JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

After they kill each other on the pitch, the rugby ethos demands that the competitors meet for drinks, share a good dinner and be friends. Who would understand you better than the guy whose mission is to stop you?

Following the test match between Hong Kong and the Philippines, the two teams came to dinner at The Establishment in Bonifacio Global City. The event was hosted by Bea Zobel II, whose son Jaime Urquijo is on the national rugby team.

Volcano moms (L-R): Bea Zobel II, mother of Jaime Urquijo; Nita Dian Zappia, mother of Rafael and Rupert Zappia; and Marilou Saunders, mother of Oliver, Matt (absent), and Ben (absent).

At the door we were greeted by a society editor who said, “Oh, are you a rugby fan?” No, we just follow the team around, take tons of photos, watch and report on their matches in the baking sun, and read Rugby For Dummies in an effort to make sense of the chaos, but we’re not rugby fans, we swear.

Our guys are in blue, the Hong Kong guys in red.

At the buffet we saw Jake Letts and one of the HK players whose name we forgot to write down. “Are you half-Chinese?” we asked. “No,” he said, “I’m Irish.” See, by International Rugby Board (IRB) rules, you don’t have to be native to a country to be on its national team if you meet residency requirements. Most of the Hong Kong players are from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand. I am probably more Chinese than they are, and it doesn’t matter. They are proud to represent Hong Kong in the world of rugby. Makes perfect sense, since Hong Kong is one of the most cosmopolitan expat places on earth.

We told HK’s number ten Keith Robertson that he probably spoke as much Pilipino as some of our players. We think he said, “No naman.”

We met Phil Abraham, who plays the number two position (Hooker. Think of hooker joke. Look at Phil. Dare you to deliver the joke.) on the Philippine Volcanoes. Phil is Fil-American and he’s from Chicago. He’s a teacher and he’s planning to take his master’s in Social Work. We talked about President Obama’s reelection bid and the difficulties he faces. (What is with the American media, they don’t mediate anymore, they can’t or don’t want to distinguish between what is real news and what is just stupid.)

We also spoke to Lolo Austy—Austin Dacanay, number one, the loosehead prop. The props are usually the strongest players on the team and they have to be specialists because they anchor the scrum. If the scrum collapses there could be serious neck and spinal injuries to the players. Oddly enough Austy is a chiropractor. He notes that at his clinic in Florida he treats a lot of patients whose problems may be more emotional than physical. Some of them just want to talk about their marital issues or mortgages. It’s like being a psychotherapist or a bartender.

Hong Kong head coach Dai Rees

In the short ceremony the Philippine Rugby Football Union’s Peter Lawrence recalled how the HK-PHL test match came to be. We had thought that Hong Kong was required by the IRB to play the Philippines; we were wrong. The PRFU extended an invitation to the HK rugby union, and they graciously accepted despite being a much higher-ranked team with little to gain from playing one of the youngest teams in the world. They have the A5N Premier Division tournament coming up in Kazakhstan in a couple of days but they came here, and in doing so they acknowledged that the Philippines is an emerging force in rugby. Amazing when you consider the lingering animosity over the bus hostage incident.

Whenever our team is trailing we like to tell the opposition, “Pagandahan na lang tayo.” However when Philippine Volcanoes captain Michael Letts took the stage with Hong Kong captain Tom McColl, we realized it’s not as easy as we thought. (We still win, but it’s not automatic.)

The Volcanoes had been told that the HK team was billeted at the Shangri-La (the Philippine team stayed at Go Hotel in Mandaluyong). “Where are you really staying?” we asked McColl.

“The Mandarin,” he said.

“The Mandarin??”

“No, St Giles on Makati Avenue.”

That still doesn’t make us feel better about the loss, but Hong Kong rugby rocks for taking the Philippine Volcanoes under their (massive) wing.

Our coverage of the Philippine Volcanoes is brought to you by Globe. Enjoy Your Globe. Your Way.