A TOTAL of 16 teams will be vying for the Export Cup on Nov 24-25 during the National Rugby Sevens to be staged at Lloyd Robson Oval in Port Moresby.
Tournament director Sailosi Druma said the same number of teams that have participated last year will take part this year.
This year’s national championships will be different as many teams had a lead-up competition in October before qualifying to this major championships.
“Thanks to SP Brewery through its brand SP Export Lager brand, the Export Regional Satellite Sevens which was held for the first time, allowed teams to really prepare for the National Sevens,” Druma said yesterday.
He said that the regional sevens gave selectors the opportunity to select the representative players during the four-week competition.
The 16 teams are from Port Moresby, Lae, Oro, Wewak, Goroka, Mount Hagen, Madang, Kimbe, Kavieng, Ravbaul, Manus, Buka, Daru, Porgera, Central and the Combined Defence Force team.
The new faces are Wewak, Porgera, Central and the Combined Defence Force team.
The winner of the Sevens championship will take home K20,000 prize money while the runner-up will walk away with K10,000. The Plate final winner take on K5,000 and the loser K2,500 while the K1,500 to bowl winner and the runner-up collects K1000.
The prize money is part of the SP Brewery’s total sponsorship of K165,000 presented last month to PNGRFU.