ALLAN THE MAN

The Philippine Volcanoes made history on Saturday, defeating South Korea 22-19 for the bronze medal at the Singapore Sevens to clinch the final ticket to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.

“It is just fantastic that we are going to the World Cup. This is the first time that the Philippines will be playing in a World Cup and it is huge feat for us,” said team captain Harry Morris.

“The third/fourth match was definitely closer than I wanted it to be. I give credit to the players for doing this for the nation,” said Coach Al Caravelli. The American coach was the former coach of the US National Sevens Rugby Team before being tapped to head the Volcanoes in August.

Key tries for Gaz Holgate, Matt Saunders, and Andrew Wolff, along with a conversion by Holgate were enough to push the Philippines ahead of South Korea for the victory. The Volcanoes were up big, 22-7, in the first half before the South Koreans tried to stage a comeback in the second half. Their two tries were not enough to overcome the Philippine lead, though, as the Volcanoes took home the final spot in the 2013 World Cup.

“The match against Korea was exactly what you want from any game with that much on the line. Now we need to lift our levels further. We don’t just want to be a number in Moscow; we’d like to make the Philippines and Asia proud of us,” added Caravelli.

The Philippine squad started their campaign strong on Friday with a 33-0 domination of Guam. The team then failed to overcome Asian powerhouse Hong Kong in its second match, 29-12, to end up second in the pool A. The second-place finish in the pool stage led to a match up against China, the top ranked team in Pool C. The team squeezed through a tough Chinese squad, 14-7, to book a semifinals against regional leader Japan.

The Volcanoes started Saturday with a loss to Japan, 17-10, in the semifinal match. With only three spots up for grabs for the World Cup in Moscow next year, the Philippines set up a showdown for the final spot against the tough South Korean squad.

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