the national governing body for rugby union in the Philippines, was formed.
Rugby union in the Philippines was introduced mainly through the large number of British, Australian and New Zealand expatriates living in the country.
The Philippines made their first official international debut at the 5th division of the
2006 ARFU Asian Rugby Series. They won over Guam, 18 – 14, in its first match on May 20, 2006, but was later defeated by Pakistan in a match held on June 11, 2006, and failed to secure the sole slot for promotion to the next division.
In December 2006, the Philippines Under-19 went undefeated in the
Asian Rugby Football Union
Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby.
Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, ...
(ARFU) Under-19 Second Division Tournament.
In 2008, the PRFU gained full membership to the international governing body, the
International Rugby Board
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
(IRB). The Philippines dominated the fourth-tier of the ARFU Asian 5 Nations Series and captured the inaugural Division 4 title. During the tournament, the Philippines demolished Brunei 101-0 and then defeated the home side Guam 20–8 to capture the division title.
In 2009 the Philippines won the inaugural Asian 5 Nations Division III rugby tournament at the Nomads field in Parañaque City. Defeating Iran 15-0 and Guam 25–0 in their two matches, the Philippines were then promoted to the Asian Five Nations Division II rugby tournament.
In 2010 the Philippines competed in the Asian 5 Nations Division II tournament and won it beating India in the final on a score of 44–12. Also in 2010 they played in ARFU Rugby 7s tournaments in Shanghai, Borneo and the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
In 2012 the Philippines competed in the Asian 5 Nations Division I tournament and went unbeaten in the round-robin series against Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka, therefore qualifying for the main division for the first time.
The Volcanoes suffered heavy defeats in the 2013 edition of
A5N, however showed good signs with a competitive first half against Hong Kong in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, and a win to avoid relegations against
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
also in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
.
Tournaments
Nickname and emblem
The Philippines national rugby union team is nicknamed the 'Volcanoes'. The name comes from the
1st Filipino Infantry Regiment
The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was a Racial segregation in the United States, segregated United States Army infantry regiment made up of Filipino Americans from the continental United States and a few veterans of the Philippines campaign (1 ...
that fought under the command of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. It was made up of
Filipino-Americans
Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...
with a few Filipino veterans which fought in World War II. The PRFU thought the situation was similar to the first Philippines national team which mainly consisted of foreign expatriates with only a few Filipinos.
The emblem of the team is based on the insignia of the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment. One of its features is a volcano which represents where the infantry units were located.
Players
Current squad
Squad for
2019 Asia Rugby Championship:
*Simon Gabion-Sheehan
*Harvey Mercado
*James Krook
*Sam Callaghan
*Jeromy Cairns
*Sam Bennetts
*David Feeney
*Ashley Heward
*Chris Bird
*Edlen Hernandez
*Tom Gunn
*Kingsley Ballesteros
*Ken Mellorin
*Tim Berry
*Jobel de Castro
*Daniel Matthews
*Kohei Mitsuhashi
*Ellis Rudder
*Robert Fogerty
*Justin Coveney
*Ned Stephenson
*Vincent Young
*Phillip Hinson
*Patricie Olivier
*Timothy Bweheni
Notable Rugby players with Filipino heritage
*
Rod Davies
*
Marcus Smith
*
Craig Wing
Craig Wing (born 26 December 1979), also known by the nickname of "Wingy", is an Australian-born former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He began his career in rugby league, playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the S ...
Coaches
* Mike McMahon (2006)
* Matthew Cullen (2007–2009)
* Expo Mejia (2009–2013)
* Jarred Hodges (2013–)
* Stuart Woodhouse (2013, caretaker)
Honours
;
Asia Rugby Championship
The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...
*Pacific-Asia Regional Champions:
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
*Division 3 Champions:
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
*Division 2 Champions:
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
*Division 1 Champions:
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Overall record
![Manila 024 (3709699819)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Manila_024_%283709699819%29.jpg)
Their test match record against all nations:
References
External links
Philippine Rugby Football Unionofficial website
at IRB.com
Manila 10s the social Rugby tournament that has promoted Rugby Union in the Philippines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines National Rugby Union Team
Rugby union in the Philippines
Asian national rugby union teams