Players speed in Rabaul impresses sevens coach

 NATIONAL sevens coach Warren Jennings is impressed with the speed shown in the East New Britain rugby union sevens grand final on Saturday. 

On his talent identification tour of the country, Jennings was in Rabaul to see the Redskins beat Royals 15-12 to win back-to-back premierships. 

Jennings said there was speed and that was what the Pukpuks sevens team was looking for.

Referee and Pacific in Union (PIU) Rugby for Schools programme country manager Paul Joseph launched the PIU programme in Rabaul, the first for the New Guinea Islands region.

He said under the Aus-AID-funded programme, young girls would take part to promote gender equality and respect for women and a healthy lifestyle.  

He travels to Buka today to launch the programme, which has already been introduced in Port Moresby and Lae. 

Joseph invited young girls to take part in the age groups 6-9, 10-12 and 13-16 years. 

Redskins scored three unconverted tries through Clement Akas, Kenny Ben and Jason Amuk. 

The Royals 12 points came from Joel Boas and Isaac Buasin, with Haro Bairi adding a conversion. 

Nuken Tepra of the Tomaringa Royals won the player of the year award as they beat the Cardinals 12-5 for the Under-19 Arpi Ltd Cup. 

Maltech Rookies won the U15 title. The U15 player of the year award went to Himson Lange and Japheth Yamban for Redskins in the premier.