By PETER PUSAL
THE Under 20 selection clash between Morobe and Port Moresby tomorrow at Port Moresby International School will kick-off the hectic Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union’s 2008 calendar.
The selection from tomorrow clash will form the basis of the Papua New Guinea national Under 20 team which is due to travel to Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan 8, that is, next Tuesday, where they will meet the Cook Islands in the Under 20 World Cup qualifying match.
According to 2008 calendar released this week, it would also be a busy year for the senior men and women 15 and Seven teams which is sure to keep our elite players busy with the World Cup qualifiers and the Sevens meets in the coming months.
PNG Pukpuks 15 and Sevens teams will see them bearing national colours when they compete in the FORU Cup in April where the winner will advance to meet one of the three Pacific rugby giants, Tonga, Samoa or Fiji.
Having farewelled our Melanesian neighbours Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands in the Western Conference play-offs in December last year, the Pukpuks must set their sight on overcoming the Eastern Conference champion, Nuie.
In the Sevens format, PNG Pukpuks have qualified for the Wellington Sevens tournament in New Zealand on Feb 1-2.
In previous years, Wellington Sevens was an invitational event however, as of 2008 all competing teams will be required to qualify.
PNG will do so through the Pacific Sevens tournament which incidentally, Port Moresby has hosting rights for the next three years.
With the recent hosting of the inaugural Pacific Sevens in Port Moresby last December and also the experience at last year’s Wellington tournament, the Pukpuks Sevens squad is looking to improve its performance in next month’s meet in New Zealand.
The women team, the Raggianas will also travel abroad - to Hong Kong - to compete in a tournament in March and from there they also have a date with the World Cup Sevens qualifiers in Tahiti (French Polynesia).
The rugby calendar for 2008 looks booked out at least for the first half of the year and that is not including our domestic competition and the national regional competition (Super 4s) as well as the domestic Sevens meets at the back end of the season.