Lae rules sevens

 THE Morobe Hammerheads claimed the national sevens title beating Bougainville’s Black Orchids 24-15 in the cup final at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium yesterday. 

The Lae side received K10,000 for their achievement while the Orchids settled for K3000. 

Hammerheads coach and former Pukpuk Aiem Pilakos credited the province’s active rugby union development programme for producing the champions.

“The players in this Hammerheads team are all products of the SCRUM (Supporters Club Rugby Union Morobe) junior development programme, the Lae schoolboys competition,” Pilakos said.

“They’re all very young players and they have done well to win this title and perform over the two days of competition.”

The cup final was evenly contested with neither side looking dominant and this gave both sets of fans something to cheer about.

The Hammerheads led 19-15 going into the final two minutes of the final  and it was anybody’s game but the men from Lae took their chance when Eloio Hosea raced away to score  the match-winner as the siren sounded, giving Pilakos his first title as a coach at a national event. 

Pialakos said the win had been a long time coming, with his province last tasting success in 1998 when he was a player.

“This is a good sign for Morobe rugby,” he said.

Orchids coach Kelly Havara said losing the final was disappointing but considered the tournament a success for his side as they had played well and had beaten some top sides from Port Moresby and other parts of the country.