Pukpuks crush Nauru

THE Papua New Guinea Pukpuks thrashed newcomers Nauru 89-5 in round one of the Oceania Rugby Cup at the PNG Football Stadium on Friday.
The Pukpuks proved too strong for Nauru after scoring 15 tries to one.
Nauru’s bad reads in defence and poor handling in their set pieces allowed PNG to capitalise in the early stages of the match with the Pukpuks crossing over six times in the first 40 minutes for a 36-0 lead at halftime.
A dominating performance from the Pukpuks in the backline saw the Kautu brothers (Jonah and Tisa) setting the pace for a string of tries to wingers Freddy Rova (three) and Wesley Vali (six).
PNG continued to dictate terms in the forwards with prop Tony Sipa and captain Ahulo Ottio punching through the Nauruan defence.
The debutants continued their struggle to maintain possession in the second half, giving way for the Pukpuks to register nine more tries.
Against steep competition from PNG, Nauru’s Myer Temaki closed the scoring after registering the first try for his country in an international tournament.
Ottio was pleased with his side’s performance and he commended Nauru on their debut in the tournament.
When asked about the number of points and tries scored by his side, Ottio said the focus was more on putting set pieces and processes together.
Nauru captain Damien Adeang said the Pukpuks were a hard team to debut against, but the overall experience was worth it.
“When we came in here, we were being realistic with our goals,” he said.
“We just focused on our team, our goals and set pieces but unfortunately almost 80 minutes of that game was just defending, and no team want that.”