Rugby makes strides

By HUXLEY LOVAI
SEVENS was the toast of the Papua New Guinea rugby union this year, with the national men’s team qualifying for three major tournaments on the World Series.
The sport enjoyed relative success over the year despite having several challenges to contend with, including hosting a national 7s circuit and provincial 15s tournament.
The Export Lager National Provincial Championships in Port Moresby and the launch of the Export 7s Series brought 7s to the four regions, ensuring rugby’s presence outside the traditional strongholds of the national capital and Lae.
The Morobe Hammerheads proved they are the pace-setters and the team to beat after defending their national 7s title.
The Port Moresby Boromas claimed the title of national 15s champions.
Both the Pukpuks and Palais 15s teams participated in their perspective competitions overseas, while the national men’s 7s team got past the first hurdle of earning full qualification onto the HSBC World 7s Series qualifiers in the Hong Kong in April.
The Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union took a positive step this year in partnership with major sponsor the South Pacific Brewery under its brand Export Lager, initiating the Export Rugby Championships and the Export 7s Series.
The Export Rugby Championship held from July 23-31, revamped its format, placing affiliated member unions into three conferences — the Southern, Northern and New Guinea Islands.
This allowed the unions in each conference to play in a four-team roundrobin competition over three rounds.
The finals were held in Port Moresby at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.
The Boromas of Port Moresby beat the Morobe Hammerheads 28-15 to claim the national 15s championship.
The Morobeans however were able to gain a measure of revenge as they defended their national 7s crown at the conclusion of the Export 7s Series, beating Stallions of Rabaul 26-17.
The Export 7s Series introduced a new concept into PNG rugby by staging a series of tournaments around the country during August and September, including the Dawapia 7s (Rabaul), Tulait 7s (Goroka), Sarawaget 7s (Lae) and the Hetura 7s (NCD).
PNGRFU development manager Sailosi Druma told The National that the concept was put together “to try and capture as many players as possible, by having the series in the four regions”.
The concept paid off with the national side qualifying for the Wellington, Sydney and Hong Kong 7s tournaments of the HSBC World Series after finishing fourth at this year’s Oceania 7s Championship in Fiji last month.
The Palais, who finished as the top placed non-core team from the Oceania Rugby Women’s 7s Series, also earned an invitation to the Sydney leg of the HSBC Women’s World 7s Series, as well as the chance to qualify for the 2017-18 HSBC Women’s 7s Series in Hong Kong.
In the women’s 15 a-side game, the Palais took on Fiji in the inaugural Oceania Rugby Test in Suva, Fiji, on Nov 5. The Palais unfortunately went down 37-10 to the Fijiana.
The match was played to determine the Oceania qualifier for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup with the winner progressing to the final 2017 Asia/Oceania qualifying event in December in Hong Kong.
The Pukpuks were invited to play in this year’s Hong Kong Cup of Nations.
This year’s rugby calendar rounded off with the successful hosting of the inaugural Jonah Lomu Legacy Cup.