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Our Philippine rugby archive is here.

All right, you’ve seen the Bench underwear ad with the members of the Philippine rugby team, you have the behind-the-scenes video on a loop, now you know what we’ve had to put up with all year—trudging after these troglodytes in different countries when we could’ve been watching the extended edition of Berlin Alexanderplatz or reading the collected works of Thomas Pynchon while listening to Gesualdo’s Tenebrae. Oh the humanity. But in the words of Uncle Ben Parker—that’s Spider-Man’s uncle, try to keep up—with great power comes great responsibility, so we shall bear this burden without. . .with minimal. . .with comparatively little complaint.

Rightmost in the print ad, wearing white, a scowl, and a retro ‘stache, is Chris Everingham. You may have seen him recently in a magazine fashion spread. Here he is at last year’s Borneo 7s tournament with fellow Bench model Ned Stephenson (who looks about 12 in this picture; in the layout you’d better hope he’s not 12).

It’s beastly out, you’re stuck at home, what do you do? You listen to Chris Everingham’s playlist.

“When I’m a bit a down and out and can’t go outside I break out into a bit of dancing and listen to classics like these.”
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In this week’s episode we talk to the two scrum-halves of the Philippine Volcanoes at the A5N tournament in Korea: the ever popular Jake Letts, seen here with winger Matt Saunders,

and a new Volcano, Fil-Aussie James Price.

To sum up the Volcanoes’ A5N campaign, here’s national coach Expo Mejia.

That’s it for our coverage of the national men’s rugby team at the Division 1 championships. Thank you to everyone who tuned in, watched our videos, read our posts, sent in their comments and joined the liveblogs of the matches. We had hoped to produce more comprehensive reportage; nevertheless we’d like to thank the players for their kindness and patience when accosted in hallways for yet another photograph or interview.

Coach Expo, it’s an honor, sir, to watch a professional of your caliber. Messrs Hodges and Raper, your generosity and commitment to a country that’s not even yours inspires everyone. Volcanoes, you make us proud, you define Awesome.

In next week’s episode we talk about contemporary Philippine Cinema.

Our coverage of the Philippine Volcanoes at A5N Korea was brought to you by Globe. Enjoy Your Globe. Your Way.

The Philippine Declaration of Independence, from Wikimedia Commons.

Philippine Volcanoes win big in Asian rugby; Pinoys still don’t notice. In Emotional Weather Report, today in the Philippine Star.

Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum; you draw from everything you’ve read, seen, heard. I’d like to acknowledge some of my models.
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Welcome to the premiere of Jessica Rules TV, in which we have a lengthy chat with people whose existence we endorse and approve of.

Our guests for this momentous first episode are Gareth Holgate and Justin Coveney of the national men’s 15s rugby team, the Philippine Volcanoes. Gaz and Justin are old friends of JessicaRulestheUniverse, having appeared in our Jock With A Book features. Justin is our occasional advice columnist and Gaz directed, produced and edited the hilarious Italian rugby skills video with his teammates at Rugby Badia.

We caught up with them at the Hanyang University Guest House after the Volcanoes’ heartbreaking 20-34 loss to Korea in their A5N Division 1 semifinal. It was a match that could’ve gone either way—in the final minute the Philippines could’ve leveled the score with a try and a conversion. But Korea held on—they’re not a former Top 5 nation for nothing, and with this victory and subsequent win over Singapore, Korea is back in the Premier Division.

A note on the video: Apologies for the angle, I didn’t have enough books for the camera. Also I did not notice that Justin had a wallet between his legs.

Enjoy your viewing.

If you have any questions for Gaz and Justin we’d be happy to send them on.

This interview was shot on Wednesday. On Saturday the Philippines beat Malaysia to take third in the tournament and remain in Division 1. Justin made 4 tries, Gaz made 3. Justin was named Best Back for the game, and Gaz the Best Philippine Player for the tournament.

We chose our first subjects well.

Next week on Jessica Rules TV: Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Riiiiiiight.

Our coverage of the Philippine Volcanoes at A5N Korea is brought to you by Globe. Enjoy Your Globe. Your Way.

We spoke to our national rugby team forward Jaime Urquijo before the all-important match between the Philippines and Malaysia. All-important because the Philippines needed to win in order to stay in Division 1; the loser would be relegated to Division 2. Having climbed to a higher division every year, our team was in no mood to move down.

As you know, the Philippines not only trounced Malaysia, they did so by the biggest margin in Asian 5 Nations Rugby history: 86-20.

Our coverage of the Philippine Volcanoes at A5N Korea is brought to you by Globe. Enjoy Your Globe. Your Way.