PH Residents selection prevails over Singapore in ARC tune-up

Raymond Braganza/PRFU

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—The Philippine Residents, a selection of veteran and prospective Volcanoes, turned back Singapore, 29-17, in a tune-up match dubbed as the Transcom Rugby Championship at the Eagle's Nest Rugby Field inside Southern Plains in Calamba on Saturday.

The Residents bucked a slow start and made a dominating performance in the second half to win the friendly that served as part of both teams' preparations for the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 tournament from May 14-20 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Singaporeans looked to have easily adjusted to the rainy weather in Calamba as Charlie Lambert opened the scoring with two penalties to go 6-0 up.

But Tim Bweheni sizzled for the Residents as he singlehandedly went on a 10-3 run to put them ahead, 10-9, at halftime.

The Residents then started the second half with 14 unanswered points through tries from Justin Coveney and Gregory Golmann and conversions from Bweheni.

The Singaporeans still put up a fight later in the second half after a Murray Campbell try and a Lambert penalty cut the lead to seven, 24-17, with five minutes left.

But Joe Dawson sealed the deal for the Residents with a dagger try within the last two minutes.

"[It was] another positive result for [the] Philippines after a strong game from our players—a proud result considering Singapore are ranked 60th in the world," said Matt Cullen, the managing director of the PRFU.

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