PHILIPPINE VOLCANOES

PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES

IT IS INTIMIDATING TO BE IN A ROOM WITH SEVEN HIGHLY ABLE

BODIED MEN who oddly resemble giants. The unnerving set up then breaks when the boys start engaging in banter and making jokes at each other like the brothers they have now become.

The Philippine National Rugby Union Team, more popularly known as the Volcanoes, made local sports headlines when they bagged the gold medal at the SEA Games in 2005. The Philippines is ranked 56th in the world. They compete with Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and the UAE in the elite division of Asian rugby. In the faster, free flowing form of the game, Rugby Sevens, they have qualified for the World Cup as one of three teams from Asia. The International Rugby Board even went as far as calling the performance of our national team as ‘remarkable.’

And yes, there was that infamous billboard along EDSA that made everyone really notice the team—in more ways than one.

The better the team became, the more it has become integrated into local sports consciousness. “We started to come over because we wanted to help the Philippines become more successful as a rugby nation,” explains Joe Matthews.

The Philippine Volcanoes have sacrificed a lot just to play the sport. Unlike wellestablished teams abroad like Japan, the members of the team are supporting this sport on their own accord. So it really is a love for the game and the country that drives them to bring glory to our nation. When asked how it feels to be sporting the Philippine colors for their beloved sport, Steve Howorth says that it is an amazing feeling. The rest of the team nod in agreement.

On the future of rugby in the Philippines Joe Matthews has this to say, “It is a good time to be playing for the Philippines because as the sports progresses, as we do better, the more kids will get into the game and eventually become part of the culture.”

With the eruption of the Philippine Volcanoes, it won’t be long until the youth get into the sport as well.