by Lorraine Genia – EM TV, Port Moresby
PNG Palais are the 2014 Gold Coast National Sevens Champions.
Led to victory by Australian-based Papua New Guinean Amelia Kuk, the girls showed superior signs of maturity and growth as they defeated Tribe Sevens in the cup finals, 33-19.
Following their exceptional performance in Noosa at the Oceania Sevens, rugby critiques were still sceptical of the team’s progress thus far under newly-recruited coach, Elenoa Kunatuba.
As development manager of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Union, Kunatuba put her credentials to the test by improving the status of women’s rugby, not just through the national team alone, but through development programs within the country.
Given the Palais’ devastating performance in the Hong Kong Sevens earlier this year, Kunatuba said “the girls have shown great signs of improvement and maturity.”
This comes especially after their comeback performance in Noosa and their most recent success in Gold Coast, showing promising signs for the future of women’s rugby.
With a good mixture of senior and debutant’s in the team, the Palais have found the winning formula, which in the long run, will see the status of women’s rugby in PNG continue to rise.
The Palais will be travelling to Fiji in November to partake in the Central Coast Sevens.
