Last weekend saw the twentieth anniversary of the Amec/Cape Manila 10’s Rugby Festival. The event started with the now traditional rugby lunch run by ANZ Cham on Friday 20 March and continued with the tournament proper at Nomad Sports Club on the Saturday and Sunday.

The lunch saw more than 400 guests enjoy the action and interviews at the Renaissance Makati Hotel. Host for the day was Justin Sampson (attending his sixth successive Manila 10’s lunch in this capacity) and the star players Jeremy Paul (former Wallaby hooker) and Frank Bunce (former All Black centre). The players entertained the crowd with tales of days gone by (admittedly, Jeremy’s were nearer to the memory than Frank’s!) and a few video clips to show just how good they were (at taking a punch in Frank’s case!)

Interviews were followed by the auction in aid of the Philippine Rugby Football Union ("PRFU") and Chris Major of Go Industry put some impressive lots under the hammer. The final amount raised was in excess of PhP750,000 and this will go a long way to supporting the development of rugby in the Philippines over the coming year. Matt Cullen, PRFU General Manager, expressed his gratitude for the generosity of all those that were bidding and went on to make an excellent presentation of how rugby is growing in the country.

One of the surprise highlights of the lunch was the appearance of the spectacular Jools Caberet Dancers in two sets at either end of the show – this certainly kept the audience in their seats to the very end!

Friday night was always going to be a late one and an 8am start at Nomads on Saturday was not everybody’s idea of a good plan; however, under a roasting sun, the proceedings started on time. Forty eight games on the Saturday and twenty eight on the Sunday makes for a very full weekend – for players, spectator and officials alike.

Amec/Cape were the tournament lead sponsors for the fourth successive year and have done a magnificent job in bringing the Manila 10’s to be recognised as "the best social rugby tournament in Asia" – it may not be the Hong Kong 7’s, but the M10’s is now known and revered around the rugby world.

More than fifteen hundred spectators were present each day to watch and cheer on the gladiators on the park – the Manila 10’s is never known as a quiet weekend at Nomads! After roundrobin qualifiers on the Saturday, the teams were immediately into a knock-out situation on the Sunday. Thirty two teams had entered the tournament (although only thirty one actually showed up – thanks to the Dubai Multiplex No-Shows) and this had been whittled down to just eight to contest the Carabao Cup, Plate, Bowl and Sheild.

The results of the finals, along with brief match reports, follow:

CS Larrikins, an invitational team including amongst their number Jeremy Paul (guest at the Friday lunch), former Italy No.8 Matt Phillips and several of the Arabian Gulf 7’s squad won the Cup competition at the twentieth anniversary Manila Ten’s on Sunday evening.

The crowd were treated to an enthralling final in which the never-say-die attitude of the Singapore Barbarians kept them in the contest throughout.

The final teetered on a knife edge from the first whistle to the last. The Barbarians are renowned for having the ability to raise their game and this they did managing to nullify an early Larrikins try to lead the game early in the second half at 10-5.

Larrikins though, always appeared to have more in the tank and they did not press the panic button, patiently mounting attack after attack until they breached the Singapore defence to lead with a converted try and then again to move into a 17-10 lead.

When Hong Kong referee Tobi Lothian blew the final whistle the considerable Larrikins support rushed onto the field and the celebrations began. Founder of the Larrikins Michael Tempelton was clearly thrilled, having seen his side promise but fail to deliver overthe last few years.

The final, in the balance throughout, saw the Pigs, who for once were distinctly lacking in any players of considerable girth, prevail despite being a player short for some of the second period, having had one of their number sin-binned. The final score stood at 19-14.

In the third tier competition, the bowl, the Flying Elvises made it a happy return to the Manila 10’s overcoming an early 10-0 deficit in the final to run away as 38-10 winners over the Wagga Wagga Warratahs.

Alabang Ibons gave the Manila rugby faithful something to cheer when they lifted the shield trophy. A team combining youth and experience looked dangerous throughout the weekend and their final opponents were to be the Brisbane Vulgarians who reputedly had several first-time rugby players on the field at one time or another during the competition.

With old heads Matt Cullen and Tom Egerton calling the shots and a great all-round team effort the Ibons were able to overcome the visitors from Australia, the final score 17-5.

The Manila 10’s, from humble beginnings in 1989, has developed into one of the region’s premier tournaments. It is indicative of the nature of the game of rugby that players of all standards, abilities, shapes and sizes, young and old can compete at one tournament and all have their moments of glory at whatever level.

In these times of big money sport the Manila 10’s harks back to an era where the average club player can rub shoulders with those who have played the sport at the very highest level. That’s what makes it very, very special.

by: Phil Gittus and William Bailey