By Adrian Stewart Co

The Philippine national rugby team, the Volcanoes, defended their Asia Rugby Division 1 championship title over the weekend with a 29-21 win over Singapore at the Taipei Municipality Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Volcanoes opened with a try from Justin Coveney six minutes into the match, followed by a conversion from Daniel Matthews. Ellis Rudder then scored in the 12th minute, putting the Philippines up 12-0.
In the 30th minute, Jonathan Wong pulled one back for Singapore and, with a conversion successfully executed by Ishraf Marah, the scoreline narrowed to 12-7. However, just before halftime, Patrice Olivier delivered a third try for the Philippines and, after Matthews delivered another effective conversion, the defending champions were ahead 19-7.
Singapore opened the second half with a series of penalties, which Marah converted successfully, making it a three-point match with the Philippines up 19-16.
Ned Stephenson and Erik Erikson each went on to score a try for the Pinoy side, giving them a 29-16 edge.
Just before the end of regulation time, Wong secured a hat trick in the 79th minute, but the Singaporean side still fell short.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game of footy but we showed a lot of heart to get the win,” said Matthews. “All credit to Singapore, they were excellent, I can’t say enough how good they were.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka defeated Taiwan, 72-17, in the consolation match./ASC, WDJ