Mabuhay and Welcome to the Philippines!

It is an honor to welcome all the International and Philippine based Rugby Union Teams who are participating in the 2009 Manila 10’s Rugby Union Tournament.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Manila 10’s and 32 teams will travel from far and wide to compete for the prestige of winning a coveted Manila 10’s trophy.

Over the years, the Manila 10’s tournament has played a vital role in promoting Rugby Union development in the Philippines, in fact, this tournament provided the impetus to form the Philippine Rugby Football Union.  Since the first Manila 10’s, the growth of Rugby Union in the Philippines has been exceptional and this can be seen from the recent successes of the Philippine National Teams, with the Men’s 7’s team winning the silver medal at the 2007 South East Asian Games and the Men’s 15’s Team winning promotion to compete in the Asian Five Nations Tournament. The PRFU was also recently accepted as a full member of the IRB and this will allow for new development programs to be implemented in 2010.

Everyone involved in Rugby Union loves to attend the Manila 10’s and the weekend provides local Rugby  Union players the opportunity to compete against international opponents in a competitive yet friendly situation.

The Manila 10’s weekend is also one of the highlights in the Manila social calendar and a number of corporate companies take advantage of the opportunity to wine, dine and relax in the terrific social atmosphere that is the Manila 10’s. Without this corporate support the tournament would not be renowned as the “Best Social Rugby Tournament in Asia”

I will be supporting all the Philippine based teams throughout the tournament and will certainly be cheering for the MAAP warriors, who were the first ever full Filipino side to make the finals at the Manila 10’s.

I would like to congratulate the Nomad Sports Club for hosting such a successful and enjoyable Rugby 10’s tournament for the last twenty years and hope that this trend will continue for at least another twenty years.

I look forward to watching the 2009 Manila 10’s tournament and hope that all the participants enjoy their time here in the Philippines.

Yours Sincerely,
Admiral Eduardo Santos
President - Philippine Rugby Football Union