Pukpuks flounder at sevens

 PAPUA New Guinea may have made it back onto the World Sevens Series but they are still way off the pace.

The Billy Rapilla-coached side lost all its matches at the weekend’s Wellington 7s starting with a 29-0 loss to eventual losing cup finalists England last Friday at the Westpac Trust Stadium in the New Zealand capital city.

The Pukpuks managed to score a try in their next Pool B match, a 38-7 loss to defending champions New Zealand. 

In their final pool match, Canada took advantage of a tiring PNG side to post a 41-0 thrashing.

The loss meant PNG were now in contention for the Bowl playoffs however those aspirations were quickly dashed on Day 2 with Wales repeating the same scoreline as the Canucks had on the hapless Pukpuks in their first match.

Despite the 41-0 canning at the  hands of the Dragons, PNG had some hope heading into the Shield semi-final.

That was not to be as the side were given a further reality check in the rigours of top flight sevens with a 45-7 mauling by Samoa to end their Wellington trip on the harshest of notes.

The side returns home today where the players will go back to the wider squad and prepare for the Borneo (this month) and the Hong Kong 7s (next month).

Former sevens star Paul Joseph has ripped into the PNG Rugby Football Union for their overall preparatory programme for the side.

Joseph said in light of the dismal results at the Wellington 7s, the union needed to be accountable for its achievements or lack of progress made by the side which had showed strong potential by qualifying for the World Sevens Series in the first place.