Rugby's big step

Unknown to many, the sport of rugby has taken on a distinctly Filipino face in the last few years. Although originally played in pockets in metropolitan areas, and sporadically in some island communities, the game used to be dominated by expats of European origin. Now, the game has been absorbed by Filipinos who have fallen in love with it, too.

Rugby is actualy one of the largest towns in England, located in Warwickshire, on the River Avon. Though also known as the birthplace of the jet engine, the market town of Rugby is more famous as having become the generic name of a style of football where you run with the ball.

The most common legend of the sport of rugby is that Rugby school student William Webb Ellis one day picked up the football and ran with it back in 1823. Most people accept this as sort of the de facto birth of the sport. However, various “ball” games were being played in England and its closest European neighbors from the 5th century onwards. Some early variants of these games involved actual battles, where players in armor or other accoutrements of war were actually killed while playing. There is also another timeline that suggests that since there was a Roman settlement near what became Rugby town, it is derived from the Roman game of Harpastum, wherein both hands and feet could be used to advance a ball across a field.

Here in a predominantly American-influenced culture, European sports have not become outrageously popular. But rugby has, over the last five years, at least, become increasingly played, owing to the mushrooming of international schools, particularly within Metro Manila.

“Over the last five years, the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) has developed from being an associate member of the Asian Rugby Football Union, to now being a full member International Rugby Board (IRB),” reveals PRFU secretary-general Alvin San Diego.             

“This upturn in the Philippines is a direct result of the medal-winning performances of the Philippine national men’s team. The various Philippine teams have proven that they are more than capable of competing in the sport of Rugby Union at the top levels in Asia.”

The PRFU has successfully organized the Philippine men’s team, the Philippine Rugby 7’s team, the Under 20’s team, and the Philippine Extinct Volcanoes (for players over 35 years old). The teams have performed well in international competition throughout Asia, and have climbed up the international rankings while transitioning to almost completely Filipino rosters.

“When we started, naturally, we started at the bottom, in Level 5,” explains national coach Matt Cullen. “But the teams have been doing well, and we have been tournament champion in Level 5, then got promoted to Level 4, where we became champion again.”

This year, the Philippine Rugby Football Union is hosting the prestigious Asian Five Nations Tournament (A5N) at the University of Makati grounds on July 1 and 4. This is the first time the country is holding a rugby union event of this scale.

“What is amazing to me is that, in just the last few years, the teams have gone from having just two or three Filipinos to almost the complete opposite,” Cullen adds. “Even our juniors teams are doing well, more so the women’s teams, since they have less strenuous competition.”

Throughout the last six years, strong club teams have been formed in such diverse places as Alabang, Cebu, Angeles, Laguna, and the Philippine National Police Academy.

“The police cadets have been learning particularly fast,” says a satisfied Cullen. “It gives them an added workout, sometimes to relieve the monotony of training.”

With the A5N being held in the Philippines, rugby is poised to leapfrog into the highest levels of Asian competition, and launch itself onto the world map.

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This writer would like to thank Ford Philippines for their assistance during a recent out of town coverage.