Imagine if the Philippines Volcanoes rugby sevens team were as popular as Manny Pacquiao. On Sevens weekend, the 140,000 Filipinos who live in this city would storm Hong Kong Stadium demanding to see their heroes. It would be chaos - and Matt Cullen would love to see it happen.
'One day, perhaps,' dreams the coach of the Volcanoes, who are making their debut at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens in three weeks. 'The Filipino public cherish their sporting heroes. They idolise boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, and I wish we could have that same following one day.'
For many Filipinos, rugby union is as foreign as chopsticks to an eskimo. But the sport, which has been largely the domain of British and Australian expatriates, has rapidly taken root in the past decade thanks to the push by the Asian Rugby Football Union (Arfu) and a band of dedicated former rugby players in Manila.
'The Philippines Rugby Football Union was formed in 2000 and we became a member of Arfu two years later. In 2006, we became associate members of the IRB [International Rugby Board] and in 2008 we got our full-member status when things really transformed for us,' says Australian Cullen, who is also the general manager of the Philippine union.
With the advent of the HSBC Asian Five Nations competition four years ago, there was a pathway and annual competition set up for all Arfu members - 25 and counting. The Philippines began in Division Four in 2008, and after winning three consecutive promotions, reached Division One in 2011.
'Next to Japan, we were the most successful team in Asia. Our first loss in four years came at the hands of South Korea last year, when we went down 34-20 and failed to win promotion to the Top Five competition,' Cullen said.
