Pukpuks miss out

 PAPUA New Guinea missed out on a medal in the men’s sevens, losing 19-12 to Tonga in the bronze playoff while the women’s side equalled their 2011 effort beating New Caledonia 15-0 on Friday.

Fiji won the Pacific Games gold in both the men’s and women’s competition beating Samoa and Australia.

The Pukpuks were edged by a determined Tonga side much to the disappointment of the crowd at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

“We’re just elated that we won, it’s a really big achievement for us,” captain Will Hafu said. “To beat the boys at home is quite an achievement because they played a really good tournament.”

Tonga got off to the better start, scoring two tries in the first half to go into the break at 12-0.

PNG attacked immediately after the break and almost scored despite being a player down, but lost the ball near the line and that saw Tonga’s Meiohihifo Kuli head off in the other direction to score the try that would ultimately seal it.

PNG did manage to get two tries before the end of the match from Buttler Morris and Jordan Tkatchenko, but it was not to be for the home side as Tonga closed out a 19-12 victory.

“The boys were a bit tired after (the semi-final game) against Fiji,” Morris said. 

“We thought we were going to beat Tonga, but they’re a strong side, they train well and play well. They beat us with a good game.”

Palais captain Lynette Kwarula said she was pleased with their effort in winning a medal.

“We’re happy with the bronze medal win. We came into the tournament with the goal of winning a medal and we did that,” Kwarula said.

“I was there in 2011 when we won bronze in Noumea. I came off the bench but to captain the side is an honour.”

The world No.1 Fiji men’s sevens team has had its fair share of recent success, but it entered Port Moresby 2015 determined to earn a title that had evaded their grasp for the past 12 years – Pacific Games champions.

For the third-straight Games, Fiji matched up against Samoa in the gold-medal match, but this time they made light work of the Samoans 33-7 in light rain at the Sir John Guise Stadium. 

“It’s been a decade for Fiji to actually win the gold medal, so it’s really a massive honour for us to win gold today,” Fiji captain Isake Katonibau said.

The overwhelming pre-tournament favourites, Fiji made a game played in driving rain look more like a walk in the park, getting out to an early lead that would prove insurmountable. Fiji dominated the first half of the game, scoring four tries to bring the halftime score to 26-0 in their favour.

“The boys did pretty good, they played some very good games in the last two days and today,” Samoa coach Fatalii Moke said. 

“We were very unfortunate with the game with Fiji – these Fiji boys attacked us in the early minutes of the game and scored some points.

“It’s a very good opportunity to play with the top team in the IRB,” Moke said. “It’s a very good lesson for the boys to taste how impressive the Fijian boys are.” 

Katonibau was impressed by the fans who sat in the rain all afternoon to support the teams. “These are some of the uncontrollables, we can’t control the weather,” Katonibau said. 

“But today was a fantastic day for 7s, a display of good skills by other teams – a good atmosphere.”

 In the semi-finals earlier in the day, PNG lost a physical 24-5 contest against Fiji and Samoa handed Tonga a 35-5 loss.

“They gave us a good challenge because they were playing in front of their home crowd,” Katonibau said of his team’s semi-final against PNG. 

“They’re a pretty decent side, so I wish them luck as well as the other teams that participated today in qualifying for the Rio Olympics.”