Volcanoes: RWCS stint will enhance rugby interest

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Volcanoes hope to make the most out of their historic debut in the Rugby World Cup Sevens on June 28-30 in Moscow, Russia to gain grounds and kickstart a spirited international campaign culminating in a targeted stint in the 2016 Olympics.

The Volcanoes, who scored a breakthrough by qualifying for the premier Rugby Sevens world tilt, feel with their determination and vigorous training, they can hold their own against fancied groupmates Zimbabwe, Kenya and Samoa in Pool C.

“The greatest thing about rugby sevens is that on any given day, anybody can beat anybody,” Volcanoes coach Al Caravelli said in a press conference organized by the Philippine Rugby Football Union yesterday.

The debutant Pinoys will enter the prestigious tourney as the lowest-ranked at 24th, as opposed to Kenya’s fifth, Samoa’s fourth and Zimbabwe’s 17th.

“By looking on paper, yeah, wave Mt. Everest. But we want to turn that paper around. We believe we have a good chance as any to put pressure on those teams,” said Caravelli, who sat beside mainstays Michael Letts, Matt Saunders and Andrew Wolff at the presidential table.

“I’m really not judging our performance based on scoreline; Our goal is we look to perform better for continuous improvement. After the World Cup, our eyes will be on the Asian Games. We believe we can reach the podium in Asian Games; We’re in the top 3 in Asia now, we beat China and Korea to qualify for the World Cup and we also have a legitimate chance to qualify for Olympics in 2016. We have a good chance as anyone,” he added.

The Volcanoes need to top Pool C or at the very least, place second with a high points difference to advance to the Cup stage.

“Our target is to land between 2 and 3. If we do things right and things fall into place, though, I think we are even capable of topping group,” said Caravelli.

To prepare for Moscow, the Pinoys encamped at their training facility at the Southplains Village in Laguna and went on intensive training for the whole month of June.

“The training is hard, a lot of skills and conditioning at the beginning of camp. We’ve been going through our structures and getting through all the content. It’s definitely been a difficult camp and the boys have found it tough but Al’s been here and done it all before. He knows what needs to be done and what expectations that need to be met to play at this level,” said Saunders.

The 14-man Volcanoes will fly to Moscow on Sunday. They make their debut on June 28 against Kenya, then play a double-header on June 29 versus Samoa in the morning and Zimbabwe in the afternoon.