Nauru’s Adeang: We are here to gain exposure, learn

NAURU will make their first appearance on the international stage when they take on the Papua New Guinea Pukpuks in the second match of the Oceania Rugby Cup at National Football Stadium at 3pm today.
Nauru skipper Damon Adeang said yesterday that he was pleased with the opportunity given to his country as it was a new experience for their national 15s team.
“We are just trying to learn from this tournament,” he said.
“Back at home, it’s completely different. We don’t have a fully furnished field.
“We don’t have grass, so we play on gravel but that’s just one of the new experiences that we had, especially in our transit in Brisbane.
“It was the first time for most of the boys to play on grass so it’s a good experience and a bit softer on our skin. We’ve never had a game against any other team before so we just want to focus on our own goals and if we can achieve that then that’s a plus for us.
“It will be a good start for us, a good experience for us when we play against PNG who are more experienced than us.
“Most of our players are locals, all of them are Nauruan boys who fell in love with rugby while studying overseas
“Some of the boys have never played in an international tournament before while some have played in other sports such as AFL and some of us were here four years ago for the Pacific Games (2015) as part of our sevens squad.
“AFL is a national sport back home, same as rugby league here, so we want to gain more exposure to develop the sport in Nauru.”