By Elijah Lavett – EM TV, Port Moresby
Gaire village, a 40 minute drive outside Port Moresby, kicked off their Rugby 9’s Pre-season finals yesterday with a bang.
Different teams from the village went head to head in a thrilling encounter. The 16 team grand final playoffs kicked off with the semi-finals, teams played to their best ability, down to the final 6 teams.
The grand final kicked off with the Brahmen Bulls and Tavai Raiders playoff for the bowl. Both teams showed their fancy footwork on the field, the raiders proved too strong for the Bulls coming out victorious in the end, claiming the bowl.
In the Plate Grand final, Babo Rangers came into the match as heavy underdogs playing experienced side Pasi Labolabo, Rangers put up a good fight against Pasi but it wasn’t enough to secure a win. Pasi Labolabo claimed the plate in this year’s pre-season finals.
The main game was between Soda Knights and Zaikeva Storms, both teams went head to head in a thrilling encounter, Knights dominated the game leading all throughout the first half. Storms came back in the second half determined to win, scoring three tries in the match to narrow the score line. Storms tried their best to level the score having missed the conversion kick, going down to the knights, 12-14
The mascot for the 2015 Pacific Games, Tura the Kokomo, was also present at the grand final.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kFShSo_9Ct4%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
