Rugby union official floats idea of playing shorter formats

AN official has floated the idea of playing shorter rugby union formats this year as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect normalcy in many countries, including Papua New Guinea.
National Capital District Rugby Union (NCDRU) director and PNG Rugby Union (PNGRU) official Sailosi Druma said sevens and 10s rugby were viable options, given the current situation.
“That’s what I’ve suggested to NCDRU and CRU because of the limited time we have,” he said.
“If we have a sevens competition, it would much easier with less people but the only issue would be that big forwards won’t be able to play so we don’t want to leave everyone out. We should probably run a 10s competition so that everyone is included but we’ll see how we go.
“Hopefully, we can kick off the competitions in July which is what we we’ve planned with the (Bava Park and Murray Barracks Oval) venue managements but we are yet to confirm a date.”
Meanwhile, Druma said the annual Sports Tok and Rookie sevens tournaments would depend on the availability of sponsors.
“For the Rookie Sevens, I will be able to give the details by the end of the month,” he said. “We still haven’t got any word from our sponsors (National Gaming and Control Board) but hopefully, we’ll hear from them by the end of the month.
“When we get a (favourable) response, we should be able to put something together.”