Volcanoes begin Rio buildup at plush McKinley Hill venue

MANILA, Philippines - Kings of Southeast Asia, the Philippine Volcanoes are now eyeing a stint on a bigger stage – the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The Volcanoes, who bagged the SEA Games gold last June, are set to do battle with the Asian rivals in rugby sevens’ Olympic qualifiers slated Nov. 7-8 in Hong Kong and jumpstarted their buildup at their new home at McKinley Hill Stadium.

“For us, this is an achievable goal,” Philippine Rugby Football Union director and coach Matt Cullen said during yesterday’s press conference announcing the tie-up between Volcanoes and property giant Megaworld.

The same SEAG-winning team, largely considered the strongest ever assembled, will be tapped for the Hong Kong meet, Culllen added in the program also graced by skippers Jake Letts and Acee San Juan, Jericho Go, SVP and head of business development and learning group of Megaworld Corp., and Tefel Pesigan-Valentino, SAVP and head of marketing and business development of Megaworld Commercial Division.

The Pinoy bets are drawing confidence from their fighting stand against Asian superpower Japan in the last leg of the 2014 Asian Sevens series, where they lost by a slim 19-21 margin.

“To lose to Japan 21-19 gives us inspiration to know that come November, it could take one try, one interception, one extra tackle (against Japan) and next thing we know, we’re off to the Olympics so we’re focused on reaching our goal,” said Cullen.

“Teams like Japan will always have the edge in terms of resources, preparation, quality; however, when it comes to rugby sevens, anything can happen, underdogs can win. For us to beat Japan, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, belief, training and preparation,” said Letts.

The winner of the Hong Kong qualifiers will earn a berth to Rio while the next three finishers will get another chance in the world repechage.

The Volcanoes have moved to McKinley Hill Stadium for their Olympic bid, taking advantage of the world-class facilities to whip themselves into shape for the big battles. Before their Hong Kong meet, Phl will play in the Asian 7s series in China (Sept. 5-6), 

“Our sport needs world-class facilities, we need a field suitable for tackling, contact skills, and we thank Megaworld for giving us this opportunity,” said San Juan.

“Megaworld wants to play a very active role in developing rugby through a world-class stadium – the McKinley Hill Stadium. We didn’t spare any expense when we brought in artificial turf from Italy and lights from Belgium as we want to make sure we have a world-class venue for world-class athletes,” said Go.

Pesigan-Valentino said Megaworld is hopeful this partnership will be “a stepping stone for the Volcanoes to reach their goals and also to inspire more and more aspiring players to believe in the capability of Filipinos.”

A Rugby Youth Camp will be held on Sunday, featuring 50 juniors from schools, clubs and foundations all over Manila, followed by an exhibition match between the Volcanoes and the Lady Volcanoes.