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Philippines v Guam rematch in Division III Final

The final tournament in the 2009 HSBC Asian Five Nations (A5N), Asia's premier rugby competition, began today with the kick-off of the Division III championship in Manila, Philippines. Today's action saw the top seed the Philippines take on fourth seed Iran, while second seed Guam faced third seed Indonesia.

Reflecting the growth of Asian rugby and the competitiveness of the HSBC Asian Five Nations, the Division III tournament was launched this year featuring four teams drawn from last year's three regional competitions: the Philippines, the winners of the 2008 HSBC A5N regional tournament in Guam; Guam, runners-up in their home tournament last year; Indonesia winners of the Jakarta Regional Tournament in 2008 and Iran, winners of the regional tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 2008.

Today's action opened with a battle between Guam and Indonesia. From the opening whistle, Guam exerted tremendous pressure on their Indonesian counterparts with fly half Steven Sablan crossing over for the first of a brace of tries in just the second minute.

Guam did not let up and scored again in the 12th minute through captain and flanker Paul Claros. Claros's try was converted by centre Kapueli Katoa to bring the score to 12-0.

After the slow start, the Indonesia Rhinos struggled to find their groove and spent most of the first half on defence with little possession to show for the opening interval. A further penalty from Katoa in the 35th minute brought the score to 15-0 Guam at the half.

Indonesia started much stronger in the second half with sustained pressure putting Guam on the back foot and forcing an early penalty for not releasing.

Captain and fly half Kirk Arundale successfully slotted the penalty to get the Rhinos on the board at 15-3 in the 41st minute. Unfortunately Indonesian momentum was derailed by an altercation between Rhinos fullback Warren Wilcox and Guam winger Paul Eustaquio that resulted in both being shown yellow cards.

Fly half Sablan converted the resulting penalty attempt to bring Guam to an 18-3 lead. Matters were further complicated for Indonesia with the sin binning of prop Bobby Orlando in the 42nd minute.

While Indonesia's defence held strong despite the man disadvantage it closed the door on any Rhinos rally. The score remained 18-3 for most of the second half before a second Sablan try from a well-worked chip ahead in the 78th minute brought the final score to 23-3 Guam.

In today's second match, top seeds Philippines survived a scare from a physical Iran team to advance to Saturday's final against Guam. The match-up was a unique combination of rugby brawn versus brains as the massive Iranian team's lack of top-flight match experience showed against a smaller but more cannier Philippine side benefiting from a number of overseas players of Filipino heritage.

A tense first half saw several mistakes from both sides with handling a problem as some early nerves showed through. The Philippines in particular suffered from a bit of tightness early on as they opted out of several kickable penalties in the first half but failed to convert any of their set piece plays or line-out opportunities into points. Kicking in the first half was inaccurate as the Philippines Volcanoes missed four attempts in the first half while Iran missed two. The penalties were among the only opportunities for both teams to get points on the board (although the Volcanoes had two tries in today's game called back due to forward passes) and it was scoreless at halftime.

After the interval, the Volcanoes pressure reached its peak as passes began to find their intended receivers and the home team's back three settled in more comfortably beneath the high ball. In the opening ten minutes of the second half, the Volcanoes pegged Iran back within its 10-metre line but could not penetrate from set piece opportunities. Repeated infringements finally gave the Philippines the chance they needed from a tap and go penalty when some well worked passing and support play saw Philippine centre Matt Saunders cross over for his first of two tries on the day to edge the home team ahead 5-nil.
The score would remain within a converted try until the 73rd minute with both teams struggling in a match that was balanced on a knife's edge.

However Philippine fitness and match experience provided a crucial edge and the Volcanoes began to win more and more contested ball as Iran repeatedly gave away any advantage they have through a high second half penalty count.

Despite a rash of opposition penalties, Philippine goal kicking continued to be patchy until a surprise kicker stepped up to the tee, lock forward Rafael Zappia, who slotted his first penalty attempt in the 73rd minute to bring the score to 8-0 Philippines. Everything was still to play for but Iran conceded a disappointingly easy try in the 78th minute, again through Saunders, that saw the game finally slip out of reach. The try was converted by Zappia to bring the final score to 15-0 and to send the Philippines into Saturday's final (kick-off at 15.00).

Today's results set up a tantalizing re-match for the Philippines and Guam, the two finalists in last year's Guam Regional Tournament, which was won by the Philippines 20-8. These two teams are familiar foes and regularly contest the Magellan Cup, named after the Spanish explorer who first touched ground in the Pacific Ocean in Guam before meeting an untimely end on the Philippine island of Cebu where he was killed by warrior chieftain Lapu Lapu. It remains to be seen which island team will claim a scalp in the final on Saturday. The winner will be promoted to the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division II tournament to join relegated Division I team Thailand, China and India in 2010. A mouth-watering 3rd/4th placed playoff between Indonesia and Iran will kick off at 13.00. Both matches will again be held at the Nomads Sporting Club in Manila, home of the renowned Manila 10s Tournament.

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