Philippines seen to thrive in rugby

MANILA, Philippines -- The sixth-place finish of the Philippine national rugby team in the Asian Games shows the country’s potential in the sport, Filipino-English rugby player Marcus Smith said. 

The Philippine Volcanoes showed fight in the Asiad’s Rugby Sevens event, finishing sixth in the 12-nation tournament in Japan earlier in the month. 

The team reached the quarterfinal round. but fell against host nation Japan, 7-28, which led them to the classification round. 

Eventually, the Filipinos bowed to Malaysia to finish sixth in the tourney. 

In an interview with Philstar.com, Smith, whose brother Luc played for the Asian Games squad, said the sixth-place finish shows a lot of promise for the country. 

“The latest tournament here in Japan for the Asian Games, Philippines came in sixth out of 13 in Asia, which is for it being a minor sport and not professional, I think it's a good effort,” Smith, who won a bronze medal with England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, said in an online interview. 

“I think it shows the potential that the Philippines has in rugby,” he added. 

Smith said the Filipino rugby players were “quick on their feet,” “very fearless”, and that it “looks like they have a lot of fun” on the field, which is why he believes rugby would be a good sport for the Philippines to excel in. 

But with this, he believes that with a few tweaks, the Philippines has what it takes to improve by leaps and bounds in rugby in the future. 

Smith underscored that funding would be of great help for the sport moving forward. 

“I think the transition that I've seen over the years with my brother playing for the Philippines has been up and down. There's always ups and downs in any team. I think the fact that it's still, I guess, semi-professional, where they don't train that much,” he said.

“You have to get the coaches, you have to get the facilities. And I think that's something that potentially could give them the next boost,” he added.

“They're competing against Hong Kong and Japan who have, I think, a fully funded program. So they're always going to be slightly disadvantaged. But firstly, acquire a sponsor that can support them for the next few years in the run-up to the next Asian Games. I think that would help. As well as that, just some exposure.”

He also underscored that he thinks the playing pool of young players playing rugby, both in and out of the Philippines, is increasing. 

“It's just, how can we increase that so it's at a faster rate... And then trying to get people to try it. And then hopefully, that almost becomes a sustainable cycle where there's more and more players playing it, more and more people want to play for the national team,” he said. 

“And therefore, the quality of that team will go up. I think those are the main things. I think those are the main things… Obviously, when money is difficult to come by and we really need some generous sponsors, I think.” 

The Volcanoes, earlier this week, announced that the Philippines will be hosting the Asia Rugby Unions Cup next year. 

“The Volcanoes will take the field on home soil, backed by the supporters who have always believed in them, with a new generation watching what’s possible,” it said in a Facebook post on Thursday.