Philippine Volcanoes training hard for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Philippine Volcanoes training hard for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens

The Philippine Volcanoes, national men’s rugby team. has started its preparations for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia later this month.

For the past month, the Volcanoes have been training three times a day, scouting opponents through video sessions, and following a strict diet to gear up for one of their biggest tournaments this year.

“The players are growing individually and as a team by leaps and bounds,” Volcanoes coach Al Caravelli said. “While we are still very new to international Rugby we are learning every day and continuously improving.”

Caravelli added that the Rugby World Cup Sevens will help the Volcanoes gauge their progress against some of the world’s strongest teams. They are grouped in Pool C alongside Zimbabwe, Kenya and Samoa.

“We have never played Kenya, they are a quality team, very fit and strong and well coached. Samoa finished fourth in the series last year. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe beat us on the last play of the game in Hong Kong,” Caravelli said.

The Volcanoes clinched a spot in the Rugby World Cup Sevens after placing third place in the HSBC Asian Sevens Series last year, defeating the likes of China and South Korea.

The Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong are the only representatives from Asia in the competition.

The Rugby World Cup Sevens, the sports’ premier tournament which will feature the top 24 teams in the world, will be played from June 28 to June 30 in Moscow, Russia.