BY Rey Nery – Wearing pink jerseys selected by the players to honour their mothers who the majority of them get their Filipino heritage from. The recently locally formed and International Rugby League recognized Philippines Rugby League governing body, the Pambansang Ragbi Liga ng Pilipinas Tamaraws, recorded their inaugural International win against Brasil in the Magellan Cup on Sunday the 13th of June at Kensington Rugby League field, in Sydney Australia.
From the outset the Tamaraws dominated the International through their forward pack led by Rez Phillips and ably supported by Glenn Power and the Jones brothers Dylan and Ryan. Their charging hit-ups and bruising defensive tackles allowed the team to control the game.
With the Forwards dominating upfront. This allowed Hooker and Captain/Coach Paul Sheedy, Half Back/Coach Marc Russel and Five Eight Gerald Reyes to weave their magic and guide the Tamaraws around the field for their 8 tries to 2 win.
With players in this inaugural Pambansang Ragbi Liga ng Pilipinas team retiring after this International. The national team have unearthed able replacement in debut Tamaraw Internationals; Chris Murphy, Kingsley Leabres, Jhun Cortez, Thomas Cartwright, Jacob Godfrey and Tyrone Tootell, for future Internationals. With the hopeful resumption of Rugby League in the Philippines post COVID-19 these group of Filipino-heritage players will hopefully be joined by local talent in future Internationals.
Pambansang Ragbi Liga ng Pilipinas would like to thank their major sponsors at this International, Erick Paul Estepa Elefante, Jewel Finance, Jimmy Choose Eatery and many supporters who sponsored individual players.
PHILIPPINES 40 (Tyrone Tootell 2, Ned Stephenson, Thomas Cartwright, Paul Sheedy, Dylan Jones, Rez Phillips, Jacob Godfrey tries; Marc Russell 3, Thomas Cartwright goals) beat BRASIL 8 (Pedro Guzzo 2 tries).
PHILIPPINES: Richie Goodwin, Jhun Cortez, Ned Stephenson, Dennis Gordon, Thomas Cartwright, Gerald Reyes, Marc Russell, Glenn Powers, Paul Sheedy ©, Dylan Jones, Jeremy Grooms, Ryan Jones, Rez Phillips. Interchange: Tyrone Tootell, Jacob Godfrey, Chris Murphy, Kingsley Leabres.
BRASIL: Steven Braga, Vinicius Guedes Silva, Donovan Barreira, Ravi Araujo, Paulo Rubia, Pedro Guzzo, Dylan Nunes ©, Mark Jackson ©, Simon De Araujo, Heitor Fleury, Juan Casanova, Rubens Gomes, Hector Hilberto. Interchange: Heitor Hilberto, Ricardo Levy, Connor Howison, Rodrigo Rezende.