Rugby in Bulolo

SUPPORTERS Club Rugby Union Morobe – SCRUM and Coca Cola –  achieved another milestone over the weekend, breaking into the rural district of Bulolo, Morobe province, with the introduction of rugby union.
The Coca Cola schools programme kicked off with introductory clinics earlier in the week and ended with exhibition matches in the respective age groups at the PNG Forest campus ovals.
 The aim of the programme is to educate and deliver the game to the rural public, schools and surrounding local level governments.
The schools covered in the programme included new schools from the Wampar LLG, Gabensis, Mare, and Wampit, and Malangtah, Kebi, Hompiri, St Stevens, and St Peters primary schools.
The Bulolo exhibitions  have also generated a lot of interest.
A pleased development officer Robin Tarere congratulated SCRUM and Coca Cola for the achievement.
He thanked them for holding the fort in junior rugby development, adding that it did not end there.
“The target is 2015, whereby all schools in the nine districts of Morobe will be exposed to the game, through the junior divisions from as low as 12-16 years.”
Tarere also told The National that it was only through these kinds of programmes that the code could truly prosper.
He said  it was now time to go back to the junior level and start developing within the country.
“Right now, PNG is not ready for the bigger picture.
“We don’t have an identified base of players coming up through the ranks from  U14s onwards, and a junior competition that iscountry wide most importantly.
“These things don’t have to cost much, just commitment.
“We have to know our players, and mentor them through the stages, so when selections for representative teams come we already have our stock.”
Morobe has led the way for junior development over the past 10 years through SCRUM and other sponsors, however, Port Moresby has not had any kind of ongoing development since the 1990s school programme fell away.
The only other programme is Port Moresby’s “Yumi Lukautim Mosbi Rookies” which has also faded.