Volcanoes go for vital win vs South Koreans

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Volcanoes slug it out with the tough South Koreans side today, looking for a victory in a key match closing out the Asian 5 Nations tournament for a spot in the A5N Premier Division.

The Volcanoes hope to ride the momentum of their come-from-behind 26-25 victory over the Sri Lankans in last week’s duel in Colombo as they play before home fans at the Southern Plains Field in Calamba, Laguna (Silangan Exit).

Admission is free for the 3:30 p.m. match.

This marks the Volcanoes final match in the five-week long series which fired off last April. The Asian 5 Nations is the premier Rugby Union competition in Asia held among the top five national Rugby sides in the region, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines and Sri Lanka in that order.

The Philippines and South Korea have identical 1-2 (win-loss) records with the Volcanoes bowing to Japan and Hong Kong while winning over Sri Lanka.

The winner of today’s match will earn a third place finish in the A5N Premier Division. Due to the restructuring of the competition in 2015 reducing the top tier teams from five to only three, the losing team will join Sri Lanka in Division 1 next year.

The match will also be the last game for veteran player Michael Robrigado Letts, who has announced his retirement from the Philippine Volcanoes’ 15s team. Michael was captain of the Volcanoes from 2008 to 2013.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Rugby Football Union said skipper Oliver Saunders, Austin Dacanay, Phil Abraham, Philip Sinclair, David Feeney and Ashley Heward banner the Phl roster that includes Timothy Bweheni, Ronald Fong, Stephen Howorth, Jake Lets,

Gareth Holgate, Justin Coveney, Matthew Saunders, Kenneth Stern, Michael Letts, Masayuki Sekiguchi, David Robinson-Polkey, Christopher Anderson, Darran Seeto, Cleo Gomez, Alexander Aronson, Daniel Melrose and Harry Morry with Stuard Woodhouse as head coach.