Borana to play in France

FORMER PNG Hunters player Nickson Borana Ugaia, pictured, has signed a one-year deal with French rugby league club Villeneuve Leopards in the the Elite One Championship.
Borana, 22, played for the Hunters in 2015 and 2016, but left the Q-Cup side to focus on studies last year.
The back-rower of mixed Central and Chimbu parentage left for France last week.
Borana was into the second year of studies at James Cook University in Townsville when he accepted an offer from Villeneuve.
Borana said his desire to play competitive rugby league again in a new and challenging environment influenced his decision.
Father Borana Ugaia said from Lae that they supported his son on the new path he had chosen.
“We told Nickson to stay positive after he left the Hunters and went to school,” Ugaia said.
“We stood behind Nickson when he decided to study in Townsville.”
Ugaia also sponsored the BNDL Hawks, a team his son started, in the Snax 9s this weekend at the Lae Rugby League ground.
Ugaia said his son completed two years of study and then decided that a one-year deal playing rugby league was the best for him.
Borana was a star in Lae’s junior rugby league in 2014 and was selected in the country’s U20 side that won the Commonwealth Nines title in Glasgow, Scotland that same year.
The Lae Tigers recruited him in 2014 while doing he was in year 12 at Lae Secondary School.
Borana also represented PNG at the Cabramatta 9s in Sydney.
The following year, Borana was recruited into the SP Hunters and was later part of the PNG side that won the Pacific Games 9s gold medal.
“When I was left the Hunters in 2017, I stayed in Lae and continued my training,” Borana said.
“I was approached by some Digicel Cup teams but didn’t join and took up studies at the James Cook University.”
Ugaia said he was proud of his son’s persistence and determination to continue playing professional football and thanked the Hunters and the PNGRFL for the opportunities given to Borana in the early part of his career.