There was a certain bloom at the Cup final of the Sports Tok 7s, the Black Orchids from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville shone brightly after a lengthy absence, coming back onto the rugby sevens’ scene with a hard fought win over the Nova Rugby Club.

The fifth installment of the annual sevens tournament was highly competitive, with the Orchids defeating last year’s winners the Brothers Rugby Club in the Cup semifinals to guarantee their spot in the Cup final; the Orchids led by Captain Erick Kaiat were impressive, despite being held 5-5 in a cagey first half.

The Orchids with their open style play spread their attack and used their speed to score two tries to advance to a 17 – 5 lead in the second half, before Nova closed the match with a try right on fulltime, but it was still not enough for a win for the Novas.

Orchids still came out on top 2022 winners of the Sports Tok 7s Cup with a fulltime score at 17-10.

Erick Kaiat is one of the most senior players in the Orchids side and Captained the team in an impressive win.

Despite a lapse in sevens rugby in the Autonomous Region, the team managed to pull together a mix of youth and experience to show their dominance in the tournament.

“Preparation was for two months and all that hard work has shown, we have found that winning formula and I am proud to be the captain, I told the boys that I will lead the team to a win in Port Moresby and now all the boys are ecstatic with the outcome,” a joyous Kaiat said.

The Orchids decided to stay on after an impressive Kumul Petroleum Holdings National Sevens series outing, the team from the “San kamap” region finished third overall in the provincial series, this Cup win was the icing on the cake for the Orchids, taking home K10, 000 prize money with a new set of jersies from Tati Sports.

As complimentary, the Orchids will be flying to the Autonomous region with the fifth year Sports Tok 7’s commemorative Cup as well.

To top it all off Kaiat was named the Paul Joseph player of the tournament, well deserving for the veteran, who has been a stalwart for the Orchids through their finer years and now their resurgence.

“Player of the tournament!”, I have no words to express this feeling, I have never been given an award in past tournaments, the supporters have been great and that has been a motivating factor in my performance I would like to thank the tournament host for the award and I dedicate it to the fans that turned up to support,” Kaiat said.

Meanwhile, the Rabaul Stallions womens team claimed the Open Womens Cup after a convincing 24-12 win over the Juggernauts womens’ team; the Stallions walked away with K5000 and a new set of jersey from Tati Sports.

Nova defeated Stallions in the mens U20 to claim the Cup.

The threat of rain in Port Moresby did little to hamper the start of the Niu Power Sports Tok 7s tournament, with the cloud cover and seemingly dark skies providing prolific playing conditions on the first day.

The code of rugby union sevens is built around fast pace with limited time; and the organizers of the tournament Quantum Media under their Sports Tok brand, have grown in strides over the past four years with the fifth edition of the tournament this year seeing the biggest gathering of teams for the tournament.

“Interest has grown immensely over the past four years; this year’s tournament is a gathering of more than 50 teams in three divisions.

“It’s much bigger, 24 mens’ teams was the limit, we could not accept more, with 16 teams confirmed for the juniors and 12 women’s teams confirmed, we have women from the Sepik region representing the Sepik Tenkiles, women from AROB and Rabaul also flew in.” said Sports Tok Tournament Manager Benson Upas.

The tournament host is a Small to Medium Enterprise a (SME) and has dug deep into their pockets the last four years including the fifth installment of the tournament, to ensure its continued success.

“We are glad to have a corporate sponsor with Niu Power coming on board, we were on the fence the last two years with COVID-19 having a big impact on our financing, but we managed to pull through those years with help from other sponsors as well,” Upas added.

The tournament has since gained recognition from Papua New Guinea Rugby (PNG Rugby) the country’s governing body of the sport and Upas says they are certain they will be part of the annual PNG Rugby Calendar.

“For the last four years Capital Rugby Union (CRU) has been our partner, this year we have gained recognition from PNG Rugby, we have been contributing players to the national team through our tournament and we are proud of that,” Upas said.

The Sports Tok 7s tournament is scheduled for three days; the final is set for Monday on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday.

(PHOTO FILE: Courtesy of Newtown Chiefs)

The Sports Tok 7s tournament has always opted to not provide prize money for it’s under 20 junior division.

Tournament Director Paul Joseph one of PNG’s most revered players in the code of rugby sevens during his prime says they would like to encourage the talent from the junior level to look at developing their skill set in the code.

“If we want to do well at the top we have to start with our juniors they are the future, for our junior division we don’t have cash prizes for them, we just allowing them to come out and show what they have, showcase their talent in front of family and friends, to allow our national coaches to have a look into the future,” Joseph said.

The winners of the men’s and women’s open divisions in the tournament will each receive a new set of jerseys, designed by Tati Sports the merchandising arm of the tournament hosts, apart from the new set of uniforms the winning mens’ team will receive K10,000 cash while the women will receive K5,000.

The family atmosphere was a great welcome for the organizers and fans, with the last two years a challenge with COVID-19 imposed restrictions.

“It’s very pleasing to see the tournament grow, the quality is growing, and in front of a family atmosphere teams taking part in front of friends and family, you know! right after the COVID-19 restrictions, families just want to come out and watch some rugby.

“Organizers Benson Upas and Elsie Passingan continue to dig deep and finance this tournament, which is in its fifth installment, we are glad also to the sponsors that have partnered with the tournament,” Paul Joseph said

Rugby Union may not be the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea, but it is the predecessor to rugby league, the most popular sport in PNG.

Over the years rugby league has grown in popularity while rugby union had been at an all-time low, but the recent resurgence of rugby union has bought with it a growing interest.

The New Town Chiefs are youths from the outskirts of Port Moresby from Edai Town, with a few boys within city limits.

The team has a strong hold of rugby league; established in 2021 the team has ventured into rugby union, a sport that the team has come to relish.

New Town Chiefs are taking part in the annual Niu Power Sports Tok sevens tournament, their Coach Mara Katam is pleased with the blend of players.

“The team was formed with a mixture of rugby league and rugby union players, some have 15s experience through the Brothers Rugby Union club, while the rest are rugby league players” Katam added.

The team went down to a strong University Piggies side in their Pool C opener on Saturday, a 26-10 loss to the established club, but the Chiefs managed to make a comeback statement with a 39-7 thumping of fellow debutants Niu Power Hiri West giving the Chiefs some much needed momentum heading to day two on Sunday.

“It was a slow start with the players familiarizing themselves with the rules of the game, but we managed a convincing win in our second match” Coach Katam added.

With the Sports Tok Sevens honing in on the growth of sevens in PNG, the tournament has grassroots teams like the Chiefs finding their place in the code of rugby union sevens.

“A big thank you to the Sports Tok sevens, we are giving these boys the opportunity to play sevens and hopefully they come to love the sport of rugby union as well” Katam concluded.

The Sports Tok Sevens tournament continues on Sunday and ends with the finals to be played on Monday.

CRU Boromas are Cup winners of the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Super 7s’ Rugby Series held in Port Moresby after a 17-12 victory over Kimbe Rebels at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium on Sunday.

The boys from the Capital Rugby Union snatched the victory right on fulltime beating the Kimbe Rebels. Boromas had most of the ball possession in the opening minutes of the first half but turned over possession a number of times.

Kimbe Rebels wasted no time with fast rucks and line breaks through the middle and edges of the Boroma defense but also failed to put on points. A penalty by Kimbe Rebels for holding down paved way for Boromas to build up for the opening try.

Rebels were caught offside during a sideline throw with Boromas carving through the middle of the field with excellent support play from Terang and Wakin as the CRU boys made it look easy for Derrick Voku to cross over the line for a 5 pointer.

With a minute left before halftime, a penalty for holding on gave the West New Britain boys a sniff near the Boromas tryline. Speed sensation, Rex David plunged through the Boromas line with a wide pass to the right finding Peter Paul to dash down the sideline but was stopped by the Boromas cover defense.

But a penalty conceded by the CRU Boromas in the rucks gave more advantage to the visitors with Rebel’s Rex David levelling the score with a solo effort try next to the post. Robinson Gala for the Kimbe Rebels converted the try to take the lead 7-5 into the halftime. Rex David was given a yellow card for interfering after he scored.

The WNB boys crossed over in the first minute of the second half with Paul Peter diving in the left corner to extend the lead for Kimbe Rebels 12 – 5 Boromas. A failed short kickoff by the Rebels saw the home side make grounds towards the Rebel’s tryline.

From there the Boromas scored their second try after consecutive rucks with the conversion successful and locking up the scores at 12 all. Handling errors by the Kimbe Rebels was costly. Boromas threw the ball around before a penalty by Kimbe Rebel’s Captain Rex David resulted in a try as the home side played against a 6 men team.

The CRU Boromas try sealed the game with Boromas coming out Cup winners of the KPHL Super 7’s Rugby Series with a final score CRU Boromas 17 defeating Kimbe Rebels 12.

JRA Limited has come on board with a K5,000 financial assistance to the Southern Highlands Rugby Union team Mendi Mustangs. The Mustangs are currently taking part in the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited Super 7’s Series in Port Moresby.

The funding was presented to the Team by JRA Limited Chief Executive Officer Jacob Anga, at the 5mile Camp recently.

“I will continue to support Mustangs in future tournaments too. I urge other business houses and organizations to come forward and help bring the game forward in Southern Highlands. I ‘am proud to see the Team compete with the rest of Papua New Guinea in a national event,” said CEO Anga.

As a former player, who was part of the PNG Pukpuks squad in the 1990’s, Mr Anga said the gesture is not only about financial help but to grow the rugby union code back in Mendi. He said there are talented players who need guidance and proper support.

Mendi Rugby Football Union President, Robin Asok, thanked JRA Limited for the sponsorship, saying that finding sponsors has been very difficult for the team. He said this will assist their stay in the nation’s capital during the KPHL Super 7’s Series.

“We are grateful for this support,” said Asok.

During the occasion, Mendi Mustangs Manager, Lawrence Puyu presented Mr Anga with merchandise for the Mustangs’ and officially welcomed Mr Anga into the team.

Apart from major sponsors KPHL, Cane Construction Limited assisted with K3,000, with some support coming from Kumin Catholic Church Bishop, Donald Lippert.

Mendi Mustangs have been competing in PNG Rugby Football Union sanctioned tournaments since 2012 and have produced talents like PNG Pukpuks regular, Wesley Vali and Orchids 7’s star, Tere Rema.