The Philippine Volcanoes demolished Malaysia!
Yey!
Wait...
What?
If you’re
talking about Mayon, Taal, Bulusan,
Pinatubo, Kanlaon, and some other volcano doing something wrong with
Malaysia, you’re insane. I am talking about the Philippine Rugby Team. Of all people, I had to know the info from
popular writer Jessica Zafra. In her
Philippine Star column, she said
that the Volcanoes have a chance to do well in next year’s Asian 5 Nations tournament. The country is placed with the top
teams after demolishing Malaysia, 82 to
20.
Filipinos
love to watch sports. From the thrill of collegiate and professional
basketball, Manny Pacquiao boxing
tiffs, a Pinoy playing to win a billiard tourney, and most recently, the craze
that is the Philippine Azkals – we are
avid supporters regardless of whether or not we play the particular sport.
Hell, we even support former WWE
wrestler Batista and rank him in the
same air as real-life fighters Mark
Munoz and Brandon Vera. However, we know nothing about rugby.
I saw
a rugby game once. Back when I still watch Star
Sports, I once or twice check out the Maoris
in action. They are the guys from New
Zealand that dance to a cool Polynesian
tune before each bout. If you saw Invictus,
you’ll probably know them. Rugby is even more dangerous than American football. For starters, there
are no pads in rugby and unlike American football, games are played daily.
I do
not know that there’s a Philippine Rugby Team. From what I saw from the clip, they
are pretty much like the Azkals. They play for the country when needed and during
their National team breaks they play for other rugby squads all over the world.
The Volcanoes’ team captain Michael
Letts plays for a squad in Japan. As do Fil-French winger Patrice Olivier. Some of the other
members include Gareth Holgate, Justin
Coveney, Joven Clarke, Austin Dacanay, James Price, Oliver Saunders, and Josh
Sutcliffe. Expo Mejia is the
national team’s head coach. Unlike the Azkals though, I don’t know if they have
(effective) armymen in their squad like what Chiefly Caligdong is. I may be wrong... but for the sake of me being right, someone needs to inject a popularity boost on this sport!
Filipinos
hate the gruelling back and forth action of football which is why we turn to
basketball. If not for the Azkals, we might not even dare watching the sport.
Rugby is more exciting if you think about it. We like hard-hitting action and
this is what rugby offers.
Zafra
said GMA News TV is or about to air
their games on their channel. Hopefully people will support rugby as what they
do with football.
The
Azkals opened up a new dimension in Philippine sports that we never really
knew. All of a sudden, the possibilities are endless. We still love basketball
but our love for sports has branched out to other action. Maybe rugby can be
given a chance. Maybe our baseball and football teams could also have that same
support.
Perhaps
we could adore cricket and handball?
But
let’s put the spotlight on our rugby team. In 2012 they will battle for a crack
to become the Top 5 of Asia. These five squads will battle it out for a chance
to gain a seat for the Rugby World Cup!
Like I
said, the possibilities are endless.
Game
over.
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