PNG Pukpuks

The Spaniards took a 5-0 lead after captain Angel Lopez muscled his way over in the 5^th minute of play.

The Pukpuks were dealt another blow early in the second half after Willie Tirang was sent off to the bin.

One man short cost the Pukpuks dearly as Pol Pla crossed over to make it 10-0.

Pedro Martin dived over the line to score the last try of the match for Spain in the 13^th minute.

The win for Spain saw them top pool G while the Pukpuks have also qualified for the last eight as runners-up.

In theirs first match of the qualifiers, the Pukpuks beat Uruguay 26-21 then went on to thrash Guyana 31-5 in the afternoon.

The Pukpuks will play Spain this morning at 9:22am local time (11:22am PNG time).

Arriving back to the country yesterday, Kalua said although the Pukpuks were thrown into the deep in the same pool with Scotland, New Zealand and Australia, the team put up a spirited fight.

He said that despite the difficult circumstances they were put in, the team did their best.

In their pool matches, the Pukpuks lost to Scotland 26-12, to New Zealand 31-7 and then to Australia 26-7.

The Pukpuks then lost to France 17-0 and Canada 33-20 missing out on a 13^th place play-off.

The Pukpuks showed fight in their opening match against the Scots despite going down 26-12 at Allianz Stadium.

The Pukpuks’ points came from tries to Gairo Kapana, Emmanuel Guise and a try conversion from Arthur Clement.

The second game against the Kiwis proved much harder for them, with the Pukpuks losing 31-7.

However, the men’s team did manage to cross the line with Nathan Baramun scoring in the first half, with Clement adding the extras.

The Pukpuks still have one game tonight against Australia at 8.35pm (7.35pm PNG time).

In their second match today, the Pukpuks went down to Kenya 47-5. The Pukpuks’ only points came from William Tirang, who scored in the 7^th minute of the match.

Down, but not out, the Pukpuks came back stronger in their third and last match of day one against Argentina.

Argentina struck first to take a 7-0 lead but the Pukpuks fought back and equalized through Tirang, who scored his second of the tournament. Emmanuel Guise converted to make it 7-7.

England got off to a slow start, taking a 12-0 lead at the break with tries to Daniel Bibby and Charlie Hayter.

The second half saw England run away with the game with four answered tries at Westpac Stadium.

The Pukpuks still have two more games left today against Kenya at 3.56pm local time (12.56pm PNG time) and Argentina at 7.44pm (4.44pm PNG time).

In the other matches from this morning, Wales def. Russia 33-0, Canada def. Scotland 28-19, Fiji def. Australia 26-12, South Africa def. Japan 33-0, Argentina def. Kenya 17-12 and USA drew with France 21-21.

The game will kick off at Westpac Stadium at 12:55pm local time (9:55am PNG time).

PNG’s next game is against Kenya and will get underway at 3:56pm. This will be followed by the showdown with Argentina at 7:44pm.

The finals will be played the next day.

PNG has been placed in Pool A of the tournament with England, Kenya and Argentina. In Pool B are South Africa, Fiji, Australia and Japan.  Pool C consists of New Zealand, USA, France and Samoa. Pool D features Scotland, Wales, Russia and Canada.

The two day tournament will run from January 28-29.

President of the PNG Rugby Football Union (PNGRFU), Steven Kami said the Pukpuks will firstly take part in the Wellington Sevens from January 28-29 then onto the Sydney Sevens that will run from February 4-5.

Pukpuks assistant coach, Sailosi Druma said Henry Kalua and Arthur Clement are the co-captains for the side.

He said the only new face in the team is Freddy Rova from Central.

The squad:

The Pukpuks played their final match last Saturday against Zimbabwe at the Hong Kong Football Club.

Zimbabwe proved too strong in the end to come out victors with a 38-11 win and finish third at the Cup of Nations.

The Pukpuks points came from the boot of fullback and captain Tisa Kautu, and through a try from winger James Lumaris.

In the final, Russia successfully defended their title beating Hong Kong 27-0 to win the Cup of Nations for the second consecutive year.

The final points table:

Russia captain and flanker Viktor Gresev was instrumental in the win with a hat trick of tries to his name.

The defending champions were out to a 21-0 lead after Gresev’s first two tries in the 12^th and 19^th minute.

The Pukpuks were on the board after 21 minutes of play when winger John Ephraim crossed over. An unsuccessful conversion brought the score to 21-5.

But Russia continued to pile on the points with more points to Anton Ryabov and Valery Tsnobiladze.