Palais remain upbeat ahead of Tunisia clash

By PATRICIA KEAMO
PAPUA New Guinea Palais skipper Kymlie Rapilla says the national women’s rugby union team remain upbeat about their chances in this weekend’s World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco.
She told The National on Wednesday that they had their first training sessions on Tuesday — one in the morning and another in the afternoon — and were working on their set pieces as well as structures.
The Palais will face Tunisia in their first pool match on Saturday and later take on Jamaica on the same day (local time).
“We’re slowly building intensity as we go along the week leading up to game day,” Rapilla said.
“Our journey here hasn’t been the easiest, we faced a lot of hiccups along the way, but the girls are in high spirits and staying positive.
“I think our faith has brought us to where we are now.
“We believe that God has his own special way and timing, and sometimes he puts us in these situations to test our faith.
“Mainly, we are just looking at one game at a time.
“We aim to keep things very simple, just the basics because we know we haven’t had much game time leading up to (the qualifier).
“But if we use our strengths and execute well, we should be fine.
“So we’ll just keep things simple as we take on Tunisia and Jamaica.”
Fixtures: Sat, June 19 – Palais v Tunisia (10.08pm kick-off, PNG time); Sun, June 20 – Palais v Jamaica (3.09am), Palais v Kazakhstan (7.47pm).