Pukpuks, Palais put in better performances

By HUXLEY LOVAI
THE Papua New Guinea Pukpuks and Palais rugby sevens teams could not have asked for tougher draws in the Sydney leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series women’s and men’s competitions respectively.
That plus the fact that PNG rugby sevens teams lack consistent tournament experience at the highest level showed as both the Pukpuks and Palais recorded zero wins from their campaigns at the Sydney 7s over the weekend.
The Pukpuks lost their opening Pool C match to Scotland 26-12, going down to New Zealand 31-7, and finally putting up a fight against Australia, eventually losing 26-7.
It was a spirited performance by the Pukpuks, who trailed 14-7 at half time, after Manu Guise scored in the first minute for PNG from the kick off.
The Pukpuks lost their final match to Canada 33-20 in the 13th-place semifinal playoff.
This was the second sevens tournament for the Pukpuks in as many weeks, placing demands on the teams fitness levels, the short turnaround time surly tested this group of players who are not used to the high intensity of the world series circuit.
The Palais who were playing in their first international tournament for 2017 had a more daunting task ahead of them.
Playing against teams who are currently on the sevens circuit and have recently tasted Olympic success.
The Palais, who were in Pool A, lost their first game last Friday to the Dubai leg winners and Olympic silver medallists New Zealand, 34-5, going down to bronze medallists Canada, 39-5, in their second game and finally losing their last pool match against France 26-10.
The Palais unfortunately lost in the trophy challenge quarterfinals to England 29-17.
The Palais eventually settling for 12th place after losing their final match against Spain in the 11th-place playoff on Saturday afternoon.
The stand out player for the Palaiswas Joanne Lagona, who scored eight of PNG’s nine tries during the team’s campaign over the weekend.
Logona was named in the tournament’s dream team as a result of her efforts. Palais coach John Larry spoke of the importance of mastering the mental and physical aspects of rugby sevens.
“It’s all about game preparation and your mindset, in sevens, as soon as the whistle blows you have to be ready,” Larry said.
“You don’t have time to settle in, before you know it three minutes have passed and the first half is almost over.” The sides return today.