By Fidelis Sukina – EMTV Sports
The Coca-Cola Schools rugby league national confederate championships ended on Friday with the girls Under-18 open division at the Oil Search National Football Stadium.
The tournament started on Tuesday with the Under-14 Boys and followed through with the Under-16 and Under-18 boys, and concluded with the Under-18 open girls division.
A healthy crowd turned up to show support for the Northern, Southern, New Guinea Islands and Highlands schools confederate teams.
The four teams played in a round robin format with all teams playing three matches each over the course of the day.
School’s rugby league rules allow 20 minutes each half.
The action on the field was good; with Southern in White and Northern in Green taking centre stage in a tough match.
The Southern women were tactical in defence, but the Northern women spread the ball out wide to use their speed. The match ended with a 4-4 draw.
In other results, the New Guinea Island women proved to be a classy side in both defence and attack, causing an upset to the Southern Confederate team.
The Highlands zone team arrived late due to a cancellation of flight and a downgrade of the plane by Air Niugini.
Northern Confederate Coach Peter Alu, based out of Ramu, was happy with the talent on show over the four days.
He thanked those that who made it possible for the teams to take part in the confederate championships.
From the trials, the Under 16 boys and the U18 boys and girls will select teams to travel down to Australia to play against teams in the states of Queensland and New South Wales.
