PNG eyeing better result, visitors keen

By ROBINSON LEKA and NATHAN WOTI
HEAD coach Bagelo Solien says he is optimistic about an improved Oil Search Papua New Guinea Orchids outfit when the home side face England in the second of their two-test series at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby tomorrow (3pm kick-off).
He said they were working on the areas that they had lacked in last weekend’s 10-24 loss to the visitors at the National Sports Institute in Goroka, Eastern Highlands.
“We’ve gone through a lot of areas where we lacked,” Solien said yesterday.
“It’s a new team so we’re still working on our combinations. We can’t fix all our problems overnight but we can fix a couple of them and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Skipper Elsie Albert said the Orchids forwards had been working hard to build a stronger platform for their backs to have room to move. “We’ve been talking as a team the whole week and we’re confident that we are going to do much better,” she said.
England coach Craig Richard wants his side to stick to their game plan and get the basics right.
“The Orchids will be really physical,” he said.
“But in regards to the score, we have to work for everything that we’ve got.
“I just think we’re in for a really tough game.
“We have to be at our best. We’ve got to be a little bit smarter in terms of how we play to get the win.”
Captain Emily Rudge said the Port Moresby heat would be challenging to overcome.
“There are a couple of girls who have not come up against PNG before and that’ll be a challenge for them,” she said.
“We’ve just carried on building into this week. We’ve had some good training sessions. The squad are feeling good.”