Phl Volcanoes spew fire, rip Sri Lankans

MANILA, Philippines - They bled for every point.

And when the dust settled, the Philippine Volcanoes were rewarded with a 28-18 victory over fancied Sri Lanka and a coveted slot in the 2013 HSBC Asian 5 Nations Championship.

No rugby team representing the Philippines has ever reached the Asian 5 Nations event, and last night’s victory at the Rizal Memorial Stadium made sure one would get there.

“This blood is for the country,” said 26-year-old center Justin Coveney, still bleeding from the nose, as the rest of the Volcanoes celebrated their hard-earned victory.

Coveney, who sealed the win for the Volcanoes with a try on the 31st minute, banged bodies with the Sri Lankans all night. He was bruised all over by the end of the final match for this Asian 5 Nations Division 1 tournament.

“Opportunities only come when you totally put yourself into it. This is a team effort. But now we’re in Asia’s top five. Watch out for the Volcanoes,” he said.

“Tonight we put the Philippines in the rugby map.”

In the Asian 5 Nations, which offers a slot to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, the Volcanoes will be pitted against teams they’ve hardly thought of facing before:  Japan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Korea.

But now it’s a reality that the Volcanoes have crashed Asia’s top five.

“I’m speechless. But this is the best ever. We’ve been working on this for a long time. There’s no better feeling than playing for the Philippines,” said Jaime Urquijo, who plays lock.

As the Volcanoes continued to celebrate, the Sri Lankans headed to their dressing room, and one of them, burly and standing perhaps 6-foot-5, was seen crying.

The Philippine Volcanoes celebrate their historic 28-18 victory over Sri Lanka in the Asian rugby eliminations last night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Jun Mendoza

It was a painful defeat for the Sri Lankans, once ranked 49th in the world. They are now in 56th place, eight notches higher than the Philippines.

But Sri Lanka had been to the Asian 5 Nations Championship, and its players, two of them sons of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, took great pain in the loss.

The pre-dominantly Filipino crowd led by the Zobel de Ayalas erupted after the final whistle, and the Volcanoes whooped it up like they’ve won the World Cup.

They chanted, “Vol-ca-noes! Vol-ca-noes!”

“We knew that the only thing that could beat us was us,” said team captain Michael Letts, who kept the team glued throughout the match.

The Volcanoes broke the ice with three minutes into the match, a penalty kick by Oli Saunders. He added two more kicks and gave his team a 9-0 lead with 17 minutes gone.

Letts then reached in for a try in the 29th minute, and adding a field goal to it gave the Volcanoes a 16-0 lead. By halftime, the lead had gone up to 23-0.

But the Sri Lankans opened the final 40 minutes of play with the aggression that was missing in the first half, and slowly they chopped the lead.

The Sri Lankans came close at 18-23, and in fact had so many chances to even up or take the upper hand. But the Volcanoes hung on till the end.

“Discipline! That’s the only thing that’s stopping us,” the Volcanoes’ field coach blurted out from the sidelines. “Composure! Composure!”

The Vocanoes responded, and sealed the victory in the 32nd minute when Coveney broke loose for the try he will never forget.

It’s time to put those sizzling billboards back up.