PNGRFU hails 7s sides following World Cup

PAPUA New Guinea Rugby Football Union Secretary Mike Uiari has commended the national men’s and women’s teams for their performance at the World Cup Sevens in San Francisco in the United States.
The Pukpuks finished 21st out of 24 countries while the Palais finished 15th out of 16 nations.
Uiari told The National after the arrival of both teams yesterday that expectations were not high and the objective of competing at the World Cup was to evaluate PNG’s status in the sport.
“We’re satisfied with the performance of both teams, and we’re going to use it to evaluate our performance as we prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan,” Uiari said.
“It’s like the first step to 2020.
“We have the Oceania 7s coming up in October and then the Hongkong 7s next year.
“Apart from the 2020 Olympics, our goal is to make the Rugby 7s circuit and with some great performance by the Pukpuks in their win over Tonga (31-14) and the Palais win over Mexico (32-0), it shows that our players have great potential.
“All they need is the support.”
The Pukpuks and Palais will be having a welcome reception at the National Football Stadium tonight along with their corporate sponsors and stakeholders.