| Union | Philippine Rugby Football Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Volcanoes | |
| Ground(s) | Nomads field, Parañaque City | |
| Coach(es) | Expo Mejia | |
| Captain(s) | Michael Letts | |
| Most caps | Jake Letts (12) | |
| Top scorer | Oliver Saunders (99) | |
| Most tries | Matt Saunders (9) | |
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| First international | ||
| Guam 14–18 Philippines (May 20, 2006) |
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| Largest win | ||
| Philippines 101–0 Brunei (July 2, 2008) |
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| Largest defeat | ||
| Philippines 10–74 Hong Kong (April 16, 2011) |
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| World Cup | ||
| Appearances | 0 | |
The Philippines national rugby union team, nicknamed the "Volcanoes" represents the Philippines in international rugby union. The Philippines have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, but have been playing in the Asian 5 Nations tournaments since its inception in 2008. Currently they are in Division I.
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The Philippines played its first international match in 2006. Rugby union in the Philippines was introduced mainly through the large number of British, Australian and New Zealand expatriates living in the country. In 1998 the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU), the national governing body for rugby union in the Philippines, was formed and in 2008 the PRFU gained full membership to the international governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB).
In December 2005, the Philippine national sevens rugby team captured the gold medal in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games rugby sevens tournament (as a demonstration sport), beating Indonesia, 32-5 in Manila.
On May 20, 2006, the Philippines won its international test match debut 18-14 against Guam with the majority of the squad composed of long term expatriate residents and a small number of Filipino players. In December 2006, the Philippines Under-19 went undefeated in the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Under-19 Second Division Tournament.
In December 2007, an all-Filipino rugby team was selected for the 24th South East Asian games in Thailand where they reached the Medal rounds after 2 days of hard fought pool matches. They defeated Malaysia in the semi-finals in golden point extra time. In the gold medal match, the Philippines was matched against the home side Thailand. With both sides locked at 14 all at half time, Thailand finally took control of the game late in the second half to win the 29 - 14. The Silver Medal performance at the South East Asian Games had opened doors for the expansion and development of the game in the Philippines.
In 2008, the Philippines dominated the fourth-tier of the ARFU Asian 5 Nations Series and captured the inaugural Division 4 title. During the tournament, the Philippines demolished Brunei 101-0 and then defeated the home side Guam 20-8 to capture the division title.
In 2009 the Philippines won the inaugural Asian 5 Nations Division III rugby tournament at the Nomads field in Parañaque City. Defeating Iran 15-0 and Guam 25-0 in their two matches, the Philippines were then promoted to the Asian Five Nations Division II rugby tournament.
In 2010 the Philippines competed in the Asian 5 Nations Division II tournament and won it beating India in the final on a score of 44-12. Also in 2010 they played in ARFU Rugby 7s tournaments in Shanghai, Borneo and the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Their test match record against all nations:[1]
| Nation | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brunei | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Guam | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| India | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
| Iran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Pakistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| South Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Thailand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Total | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 69.23% |
The following is the 24-man squad for the 2011 Asian Five Nations Division I tournament.[2]
Head coach (for now): Expo Mejia
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