NEW Clark City – Team Philippines won the 30th Southeast Asian Games men’s rugby sevens gold medal with a 19-0 victory over Malaysia on Sunday at the Clark Parade Ground.
Robert Luceno got the Philippines off to a strong start with an early try en route to victory, a big leap after placing fourth in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games two years ago.
Coach Frano Botica said they didn’t expect a big margin in the title match, having seen Malaysia perform well in the preliminaries.
“It was a tough first game for us, we were chasing the game a little bit, but it was a big blow-up for our boys. Malaysia is one of the strongest teams here along with us, so we’re expecting a pretty tough game,” he said.
The Philippine women’s rugby sevens team bowed to Thailand, 17-7, and settled for silver.
“It would really be a huge boost for Philippine rugby. It is important to come away with a positive result today,” he said. “It was a team effort, everybody has put their hands up to win the medal, the players off the benches, as well the starters.”
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