Ravens defend sevens title

LAE’S Papua Compound Ravens retained the Sports Tok Sevens rugby union title after they beat Brothers 15-5 in yesterday’s Cup final, and walked away with K10,000 in prize money and a set of jerseys.
Ravens captain Max Vali told The National that they kicked off their preparations two months prior to the tournament which was held at Bava Park in Port Moresby over the weekend.
“The team is made up of different players from last year, some of them (players) left the team so we had to recruit new players and develop them for the tournament,” he said.
“We worked hard every morning and afternoon to come here and defend our title.
“I told the boys that all our hard worked had to pay off during the tournament.”
Their hard work paid off with the team walking away as the Sports Toks Sevens champions for two-straight years.
Ravens’ Maluai Patala was named as the player of the tournament.
Vali said when the team returned to Lae last year after the tournament, a lot of young players showed interest so they raised funds and brought a development team (Harlequins) with them.
“I want to thank some of the players who pushed hard in assisting me with building the team namely Gibson Tete, Francis Luweni, Francis Kumbal and Kenneth Logomina,” he said. “When we return to Lae, we will work towards bringing the other team to Wewak for next year’s tournament.”
In the shield finals, Kalibobo Gunners defeated the PNGDF 19-14, Nova took on the University Piggies and won 14-7 in the bowl finals and Kimbe’s 15-City Pirates beat Madang’s 6B Pirates in the plate final.