Pukpuks finish third a Oceania Junior titles

By Quintina Naime, Loop PNG

The PNG U20 Pukpuks have finished third at the Oceania Junior Rugby Trophy Championships in Suva, Fiji.

They defeated Vanuatu today by a huge margin, scoring 13 tries in a final scoreline of 80-7.

Pukpuks’ first try was scored by Zion Reto eight minutes into the game. Another try came eight minutes later through Lindsey Yabone which took PNG up to 10-0 followed by the third try, by winger William Tirang 19 minutes into the game.

U20s eye Fiji tourney

By Francis Rodney Pulu, The National 




TWENTY-six players will be making their debut in the Pukpuks Under-20 rugby squad that leave tomorrow for the Oceania Youth Trophy in Fiji from November 27 to December 5.




Only four countries are taking part in the inaugural event and a 30-man Pukpuks train-on squad are currently in training in Port Moresby before the team will be trimmed down to the final 26 after the players are put through their medical checks today.

Assistant coach Sydney Wesley said the players would use the championship to qualify for the World Junior Trophy in Portugal next year and the only two teams that the team had to overcome in order to qualify were the tier-two nations, Fiji and Tonga.

“It will be tough playing against Fiji and Tonga, who dropped from the first-tier based on their performance at the previous World Junior Championships,” Wesley said.

OTML Schoolboys lose in Scots 7s Plate Final

The OTML Cats Schoolboys rugby sevens team have returned to Tabubil after losing to Canberra Grammar School 14-36 in the Plate Final of the Scots College Rugby Sevens tournament, held on Saturday 5th April in Sydney, Australia.
 

A photo session before the matches - Photo by J. Schulze

A total of twelve teams competed in the fifth annual international schoolboy rugby sevens tournament hosted by the college.

Teams from around Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Singapore, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea converged onto the Scots College rugby oval to vie for the cup.

The tournament structure ensured that teams competed in four finals divisions: Shield; Bowl; Plate; and Cup.

OTML Tabubil Cats Schoolboys win Plate at Scots College 7s

The young cubs of Tabubil – the Ok Tedi Mining Limited Tabubil Cats Schoolboys Rugby Team successfully returned from Sydney on Monday 1st April after winning the Plate Final in the Scots College Schoolboy Rugby Sevens tournament held in Sydney, Australia during the Easter weekend on 30th March.

The OTML Schoolboys defeated Sydney’s Cranbrook School 38-5 in what was an entertaining and hard-fought final.