Sir Hubert Murray to host Kumul Petroleum Super 7s series

By SULI SULI
THE new home of rugby union, Sir Hubert Murray Stadium will host the inaugural Kumul Petroleum Papua New Guinea Rugby Union Super Sevens Series in Port Moresby over the next four weekends.
A total of 18 provincial teams from the New Guinea Islands, Mamose, Highlands and Southern will do battle from Saturday.
An impressive K50,000 in prize money will be awarded to the overall winner after the series.
Eighteen men’s team have been divided into six pools.
The teams will compete in a round-robin format whereby top-eight sides will qualify for the Cup, Plate, and Shield play-offs on Sunday. The winning teams will be awarded competition points to determine their rankings on the first weekend.
The process will continue over the next three weekends.
Twelve women’s team will enter the tournament on the third and fourth weekends, and will follow the same process.
The points earned will accumulate, and the women’s and men’s teams with the most consistent performances will be declared the inaugural Kumul Petroleum PNGRU Super Sevens Series champions.
This is a rare opportunity for rural talents to shine at a world-class stadium.
Union representative Paul Joseph said they would identify potential talents for the national squads.
“The union is looking forward to selecting players for the PNG Pukpuks (men) and PNG Palais (women),” he said
“The upcoming events include the (July 28-Aug 8) Commonwealth Games and Oceania Sevens from Nov 19-20.
“So we want to expose our young talents to some of these international tournaments.”