PHL Volcanoes step up to main division in Asian Rugby

The Philippines won all three games they played to end up with 17 points, allowing them to move up to the main division, while top-seeded Sri Lanka stayed in Division 1 after receiving a total of 12 points with two wins and one loss.   Sri Lanka, ranked 19 places above the Philippines, has the oldest rugby organization in Asia. With the country’s recent hiring of England's former Rugby World Cup veteran Phil Greening, team captain and presidential son Yoshitha Rajapaksa expected their team to return to the top five. That campaign to return, however, has to wait another year as it will be the Philippines that will move on to the big stage.   The young Chinese Taipei squad avoided relegation to the lower division after defeating Singapore, 49-31 in the final game of the tournament. Team captain Lu Wei Fang expects that the team will only get better with experience and exposure.   "Our team comes from different universities. Twenty of the players are new. [This is] their first international game, not a lot of experience. We are very young. We will get better," said Lu.   The decline continues for Singapore as it drops to Division 2 after spending the last two years in Division 1 and a year in the main division. - AMD, GMA News