No eruption for Volcanoes in Rugby World Cup debut

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Volcanoes failed to erupt as they suffered a 45-5 rout at the hands of fifth seed Kenya Friday night at the 2013 Rugby Wold Cup Sevens in Moscow, Russia.

Playing in the prestigious 24-country rugby tournament, the Volcanoes hardly kept in step with the stronger and faster Kenyans.

Gareth Holgate provided the breakthrough points for the Volcanoes late in the first half to keep the Filipinos within striking distance of the Kenyans, who led 14-5, at the turn.

The Kenyans, however, made them pay in the second half silencing the Volcanoes while exploding for 31 points to run away with the victory.

Felix Ayange and Humphrey Kayange scored 10 points each on two tries for Kenya while Biko Adema added eight points.

The Volcanoes will next play the tournament's fourth seed Samoa in the morning and the 17th-ranked Zimbabwe in the afternoon today (Saturday) in a tough windup of their Group C campaign which will determine their fate.

They need to win by big margins to make it to the next round as the top teams of each group and the two second-best teams will advance to dispute the most prestigious Cup.

Losing will not mean the end of the road for the Volcanoes as the lower ranked teams will still be battling it out for the Plate and the Bowl in the consolation round.