The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Philippine U19 national rugby team, proudly sponsored by First Pacific, will face powerhouse squads from Korea, Singapore and United Arab Emirates in the 2016 U19 Asia Rugby Championships on December 14 and 17 at International School-Manila.
For their first game, the third-seeded Filipinos will be pitted against second-seeded Korea in the competition.
The Philippines have yet to taste victory over Korea in the U19 level, and will rely on veteran players Rhys Jacob Mackley, Kai Ledesma Stroem and Robert Benitez in an attempt to pull off a first victory against their opponents. All three players have already seen action for the Men’s National 7s team earlier this year.
“This will be a very tough tournament. We definitely have a tough match on Wednesday,” said assistant coach Jake Robrigado Letts, a member of the men’s national team, as he sat in between players Kingsley Ballesteros and Joshua Aragon during the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Shakey’s, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
“We’ll have to make sure that we’ll approach our first game with a strong team (on Wednesday),” added Letts. “But the beauty of it is that we’re hosting the tournament.”
But Letts, who’s been involved in the junior program since 2014, said experience will definitely be on the side of the Junior Volcanoes’ opponents, especially Korea and Singapore.
“All three teams are very experienced, all of them are going to be tough,” he stressed. “Speed will be our biggest asset.”
The U19 tournament forms part of a four-year plan by the Volcanoes to make it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, where rugby will be played for the first time.