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by Phil Abraham of the Philippine Volcanoes national men’s rugby team

I learned about rugby ten years ago from my pastor who grew up in Kenya. When I attended the University of Illinois in Champaign I started playing rugby, and I continued to play for my pastor’s old team, the Chicago Lions, when I moved back home.

A couple of years ago a friend emailed me about the Philippine national rugby team. I was hesitant to join right away because I still was trying to find my balance as a newlywed starting a family and a career in education, and dealing with rugby opportunities in the US. I was also intimidated by the idea of flying all the way to Manila for try-outs. The following year my wife Averi and I decided to live in Australia before we pursued graduate degrees. In Sydney I met Coach Expo Mejia and the Philippine Volcanoes.

As the team celebrates its victory at A5N last year, Phil Abraham (left) points to his wife’s name tattooed on his arm.

Last year’s training camp in Manila marked the first time I was in the Philippines since I was nine years old. It was an amazing experience reconnecting with family, learning about my culture, and representing my heritage on the pitch with a victory at the A5N championships in India. Even my wife was able to connect with family that she had never met before.
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In the dressing room of GMA-7, while waiting to be interviewed on Unang Hirit and News To Go.

L-R: Gaz Holgate, Michael Duhig, Luke Matthews, Patrice Olivier

punched a hole in the space-time continuum this afternoon at 1245 hrs in Greenbelt 3. Michael Duhig, Patrice Olivier and Gareth Holgate of the Philippine Volcanoes men’s rugby team were shopping for shoes at the Nike store in Greenbelt 3 when another national athlete materialized in the area—Neil Etheridge of the Azkals Philippine men’s football team.

L-R: Michael Duhig, Neil Etheridge, Patrice Olivier, Gaz Holgate

Although the electromagnetic charge of the vortex scrambled the signals in my brain, my force field held and I was able to request a group photograph. Voila! Proof that we were in the vortex.

Details (Why does Gaz look like Bullseye in Daredevil, where did his hair go?) later. We hope you tuned in to Unang Hirit on GMA Channel 7 this morning for Edu Manzano’s interview with Volcanoes Michael, Patrice, Gaz, Raf Zappia, Tyler Perez and Luke Matthews, and then to News To Go on GMA News Channel 11 for the Volcanoes’ talk with Kara David.

Their interview with Mark Zambrano will be aired tonight on 24 Oras on GMA-7.

Patrice Olivier with Katana. Photo by JZ

Patrice Olivier of the Philippine Volcanoes, the national men’s rugby team, has just signed with the AS Béziers Hérault rugby club in France. This is the first professional contract for the half-Filipino, half-French Patrice, 21.

The Beziers stadium

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L-R: Jaime Urquijo, Justin Coveney and Kenny Stern at training camp.

Based on the empirical evidence it is safe to say that the universe likes Jaime Urquijo more than it likes you or me.
 
Jaime Urquijo is over six feet tall, with thick brown hair and brown eyes. He is broad of shoulder and muscular of build, as befits a member of the national rugby team, except that he has the face of a cherub in a nativity scene. If rugby union were not governed by a code of gentlemanly behavior, the opposing flanker might feel compelled to plant a boot on his face. (‘Take that, guy from Dawson’s Creek!’) He has a charming, unplaceable accent—British but not exactly, Spanish when he pronounces names, a bit of the American Midwest, a bit of New York.
 
He is a Zobel de Ayala, son of Bea Jr, grandson of Don Jaime, nephew of Jaime Augusto, cousin of Jaime Alfonso (You’d think the rich could spring for some new names).  His path through life will likely be smoother than ours. What could possibly go wrong for this creature?

My column in the Philippine Star. By the way the captions got switched and this is the scrum.

Jaime is number 6, Jake Letts is the scrum-half.

I confess I always found Thor the superhero ridiculous: the costume, the high elocution, the relationship with that creepy Loki, the hammer, the theme song of the ancient Marvel cartoons (“You behold in endless wonder/The god of thunder/Mighty Thor!”). So what if he’s the god of thunder—thunder doesn’t have the destructive force of lightning, it’s just impressive. True, he’s not half as ridiculous as the Submariner or Aquaman, who are basically useless on dry land.

So I wasn’t exactly dying to see Thor, the movie directed by Kenneth Branagh. (This is a lapsed fan of Branagh. His directorial career opened with a bang then fizzled out, although he’s still a brilliant actor in projects like Wallander.) The trailer was corny and unappetizing, and Natalie Portman seemed to be doing a Halle Berry—following an Oscar-winning movie with a dumb superhero flick. And why wasn’t Karl Urban cast as Thor when we know he looks fabulous with long blonde hair?

Then we beheld Chris Hemsworth.

What can I say, I’m shallow.
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